Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
March 21, 2019
To the Associate Dean of Studies, Faculty of Arts and Science, Queens University,

The following letter is my formal appeal to drop a course without academic penalty.

I am a third-year student who hopes to graduate with a major in Political Studies in the department of Arts and Science within the coming years. My goal of graduating by the year 2020 has become increasingly more challenging during the 2019 winter semester, due to the severe decline of my mental health over the course of the months of January, February and March. During these months, I experienced an overwhelming number of symptoms of depression and anxiety. Coping with depression and anxiety is not an unfamiliar practice for me, as my struggle with depression and anxiety began in the summer of 2017 when, through a Sunnybrook Hospital program, I was assigned and met with psycho-therapist, Kimberly McLeod, through the summer and then again in February 2018. Recently, I have not been able to meet with Kimberly McLeod as she works and lives in my hometown, Toronto, and my studies have required me to study and live in Kingston.

Throughout the months of January, February and March of this year, while living and studying in Kingston, my mental health drastically declined as I experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression, including but not limited to, loss of appetite, mild insomnia, panic attacks and sometimes intrusive suicidal thoughts over the course of a day. These symptoms continued and worsen until I felt it was necessary for my health and safety for me to return home to seek help and support of my family, on March 8th. I didn¿¿t return to Queen¿¿s to completely resume my studies until March 17th. Now, that I have returned to Kingston, I hope to finish the semester. I have been working with Queen's Student Accessibility Services and Student Wellness Services, however, my mental health remains at an all-time low and I am unsure that I will be able to make up the for the time I lost during the past months when my productivity was severely lacking due to my depression and anxiety.

As a result of the above, I wish to appeal for a late drop of my course POLS 396 ¿¿ Topics in International Relations, to improve my chances of successfully making it through the rest of the semester. I am unsure of the likelihood of completing the semester while balancing a full course load with my current mental health. I would like to drop POLS 396 ¿¿ Topics in International Relations specifically because at the time I returned home on March 8 there had not yet been any marks assigned in this course. I also don¿¿t have a note taker in this course, despite my accommodations with QSAS requiring that I have one in all my courses.

Thank you for your time and I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thank you and best regards,

Samuel Robinson Crossland
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