Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this appeal to receive a ¿credit standing¿¿ in the courses of my third year Fall semester 2020. My Fall 2020 classes that I would like to appeal are ECON351 ¿¿ Introductory Econometrics, ECON361 ¿¿ Income Distribution and Income Inequality, and ECON255 ¿¿ Introduction to Mathematical Economics.

In early September 2020, I was beginning my second year as a Residence Don in the Living and Learning Community. I had an amazing year as a Don last year and I was very excited to greet my incoming students and collaborate with other Dons. I was also eager to begin my third year in Economics because I finally felt like I was integrating and developing a sense of belonging academically and socially. I was prepared to social distance and become a more independent learner due to COVID-19. I took the necessary steps to ensure I would still be able to engage in physical activity (outdoors) and manage my time efficiently with online learning.
Unfortunately, Residence Life and members of the Economics department were both extremely inconsiderate, unsupportive and did not have an adequate approach for transitioning to online. I also experienced a significant amount of side effects from my prescription and received a great amount of hostility from my family.

As a Residence Don in 2020 with the social distancing rules created by Residence Life in effect, it was only made clear after contracts were signed that Dons were not allowed to socialize with anyone. Students were allowed to socialize with other students on the floor, but as a Don, it has been addressed as unprofessional to become friends with your students. With that being said we were also not allowed to have anyone in our building that was not on our floor. With myself being the only Don on my floor, I soon discovered I had no one and I was alone. My family lives about a 3-hour drive away so that was not an option. If I knew this was what it was going to be like for the semester, I strongly believe I would have not taken the position as a Residence Don this year. It was never clearly stated that as a Don I would be completely alone. Once I realized and it clicked that I was fully alone 24/7, around the beginning of November, this isolation really began to affect me.
In addition to the complete isolation, Residence Life was very unsupportive regarding my position of employment. There were instances where I was blamed for zoom programs having poor attendance when the more adequate reasoning was students did not want to sit on zoom any longer after having a full day of classes online. Another example was the on-call shifts, Residence Life still expected me to put my health at risk to complete rounds in my building and other residence buildings 1-3 nights per week with very poor PPE equipment (less than 3 pairs of plastic gloves, and a mask). It wasn¿¿t until the end of November that Residence Life decided to add googles as PPE equipment. I understand that the role of a Don is considered essential, however, rounds could have been reduced to limit exposure.
This lack of support made me feel alone in my job, I felt like no one was there to help me and my supervisors were just worried about the attendance within the programs. I expressed that being alone all the time was significantly affecting my wellbeing. I didn¿¿t realize a lot of the signs at first, but it got to the point where I was either too sad to leave my room to get food or too scared to come in contact with a student who has COVID. At this time Residence just went through a very large spike of positive COVID-19 cases totalling around 8-10 cases within a week which forced me to increase the severity of my personal isolation.

I am currently a third-year student completing an economics degree with a certificate in business. While I understand that every faculty and department had to adjust their content to be online for the Fall 2020 term which may have also taken a toll on professors. The classes I am appealing were not adapted well for online learning. There were no synchronous lectures for ECON361 and the professor read word for word off the slides. ECON255 had very severe time penalties and little sympathy for technically difficulties. In attempt to keep this appeal letter concise I did not go into full depth of the class environment, if there are any additional questions please reach out to me.
I understand that this was a difficult transition for teaching teams as well, however, this was a very negative experience for me and left me feeling discouraged and hopeless regarding understanding material and receiving help. I also recognize that professors are not counsellors but the amount of insensitivity that I received during the semester was significantly high. For instance, I would explain my situation and requested an extension, and I would receive a response like ¿¿Sorry to hear, fill out an extenuating circumstance attached link¿. I didn¿¿t expect a lot, but after sending a few paragraphs, and opening up to them about my situation I was hoping for a little more sensitivity.

In addition to these environmental factors that I had very little control over, I began taking a prescription medication in late September. I was told that I might experience some of the symptoms within the next 3 months, and those symptoms should fade or become somewhat regular after the first 3 months are over and that I should complete the 3 months in order to determine if I should stop the medication. Some of these symptoms include mood changes, depression, anxiety, etc. With all the other factors and the symptoms of the medication I was taking constantly overlapping, my mental state was continually fluctuating, and I had no idea how to deal with my mental health. I couldn¿¿t just stop taking my medication. Few days I felt like I was at my very best, most days I could not stop crying long enough to complete a 30-minute lecture recording or get quality sleep. At times I felt hopeless like there was no point to anything. I didn¿¿t feel suicidal, but I was incapable of doing almost anything, whether that was academic, personal or work-related I could not find a purpose and I would not have gotten out of bed some days if I didn¿¿t have to walk to the cafe for food.
Fortunately, I have spoken to my doctor and I have now changed my medication. This medication is supposed to have a significantly less impact on my mental health. However, in case this medication demonstrates similar symptoms to the other prescription, I have an alternate plan in place with my doctor to prevent this from happening again.

The relationship with the majority of my family members also began to deteriorate. While this did not have as much of an impact as the other events I listed, it still did take a toll on me especially when I was feeling alone and hopeless. I was alone in residence and the majority of my family was extremely distant and upset with me because I was making academic and career choices that were very different from what they wanted. I began speaking my mind more and making decisions for myself, which a lot of my family members did not approve of.
Fortunately, I was able to resolve these issues over the Christmas break explaining why I need to make decisions that will make me happy. While some individuals still choose to be extremely distant, I have accepted that I did what I can, and the ball is in their court. I have also discussed this and will continue to express how I feel about the situation in counselling.

I had some basic knowledge regarding mental health; however, I have never experienced any diagnosed mental illnesses, nor have I witnessed it amongst family or friends. I was not able to recognize that I was experiencing a very depressive state until the Physician I spoke too helped me discover that I was most likely experiencing a major depressive episode alongside some anticipatory anxiety.
I did reach out to a councillor in late November at the Student Health and Wellness centre. She was able to discuss strategies with me regarding coping with the emotions I was experiencing, and I still implement them today in my daily routine. Unfortunately, I was informed that I could not book regular weekly appointments with her due to the stretched mental health resources at Queen¿¿s.
I could not drop the courses because it was past the drop-out date academically and financially when my grades began to plummet, and I would not be able to afford to pay to take these courses again. Furthermore, the pressure from certain family members strongly enforced that I needed to stay enrolled and complete these classes.
While I did consider quitting my job as a Residence Don it would have significantly affected me next year because being a Don allows me to afford housing and food to remain at Queen¿¿s and attend in-person classes. Fortunately, in the Winter 2021 term, I can remain at home for a large chunk of the term and continue to be a virtual support to my community. In addition to these changes, I have implemented myself, Residence Life has finally informed us that Dons are allowed to associate with other Residence Staff within residence, which will help prevent social isolation. I have also joined a psychotherapy group through Queen¿¿s called ¿¿How to deal with stress and anxiety¿. This is a six-week program, and we meet regularly once a week.

I believe that I am now better equipped with external resources and from Queen¿¿s to be prepared for a situation like this again. In addition to these steps that I have taken to help improve my mental health, I have also been recommended a list of private therapists by the physician Dr Ritsma. Private therapy is most likely too expensive for my financial situation, which is why I have been exploring the option of speaking to SWS Cross Cultural Advisor and/or a Residence Life Counselor at Queen¿¿s. If I need more support than Queen¿¿s resources can provide me, I will continue the process of selecting a therapist and verifying if my insurance will cover it. If for some reason therapy is not providing the adequate support that I require, Dr Ritsma also said I can reach out to her again regarding discussing potential medications as a solution.