Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I wish to drop PHYS 118 from my transcript. During week 8, I did not drop the course, as my mental condition was controlled by medications, but I had several flare-ups. However, in April, I have been struggling a lot with my mental health throughout the course and was unable to perform at my highest standard. My mental health had deteriorated rapidly leading up to my exam due to a variety of factors (i.e., family situation, past history of severe anxiety disorder diagnosed by a physician etc). I have attempted to commit suicide twice. Fortunately, I had the resources to help me seek help from the Kingston General Hospital emergency department and was on Form 1 (watched by a security guard for hours) until I was discharged. I had a second attempt that ended me up at the hospital again. I do not want to go into details regarding these suicide attempts, but I was very close to ending my life. I do not want this course to be an anomaly in my academic records, and I hope to take this course again in the future when I can put my full mind into the course. I do not want to explain this situation to the professor, as I want all of this information to be confidential. Please keep this information confidential from my TAs and instructors, as I do not want my medical condition to be disclosed to anyone; I am embarrassed by my actions. I really hope to have this course dropped as soon as possible as a DR on my transcript. I am only appealing PHYS 118 because this course was a major trigger of my mental health condition and I had a strong background of the other courses I was taking, so I was able to perform adequately in them. I have been on medications since October 2020. I am actively seeking help from a psychiatrist now and I am on several medications to help me with my suicidal thoughts. I have medical documentation called Form 42 Mental Health Act that shows that I have attempted suicide and had serious bodily harm to myself. I was very mentally unstable and could not focus on the PHYS 118 exam.