Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of the Psychology Department,
My name is Maya Kotsovolos and I am appealing to drop PSYC 100. I am a first year student, and like most first years, this change has been a big learning experience for me. I have faced many difficulties that most first year students must endure, but I also live off campus in a student house which is a very different and difficult experience that I had to adjust to. I have had to learn how to live by myself, budget, cook, clean, and live with housemates very different than myself, while also maintaining a job as a pharmacy assistant.
I am appealing so late because even though I knew I was struggling in PSYC 100 I thought I could work hard enough to be prepared for the exam, but I now realize that is not realistic. I did not drop this course in first semester or by this semester's deadline for a few reasons. Foremost, during first semester, I thought I could handle all of my classes-which I somewhat could-but as a result, my mental health was not as its best. I was not sleeping well, and I would be so busy with classes that I would not go grocery shopping and I began forgetting to eat. When the Christmas break came around, I decided I was going to take better care of myself, make sure I always had food in my house and to sleep substantially more. I have reached that goal during this semester and my mental health has improved, but as a consequence, it has lead to me having less time to complete the work I need to do. PSYC 100 moves so fast and requires you to stay on top of the content, and within taking better care of myself, this course was the class I started to fall behind in. PSYC 100 is very different from the rest of my courses. All my courses are humanities based, and Psych ended up being a lot more science based than I thought and had prepared for. All through first semester and most of second semester, was going to major in Health Studies in which PSYC 100 is a prerequisite. However I recently decided that I wanted to major in Global Development because I realized Health Studies was not for me. I have also worked more at the pharmacy this semester because my family has been shorter for money, which has added to why I could not handle the work load from PSYC 100. I am registered at QSAS for anxiety and ADD and I am accommodated in all my courses, but all these external factors like living alone, working more, and trying to take better care of myself has triggered these issues. As a result of these changes in my mental health, I have also switched my ADD medication, and one of the side effects to doing so is an increase in anxiety which has also added to stress during second semester, which I knew I needed to be conscious of. I am aware this course is six credits, which I will make up as I am taking a six credit Global Development course next summer, which will also contribute to the credits needed for my major. If I am granted permission to drop this course, I will be able to focus on my other courses, and achieve better grades in them because I will not be having anxiety about my courses, or spreading myself thin. I also hope to not have to retake this course in the summer because I am going to work full time in order to not have to work as much as I do now in second year, which will hopefully reduce my stress. I do have a councillor at Queen's that I have visited a few times throughout the year, and I plan on utilizing these services available to me next year to avoid future situations like this.
I hope you take my appeal into consideration. Feel free to contact me if there are any further questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Maya Kotsovolos