Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic),

I am submitting this appeal to request a temporary Leave of Absence from the winter semester (2021).

During the fall 2020 I was dealing with severe mental illness (anxiety and depression) which heavily impacted my ability to maintain my academic performance. On top of this over the last three months I have been dealing with a range of personal setbacks including receiving and working on getting away from verbal abuse from a parent, loss of a friend to suicide. This mental health issue that I have been dealing with on top of the extenuating circumstances I am experiencing has made it very difficult to find the motivation and my ability to deal with anxiety.

In the process of trying to get back on track I have started attending regular counselling sessions with Student Wellness that began at the end of the fall semester. I have also been consulting with my family physician and a physician at Student Wellness.

My mental health condition had already been a cause of struggle for me throughout this academic school year (2020/2021) and with these new circumstances that have come up, and after extensive discussion with my counsellor, I feel that this is preventing me from completing this school year and have made the tough decision to begin the process to appeal for a Leave of Absence with the hope that I will be able to return for the fall 2021 semester and be able to get the most out of my Queens education and experience.

The reason I had not dropped these courses before the drop deadline is because at the time of the deadline my I was still working with my counsellor with the hopes of being able to continue moving forward with my courses, but after the deadline passed, I learned of the loss of a close friend and this on top of the stress I was already experiencing with my pre-existing mental illness and other personal struggles mentioned above has led me to make this difficult decision.

My goal is to use this time off to continue accessing the wide range of supports that are available to me through Queens, including the services offered by Student Wellness, and registering with QSAS as well as finding out about any and all resources that are offered by Queens to help me get back on track, and to combine these supports with the work I have been doing with my counsellor and on my own. With these goals in mind, it is my hope that I will return to my studies in the Fall 2021 semester with a greater working knowledge active involvement with available supports and with personal growth that will help me see success in my educational ambitions.

I am in the process of contacting my professors to inform them of this decision.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Best Wishes,
Megan Haire
10182476