Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 5873
Submitted: June 10, 2019 at 3:45:04 AM
First Name: Austin
Last Name: Stadel
Student Number: 10133341
Email: 13as199@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: ENGL
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,
I am writing to you today to appeal the Faculty¿¿s decision that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s for a year.
Progressively over the past three years I have been suffering from worsening Major Depression. For a long time I wasn¿¿t sure exactly what was wrong, and afterwards when I had some inkling of what I may have, I was embarrassed and thought I could handle this illness myself. It took me a long time to get treatment and my academics suffered greatly because of this. I understand that we don¿¿t fully need to disclose the nature of our extenuating circumstances in these letters but my Psychologist thought it would be helpful to me to do, to remove some of the stigma behind mental illness.
Starting in my second year at Queen¿¿s I began to notice some symptoms but played them off as me just having an off couple months. The next few years though, I suffered from extremely severe symptoms in increasingly long bursts, culminating in almost a year of being affected every single day. I missed the majority of my classes in my last year, being unable to get out of bed most days. This only made things worse as now I was embarrassed and ashamed about my failings in school.
In mid March of this year things had finally gotten so bad that I sought help from a doctor. I went to the Queen¿¿s Wellness center, was diagnosed with Major Depression and started immediately on anti-depressants and psychotherapy.
After a few weeks I began to see very drastic results. I began to have energy again in the mornings and even tried to catch up on my courses. But as finals were only a couple weeks away I was unsuccessful in this endeavor.
Today I am doing exponentially better. I am receiving weekly therapy from a registered psychologist while I am back home for the summer. I also have plans to return to weekly therapy sessions with my psychologist that I saw in Kingston, during March and April, if I return in the fall. I am also continuing my medication prescribed to me by my doctor at Queen¿¿s until a time that they are comfortable that I will be ok to try a lower dosage.
I have been working since the second week of May this summer and have been doing so well. It has really been a night and day difference now that I have accepted my illness and have started treatment. I am fully confident that I would be successful in my studies if I returned to Queen¿¿s and would very much love to get back to the school that I so enjoyed during my first two successful years at Queen¿¿s.
I now have an extensive support network of family and medical professionals that I can rely on and along with taking fewer classes my first year back I believe I will be more than set up for success. I know I have made mistakes and I deeply regret not seeking help sooner, but I am trying to focus on the future now and would love the opportunity to finish my studies at Queen¿¿s.
Thank you for your time,
Austin Stadel, 10133341
I am writing to you today to appeal the Faculty¿¿s decision that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s for a year.
Progressively over the past three years I have been suffering from worsening Major Depression. For a long time I wasn¿¿t sure exactly what was wrong, and afterwards when I had some inkling of what I may have, I was embarrassed and thought I could handle this illness myself. It took me a long time to get treatment and my academics suffered greatly because of this. I understand that we don¿¿t fully need to disclose the nature of our extenuating circumstances in these letters but my Psychologist thought it would be helpful to me to do, to remove some of the stigma behind mental illness.
Starting in my second year at Queen¿¿s I began to notice some symptoms but played them off as me just having an off couple months. The next few years though, I suffered from extremely severe symptoms in increasingly long bursts, culminating in almost a year of being affected every single day. I missed the majority of my classes in my last year, being unable to get out of bed most days. This only made things worse as now I was embarrassed and ashamed about my failings in school.
In mid March of this year things had finally gotten so bad that I sought help from a doctor. I went to the Queen¿¿s Wellness center, was diagnosed with Major Depression and started immediately on anti-depressants and psychotherapy.
After a few weeks I began to see very drastic results. I began to have energy again in the mornings and even tried to catch up on my courses. But as finals were only a couple weeks away I was unsuccessful in this endeavor.
Today I am doing exponentially better. I am receiving weekly therapy from a registered psychologist while I am back home for the summer. I also have plans to return to weekly therapy sessions with my psychologist that I saw in Kingston, during March and April, if I return in the fall. I am also continuing my medication prescribed to me by my doctor at Queen¿¿s until a time that they are comfortable that I will be ok to try a lower dosage.
I have been working since the second week of May this summer and have been doing so well. It has really been a night and day difference now that I have accepted my illness and have started treatment. I am fully confident that I would be successful in my studies if I returned to Queen¿¿s and would very much love to get back to the school that I so enjoyed during my first two successful years at Queen¿¿s.
I now have an extensive support network of family and medical professionals that I can rely on and along with taking fewer classes my first year back I believe I will be more than set up for success. I know I have made mistakes and I deeply regret not seeking help sooner, but I am trying to focus on the future now and would love the opportunity to finish my studies at Queen¿¿s.
Thank you for your time,
Austin Stadel, 10133341
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: Academic Plan for Austin Stadel 10133341: 2019-2020 School year
I will be planning on continuing my degree in English this year. My plan will be to ease myself back into the swing of things by only taking 3-4 courses in my first semester and 5 in my second. Although I understand now that I may have to adjust how many classes I take in my second semester depending on how the first goes.
I believe that with my new resources and support system I will be successful in this plan. I have a physician at the Queen¿¿s Student Wellness center, and am attending private weekly counselling sessions. I have been taking medication to great effect the past few months and plan to continue at least until the end of the winter semester. Also I am able to speak more openly now with family and friends and I believe this will greatly help me get through the school year.
Fall semester Courses: My plan for fall semester is to take ENGL 290 which is a mandatory requirement and prereq for many upper year English course. I also plan on taking ENGL 292 which is recommended by the degree program to ensure success in later years. I will fill the remaining spot or two with ENGL second year courses that are also a requirement for graduation.
Winter Semester Courses: My plan for the winter semester would be to continue with ENGL 292, as it is a year long course, and take another 1 or 2 ENGL 200 level courses. I would plan on filling out the remaining spots with upper year English courses, and STATS 263. Due to the fact that all English 300 level courses are year long, I would mostly focus on 400 level courses for this semester as they have the same prereqs as 300 level courses.
I believe strongly that with this academic plan and new treatment I have been receiving that I would be successful this academic year.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Austin Stadel 10133341
I will be planning on continuing my degree in English this year. My plan will be to ease myself back into the swing of things by only taking 3-4 courses in my first semester and 5 in my second. Although I understand now that I may have to adjust how many classes I take in my second semester depending on how the first goes.
I believe that with my new resources and support system I will be successful in this plan. I have a physician at the Queen¿¿s Student Wellness center, and am attending private weekly counselling sessions. I have been taking medication to great effect the past few months and plan to continue at least until the end of the winter semester. Also I am able to speak more openly now with family and friends and I believe this will greatly help me get through the school year.
Fall semester Courses: My plan for fall semester is to take ENGL 290 which is a mandatory requirement and prereq for many upper year English course. I also plan on taking ENGL 292 which is recommended by the degree program to ensure success in later years. I will fill the remaining spot or two with ENGL second year courses that are also a requirement for graduation.
Winter Semester Courses: My plan for the winter semester would be to continue with ENGL 292, as it is a year long course, and take another 1 or 2 ENGL 200 level courses. I would plan on filling out the remaining spots with upper year English courses, and STATS 263. Due to the fact that all English 300 level courses are year long, I would mostly focus on 400 level courses for this semester as they have the same prereqs as 300 level courses.
I believe strongly that with this academic plan and new treatment I have been receiving that I would be successful this academic year.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Austin Stadel 10133341
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: My doctor, Dr. Ritsma, from the Queen's wellness center will be providing a letter on my behalf detailing my diagnosis and help I have recieved