Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Heidi Landon, and I am a third year student enrolled in the concurrent-education program. I am hoping to become a secondary math/music teacher someday, but I have been struggling immensely with mental/physical health conditions that have proved to be detrimental to my academic achievement. I was enrolled in MUTH111 this semester, after completing MUTH110 last semester, but was unable to meet most deadlines and finish assignments to an acceptable degree. I was also enrolled in MATH387 which proved to be a lot more challenging to complete than I expected as well. Since school has switched to virtual learning, I have been struggling to stay focused and cope with my ADHD. I have needed academic accommodations for ADHD since beginning here at Queen's in 2018. These were helpful during first and second year (when school was in person) as I received extra time on tests/exams, but I since things have switched to virtual and the structure of both these courses were more assignment based, I began to find it extremely difficult to complete assignments on my own, even if I knew about the due dates in advance.

Since the pandemic began, a lot of progress I made in recovering from an eating disorder, coping with generalized anxiety disorder, O.C.D., ADHD, and symptoms of depression, has been diminished and somewhat reversed. I have been having appointments with my family doctor over the phone each month for the last year and I have been on and off many different psychiatric drugs (concerta, ritalin, vyvanse, prozac, cipralex, zoloft) to try to alleviate these feelings and symptoms. During this pandemic and especially the last two months, I was starting to lose hope in my ability to accomplish much at all. I was living in Kingston at my student house without the support of my parents, and I completely lost control of my mental state and as a result physical health as well. I know many people have been suffering and I am not alone in feeling this way, and I know COVID has impacted others in immeasurably worse ways. With deadlines continuing to build upon each other in all my classes, and my inability to function normally each day diminished, I began to realize how deeply I have been letting my mental disorders, ADHD, and self-pity impact my ability to intrinsically motivate myself to study or even take care of myself for that matter. On April 1st I called student wellness services to talk to one of their crisis counsellors because I was feeling pretty overwhelmed/self destructive l due to the mental health issues I have been experiencing more intensely in the last couple weeks. I had completely lost the ability to regulate my sleep cycle and feed myself properly. The crisis counsellor (her name was Kelly) brought up the idea for me to take a medical leave for the rest of the semester, and I started considering how much I needed something like that to focus on getting healthy without the added stress of school. I had a follow up appointment with Kelly, and then an appointment with Christina Ruggiero, who advised me to speak with the concurrent education academic advisor Holly Robinson, before getting documentation for a medical leave. Holly Robinson advised me to first reach out to all my professors to see where I am at in terms of still possibly passing the courses I am in, and for ones I may not be able to pass, to discuss the option of taking an incomplete grade. However, in light of my circumstances and level of course completion for both these classes, my professors for MUTH111 and MATH387, Dr. Walker and Professor Barthelmé, advised me to apply for a late drop of these courses, and to focus on becoming healthy again so I can hopefully re-take these classes in the future and excel fully. I understand the winter term semester has now ended completely, and that may mean I am not able to avoid more failures on my transcript at this point. I wish I had the foresight to submit this appeal much earlier, as I have just yesterday arrived home (in Arnprior Ontario) to live with my parents for the summer and get the help of an in-person mental health professional in the area, as well as starting regular in-person doctor¿¿s appointments for physical check ins. I am finally feeling a bit of mental clarity now that I am home and I know the appeal should have been submitted much sooner. I hope this is still an option that can be considered for me, and if medical documentation is needed from my treatment team I can provide that as well. Thank you very much for reading this and I hope you have a great rest of your week.
Sincerely,
Heidi Landon
Student 20101100