Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am writing this appeal to request the following courses (LOOK UP COURSE CODES) be dropped from my record.
I have been experiencing severe anxiety for the past few years, with this year being the worst it has ever been. Over the summer of 2018 I sought help from a psychiatrist specializing in anxiety disorders in order to prepare for the upcoming academic year. However, when I returned to campus in September I began experiencing insomnia, an issue I had never previously dealt with. It was a result of my anxiety being at the worst it has ever been. For the first month I was unable to sleep, but attended class none the less. I was staying awake for approximately 20 hours at a time, and was only getting a few hours of sleep.
In October I could no longer keep up. I was sleeping during the day and missed classes as a result. I began to feel isolated and I fell behind academically. Eventually I was too anxious to return to classes, worried that I had missed too much, that the professor would realize how much I had missed, that the students would single me out somehow for not being there, or that I would have been woefully underprepared for a certain class that others would not have been. I was afraid to log onto OnQ, to answer my emails, or to log onto solus. This I have learned was another side effect of my anxiety.
On October 19th, I reached my breaking point and sought help from student wellness services. I saw a crisis counselor who helped me get extensions on my midterms and assignments. I made appointments to see a Queen¿¿s counselor and attended them, but I found nothing helped my anxiety. For the rest of the term I was still unable to sleep, could not attend classes or finish assignments. I made the plan to seek options for medication over the winter break to treat my anxiety as nothing else seemed to be working. The therapist I saw over the summer was the practitioner who filled out my accessibility forms because he knew the depths of my anxiety the best, and he was able to clearly see the deterioration of my mental health.
I felt trapped. I wanted so badly to go to classes, to get back into step with the semester, but I was missing too many classes due to the ongoing insomnia. I left campus in early December for the semester and saw my family practitioner who prescribed Sertraline to help level out my anxiety. Over the Christmas break I was attempting to adjust to the new medication but was experiencing severe side effects. I was throwing up every day, and could not eat because of nausea. In January, I was switch to a new medication.
I have made the decision to take a more full-time approach to addressing my anxiety due to the enormous impact it has had on both semesters this academic year. I am taking next year off and will be living with my mother. I am going back to therapy and will be exploring other medication options to find the best fit. If all goes well I hope to return to my studies for the 2020-2021 academic year, but I am determined to get better first.
This has been the worst year of my life, and it has taken its toll on me physically and mentally. I am not the kind of student who does not attend classes, who fails to turn in assignments, who doesn¿¿t show up for tests, and I am going to try my best over the upcoming year to get back to the student I know I am.