Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,


I am writing you to appeal my grades from the fall term of 2019, which include the classes of PSYC251, PSYC452, PSYC301, and PSYC333. I would like to drop PSYC301 and 452 from my transcript, since I failed them, and seek CR for PSYC251 and 333, given that I managed a low passing grade in spite of the personal challenges I faced. I have already accepted the fact that I will need to take an extra year in order to graduate due to my reduced course load, which I undertook by recommendation of my psychiatrist, Dr. Walker (not affiliated with Queen's). My mental health issues, which I shall outline below, have caused me significant distress throughout my life, and especially this past year, despite my best efforts.


I am a fourth-year student with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), depression (MDD), and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD). I have been working consistently with Student Wellness Services to find the right combination of medications for the last three years, but it is a slow and tedious process, as I can only make monthly appointments to change dosage or drugs. I have been seeing Dr. Klein regularly for seven or eight months now, and while we are still working on identifying the proper stimulant to treat my ADHD, we have found an anti-depressant that seems to work for me, though this was not without its issues:


In November of last year, I had to cancel one of my doctor's appointments due to a conflicting school-related meeting, and ended up finishing my prescription soon thereafter, leaving me without the medication I needed to function for almost an entire month, until Dr. Klein had another availability and I could get my prescription refilled. This sorely impacted my health and mood, precipitating a major depressive episode, and thus affecting my attendance, performance, and grades during a critical period of study.


To illustrate with an example, I missed two PSYC301 labs during that time, which lead to an automatic failure of the course, since I had missed one previously as well; I attempted to remedy this by reaching out to the class TA, head TA, and eventually the professor, to explain my situation, the reason for my absences, and offer to make up the work, but none of them felt this was an appropriate excuse, since I was told from the start of term that missing certain labs would exempt me from passing the class. I tried to clarify that my lack of medication was something out of my control, that I could not have predicted, but was told I'd have better luck with a formal appeal than with them. Nevertheless, after I saw my doctor and restarted my treatment, I continued to attend class and labs, as well as submit the necessary work in an attempt to demonstrate my willingness to rectify my gaffe. I worked assiduously to make up for lost time, continued to submit work, and went so far as to write a final assignment for PSYC301 during the exam period.


Comparable was my experience in PSYC452, a seminar course which highly valued the class participation and attendance component in its weighting of our final grades. Despite my relapse, I failed this course by less than 2.


I am confident that my fall grades do not reflect my true potential. I am passionate about psychology, and I know that I want to go on to complete a graduate degree after this, regardless of how long it might take. I don't want this year to set me back further, as nothing is more important to me than continuing my education so that I can eventually help other people who are struggling similarly. While my battle with my mental health has undeniably and seriously impeded me, it has also taught me resilience, fortitude, and perseverance. I plan to continue to work intensively on both my academic career and mental health, I am simply asking for the opportunity to do so without serious repercussion due to my unfortunate past.


Thank you for your consideration,
Bianca Cairo