Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom this may concern,

My name is Sheila and I am currently in my fourth year here at Queen's university. I am requesting to drop the course: Introduction to Logic, philosophy 361.
Although I found adjusting to the university extremely difficult, I was able to pull myself up and push to do better. If you look at my grades you will see a significant rise in my marks beginning in my third year. I love what I study and I am proud of myself for not giving up but I have been suffering from depression and anxiety since being here. In my third year I learned to contain it. I learned to keep living my life even while I was really sad.
My goal was to wrap this year up nicely, apply to masters programs close to home, and graduate from here. For me to do so, I had to take on 6 courses this semester. By midway through the semester, I was figuring out that trying to learn 6 different materials at once was nearly impossible. But I was scared. I did not want to come back next year because I'm just not strong enough to last another year away from home. Although the work was keeping me up every night, I was still doing okay in my classes. There was one course in particular that I was struggling in, Introduction to Logic, but I went in to see my professor, Nancy Salay, regularly, and I had hired a tutor as well so things were beginning to look up in this course. By then the course drop period had already passed and there was no turning back for me.
The month of November 2014 has been one of the most trying months in my life. I was waking up at 8:00am every morning to start schoolwork and when it came time for bed, my stress would keep me up until 3:00 a.m. at least. My doctor had also added a higher dosage to my medication for the depression but it wasn't working. I have never felt so low in my life, so close to letting go. I was in pain and I was hurting. I felt like I was running on no energy. It was like breathing through a straw that kept getting tighter and tighter. I tried to get help, I tried to keep studying, but I just had nothing in me anymore. If it weren't for my roommate, I don't think I would be here today typing this out.
Before the final exam, I spoke to Nancy and explained to her that I just could not continue with the course. The degree was not worth my mental health, or my life for that matter. She agreed to help me in any way on dropping the course and I also attended the exam either way. The reason I struggled with this course more so than the other ones is because it is an extremely difficult subject and it requires a lot of practice. I was trying to devote an equal amount of time to all of my courses but Logic required more than I was giving it. I spent over 300 in tutoring money with a student through the Queen's tutoring program as well. This course also gave me the most anxiety because it is a requirement of my program and I just kept thinking to myself that if I did not pass, then I would not graduate.
I have decided that I would rather take a 5th year and take it slow over pushing myself to the point where I become extremely depressed. I could come back for a semester and that way I would have extra time to work on my applications for graduate schools. Or I could see if there is a way I could find an equivalent course to Logic at UofT and have it transferred here. This is something I am speaking to Deborah Knight with (Chair of Undergraduate studies, as well as one of my philosophy professors). If I can drop this course, my GPA will still be okay for my graduate applications and I can complete my degree after I take another Logic course. Giving up on this course does not mean giving up altogether. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Sheila