Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies,

I am appealing to receive credit standing (CR) in ECON 322 (Fall 2018) because of the traumatic events I experienced in 2018, causing serious mental health issues. I will provide a note from my doctor here at Queen's La Salle further explaining this.

The traumatic event occurred in February of 2018, however, it has had lasting and reoccurring effects due to the nature of it. I had to request many extensions in the Winter 2018 semester as I was unable to complete my course work to the best of my ability following this incident. I had serious mental health issues, leading to a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder and PTSD, on top of a previous diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. While I was able to complete that semester with the assistance of my professors and extensions, it took me the majority of the summer. Coming back to Queen's for the Fall 2018 semester was a lot more difficult than I expected it to be. I was expecting a fresh start and preparing myself for a better semester as I was only taking four courses, however that was not the case. Being back at Queen's and in Kingston proved to be a major trigger, resulting in my mental health taking another serious downturn to similar levels experienced in Winter 2018. I was actively working to improve this by attending counselling, yet I still found it incredibly hard to focus and complete my work. Additionally, due to the traumatic incident I had multiple court dates throughout the semester, further affecting my mental health and ability to apply myself to my classes. I was not able to properly work towards moving on and healing as my emotions and fear surrounding it were constantly getting brought up. I was forced to write off many study and work days as I was unable to focus or do any work. I was constantly tired due to my inability to sleep and my emotions constantly being overwhelmed. This resulted in me dropping a required course for my degree halfway through the semester, so I was only taking three courses because four proved to be too much. While I felt I understood the content in both ECON 310 and ECON 322 I found it hard to apply my knowledge and do well on assignments, midterms and finals that I know I could have done well on. I was the volunteer note taker for ECON 322 to help other students and to help with my understanding of the content, however, this was not reflected in my grades. I was unable to write the ECON 322 midterm, resulting in its weight being equated the final so it would be worth 75 which resulted in a major increase in stress for the final. For LAW 201, I was only able to maintain my grades as I worked closely with the TA and received extensions for almost all of my assignments. I was constantly attending sessions with my doctor, as well as two separate counsellors to help dealing with the traumatic event. I have increased the medication I am on, to combat my anxiety and depression. Additionally, my mom stayed on Howe Island for the majority of the Fall 2018 semester, to help provide support and give me an escape when required.

As this is a severe and long-lasting extenuating circumstance due to the traumatic and reoccurring nature of the incident, I am currently focusing on being more realistic with myself and my expectations. To do so, I am continuing with taking a lighter course load and focusing more on content-based classes rather than mathematical and application-based classes. Additionally, giving myself more time to understand course material, starting assignments and papers as soon as they come out and continuously consulting my professors and TA's for help and feedback. I will further be continuing consistent appointments with my doctor and both of my counselors at Queen's to actively improve my mental health.

My Fall 2018 semester was a major wakeup call about how I need to be more realistic with myself and to accept that this event had a major impact on my life. School and my grades are and always will be incredibly important to me thus this dramatic downturn in my grades is serious. I have always been a successful, hardworking and motivated student, which I know I can be again, especially now that I have realized and accepted the extent that this incident has had on my life.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Rachel Hilson