Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean,
I am appealing to drop STATS 263 and CLST 214 (2014). At the end of November I met with a representative of the Arts and Sciences department, and she took copies of my documentation and advised me on how I should write this letter.
I was recently diagnosed with suffering from depression (see attached documentation). I have been struggling with depression-like symptoms for quite some time, and over the past summer I was seeing a therapist but nothing substantial came of it; he did not immediately tell me that he thought I might be experiencing symptoms of depression, and I was reluctant to address this possibility myself. I was feeling unwell at the beginning of term but hoped that I would be able to get through my work and my classes. I began to fall farther behind in my classes because I felt lethargic, unmotivated and depressed, and began to frequently be absent from lectures and fall behind on readings and written work. It took me quite some time to get the help that I needed because I felt overwhelmed by the long process involved for which I felt like I didn't have the energy; I didn't have a family doctor until recently, so I did not have a health professional to go to in the first place. Throughout November I began to experience stomach issues in the form of nausea and frequent vomiting, which my doctor now relates to a physical manifestation of my stress and depression; the first attached doctor's note is in relation to this, when I went to the Walk-in Clinic on Princess Street. By this time the marks for midterms were returned to students, and though I was doing respectably well in two of my courses I had failed the midterms for STATS 263 and CLST 214. Near mid-November I acknowledged that I did need professional help immediately for my issues, and told my parents and they were able to get me in to see my father's family doctor. Attached are notes from our meeting on November 25th, 2014.
My struggles with my mental health affected my academic performance in STATS 263 and CLST 214 more than my other courses. As a statistics course, the material in STATS 263 is cumulative, and as I fell farther and farther behind in the coursework it was impossible for me to pass the weekly quizzes. It got to the point where I was so behind in the work in that course that I felt as though it was impossible for me to catch up before exams, and I had already failed my midterm and most of the weekly quizzes. In contrast, my other courses, ENSC 203 and GPHY 227, did not have cumulative material and these professors also posted every lecture on the course Moodle page. Though I was still struggling with focusing on studying, I was able to complete assignments for these courses and receive passing grades, even if I was behind on work or had not familiarized myself with material from previous weeks; because the material was not cumulative, I was able to continue studying new material even if I had fallen behind on other weeks, and because the lecture notes were online I was able to deal with the fact that I often felt like I couldn't even leave my room to go to lectures. CLST 214's course material was not completely cumulative, but lecture notes were not posted online and the course was very readings-based. I missed the majority of the lectures for this class, which were held early in the morning, even though I was really trying. I also had a very hard time focusing on the material when I tried to do readings to make up for my missing information in lectures. My failing grade on the midterm reflected my struggles, and I knew that there was no possible way for me to pass this course. By this time, the deadline for dropping courses had passed.
I am now on antidepressant medication and seeking a therapist with whom I can meet regularly. My future plan to achieve academic success and deal with my circumstance is to take next semester off from Queen's and return to Ottawa to stay with my family. During my time away from Queen's I hope to adjust to my medication and create a routine and coping mechanisms for when I experience debilitating depressive bouts. However, I do hope to sign up for one or two online courses during next semester and possibly during the summer as to not fall out of the academic routine completely. I hope to return to Queen's next September as a full time student, and am keeping my accommodations in Kingston for that purpose.