Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies, I am appealing to drop Pols 101 (Fall, 2019). As a result of a chronic mental illness, I was unable to finish the course to gain the necessary credits and went on medical leave starting in early December 2019. I received an official diagnosis end of January 2020 after careful observations from my doctor, although it is evident that I have suffered from this disability since November 2018. Prior to that, mental illnesses were still prevalent in my life and snowballed into what I suffer from today. Due to the nature of my sickness, university life accentuated my pain into the deepest I ever was in terms of psychological distraught. Tired of living a life of lies, deception, greed, impulsivity and loneliness, I contacted a treatment center I had attended during the summer to put my psychological dark side to rest. Today, I am in a somewhat better state, although catching up on missed course work has proved to be an insurmountable task while paired with recovery as my priority, at least in the present day. In regards to the impact this has had on my academics, I cannot stress enough how debilitating this was. Unable to maintain a proper sleep cycle, missing classes, having a hard time retaining much information, overwhelmed by little work and not taking care of myself are just the tip of the iceberg as to the interconnection between my poor health and disappointing academic work. Despite all this, I still attempted to get better. I regularly went to student wellness for support, met with an individual therapist, left for home before Friday¿¿s to see my doctor, took all my medication and went to wellness groups. More importantly, I went to 7 weeks of intensive inpatient treatment when I realized none of this was working for me and I wanted to go a step-above what I was already doing. My plan for the future is simple yet effective. I am taking further time off of school until September because I choose not to overwhelm myself with all the catch-up work I expected myself to do, while further continuing some type of treatment for me. Once I return to school, I will gladly be taking the same type of courses again, with a much more rigid structure. I will be attending three wellness groups run at school, three Narcotics Anonymous meetings and an individual session with my therapist every week. I will also be regularly booking appointments with my disabilities advisor at QSAS, doing Occupational Therapy and going home over the weekend to see my doctor.