Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies) and staff,
The following letter details the appeal request, extenuating circumstances and future academic plans at Queen¿¿s for myself, Holly Rose Lorenzon, a 2020 graduate from the Global Development Studies program (BA).

I am appealing to drop two Summer 2019 courses and three Fall 2019 courses on account of the onset and later expression of severe and serious depression, an intermittent but extenuating circumstance that significantly impaired my ability to drop these courses promptly or before each deadline respectively. These courses are: HIST 214 (s), LAW 202 (s), DEVS 340 (f), DEVS 392 (f) and DEVS 492 (f).

During the Summer 2019 term I lived alone in Kingston, where I experienced the onset of depression. I was handing in assignments and quizzes in both History 214 and Law 202 while volunteering part-time as a choreographer/performer for the Storefront Fringe and as a teacher at The Kingston School of Dance. My summer took a sudden dismal turn in June when a toxic romantic relationship reached its apogee and I was spiralling into emotional distress. As depressive symptoms manifested in the second last week of June, it became suddenly impossible to complete course work on time and I had to drag myself to work, where I was dismal an aggravated, which they noted. Around June 21st my depressive symptoms began to include suicidal thoughts and manic reflections of excitement or low-mood that gave me whiplash: I could not keep up with my own emotions or explain my expectations for my courses. Consultation with both of my professors will prove that our email threads were either bleak or hopeful, often discussed extensions never met. I did not drop my courses for that reason; on the best of days, I truly believed that I would complete them by the end of the summer. For example, I was able to complete The Curry Project, an interactive group assignment in History 214, but not the final essay, despite having all the research for it; similarly, in Law 202 my quizzes were nearly finished but I had only submitted part 1 of my case study assignment. I would like to stress that this sense of denial was not intentional; it was a symptom of my depression and had I known this, I would have dropped those two courses and sought immediate counsel. In August of 2019, my schedule allowed for me to return home and for the first time, I explained all of this to a new family doctor. After an extensive mood test she expressed her concern that I did not come sooner, and diagnosed me with severe depression. She explained that I wasn¿¿t bi-polar as I had predicted but potentially had a borderline personality disorder, and prescribed a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor to improve mood. In addition, she connected me with a self-help program at CAMH, which I began at the end of the summer.

These courses were particularly important to me because I had failed Global Development elective courses and English courses in the past, and wanted nothing more than to reverse those odds and start fresh. However, when I proceeded into my final year of University, it became clear that I required continued support. The state of my mental health in the Fall of 2019, even after undertaking a self-help program and bi-weekly phone counseling, was similar. It takes a long time for SRIs to even work properly, and even longer for a true shift in mindset, and unfortunately, school was not the environment for that. I was no longer suicidal, but I experienced the same paralysis when debating whether or not to drop the DEVS courses listed above because my situation was crucial: I was in a fifth year of study and at risk of ruining my future. I found the Fall 2019 term to be particularly difficult, and so I spoke with one professor and managed to extend two courses into the end of May, which was an effective move on my part and demonstrates that I was beginning to make better decisions. However, my experience in November was particularly traumatic and my depression was at its worst. I did not drop my courses because I was not getting out of bed at all; I was dysfunctional.

While I am proud to be a very recent graduate from the Global Development Studies (BA) program, I cannot say that my time at Queen¿¿s University main campus ebbed¿¿or flowed¿¿without latent difficulty. I can, however, espouse my belief in the empathy and support demonstrated by this institution¿¿s professors and academic counselors to continue guiding and refocusing students like me who require particular assistance. Through the onset of severe and serious depression, I navigated one and a half years of school confused by a crisis of low-mood persistence, mind/body weakness, spirit atrophy, reclusive behaviour, an exodus of friends and family and a paralyzing fear of some bluffing anvil that took the shape of my immediate pressures. I learned in the summer of 2019 that paranoia and suicidal thoughts were symptoms of manic depression. In light of my better judgment to receive aid, medication and CAMH counseling and accommodations (all at different points in time), I was able to seamlessly complete one, two, or three courses out of five or six each term, which isn¿¿t ideal, and given how this trend of success-roulette expressed itself routinely, I was often not confident in keeping or dropping specific courses before the deadline at risk of losing my Honours degree, which is perhaps why my transcript shows that I failed to drop some courses but also received Bs in other courses. After seeing my doctor in December, my symptoms appeared to simmer and I was able to think more clearly. I applied to graduate in my final term with a BA rather than a BAH, and it was clear that I had presented myself with a realistic goal to accomplish. Upon returning home following the COVID-19 insurgence, the change of surroundings and pace reset certain serotonin-triggers in my brain and I was able to complete four courses in good standing and graduate, as well as wane myself off of SRIs. I have every hope of returning to Queen¿¿s University in a year from now and earning my Honours in this field, and then proceeding to teacher¿¿s college with ¿¿teachables¿ and life experience in my arsenal.