Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern:

I, Jacob MacTaggart am writing to appeal the requirement to withdraw for three years after the 21 day as well as appeal that the requirement to withdraw for 3 years be waived as, my academic performance has been affected by extenuating circumstances beyond my control. I am requesting that I be allowed to return to classes in January of 2018 under certain conditions.

I have had a lot of difficulty managing my mental health for the past few years. In the summer of 2017 I was asked to withdraw for 1 year, I appealed this decision and it was waived, allowing me to return on the condition that I would be part time. This did not turn out great. During those months at school I would come to realization that I required medication to keep my mental health, particularly severe depression, under control. I have diagnosed anxiety and depression, the medication in question was intended to treat my depression as at this point I was competent at managing my anxiety. I had been highly reluctant to even consider medication for the years prior however, at the recommendation of the student wellness services, I made an appointment at the clinic and was prescribed an anti-depressant. This turned out to be terrible, I did not respond well at all to the drug and it directly affected my performance school in ways beyond my control. The drug had negative physical effects on my body, as well as giving me radical and uncontrollable mood swings, it affected my sleep, and my ability to focus. I voiced these concerns at my follow up meeting with the doctor at the wellness centre and she assured me that these drugs can take a long time to get used to. I didn¿¿t know any better, and the doctor believed that this drug was right for me.

I would like to be clear, that this is in no way meant to criticize or place blame upon any individual at the student wellness centre or otherwise. I now understand the delicacy and uncertainty involved in prescribing anti-depressants and just how difficult of a process it can be. I am simply trying to giving you the clearest depiction of my state during my past year at Queen¿¿s.

So, I continued to take the medication, and at some points it did feel as though it was helping, I noticed that at points where normally I would feel extremely low I didn¿¿t feel so low. The flip side of this was that at points where I normally felt great I didn¿¿t feel so great. I felt numb and when I didn¿¿t feel numb I felt overwhelmed and I would shut down. It¿¿s hard to describe, but it¿¿s terrible. I couldn¿¿t sleep, and when I did I couldn¿¿t wake up, I couldn¿¿t focus, couldn¿¿t eat, there was a lot of downsides, all directly affecting my academic performance.

I needed to take the medication for my mental health, but the medication was making me worse, I wasn¿¿t allowed to stop taking the medication without the help of the doctor because to stop taking it all of a sudden would also be bad for my health. I thought about switching medication, but I figured that once my body got used to this medication it would all be worth it, and I might be doing my body more harm than good to stop and/or switch meds. It was a lot, and all of this was going on while I was trying to jump back into school after the most stressful summer of my life.

Where am I now

In March of 2018 I had finally had enough, I wasn¿¿t very confident in my grades, and the medication was seemingly not helping at all, I had a full-on breakdown and I stopped taking the medication. Academically, this was too late, I¿¿ve accepted this, and there was nothing I could do about it at the time. In regards to my mental health it was a massive step forward for me however as I saw my local doctor back home and was prescribed different medication and took the entire summer and fall to get used to the new medication semester and I can honestly say that mentally I feel very healthy and stable.

I am a dedicated student, I know what my track record looks like, but every single year has been a struggle for me yet I keep coming back, because it¿¿s never been school that¿¿s the issue, it¿¿s always something outside of my control that I get hit with that I must deal with, because my health is the most important thing, something Queen¿¿s has helped me realize.

My hope is that I be allowed to take classes part-time in the upcoming semester of Winter 2019. Given this opportunity I will be making a lot of changes to help with my success. I was pursuing a degree in economics, while still a goal for me, my hope is to take this semester to gain some momentum. As I have never actually taken university classes while mentally stable. I will seek the assistance of an academic advisor to help me select courses that are engaging but manageable for me. I will continue to use the services provided at the wellness centre which have been so good to me in the past.

The time I¿¿ve had off has allowed me to get on top of the things that I could not control in the past.

One of the reasons I chose to Queen¿¿s was based on how much I heard they value their students as people rather than ¿¿numbers¿ and so far, they have held up that reputation, I am a student who has gone through a lot of personal and untimely problems at school, and yes. the timing has been impeccably bad, and yet, the Queen¿¿s administration has always been good enough to understand that people cannot control the nature of their mental health affect especially nowadays and I have no reason to believe that should change.

I can present documentation from my doctor showing that I do suffer from depression and did not respond well to the first type of medication I was prescribed. This will obviously not accurately represent my personal experience and just how much my mental and emotional health affected my academic performance.

All I¿¿m asking for is the opportunity to enroll part-time in the semester of winter 2019. I am now in control, whereas in the past there has always been circumstances completely outside of my control, this is no longer the case. This is a school I have fought continuously and savagely to come back to and I will not stop and I will absolutely do the reputation of Queen¿¿s university proud.

I would greatly appreciate your consideration of these appeals.

Thank you,
Jacob MacTaggart
10145342