Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

In early 2009, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and on September 24, 2009, he passed away. His death has affected my mother's mental stability, physical well being, and her ability to cope with stress. Going into university the following fall was very difficult for me because I felt I no longer had my primary support system, my family. I became severely depressed in my first year, and attempted to commit suicide in December. I was taken to Kingston General Hospital after ingesting a lethal number of pills and passing out, but I did not admit to the suicide attempt. In the winter term, I was falsely diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder by my family doctor, and prescribed Adderall (amphetamine). I became very addicted to the pills, and started self-medicating with them by increasing my dosage. They caused me to have horrible mood swings, and terrible bouts of depression. I saw my residence counsellor in Victoria Hall towards the end of the semester, and I decided that I would not be returning to university the following year.

Towards the end of the summer, I saw Dr. Grossman, a psychiatrist who told me that I needed to stop taking Adderall, as it was contributing to my severe mood swings and depression. With his help, I decided to go back to university in the fall of 2011. I saw him monthly, and tried not to overexert myself in school. I also asked some of my professors for extensions when I felt I needed them. I still experienced bursts of depression and stress, but my mood was much more stable than it had been the previous year.

In October of 2012, I started to become increasingly depressed again. I was chronically stressed and felt incapable of applying myself in all aspects of life, and I began to have suicidal thoughts again. Dr. Grossman prescribed Bupropion, an antidepressant to help me manage my depression and stress. I started to take it towards the end of October. It caused me to feel detached from my surroundings. I felt hazy, unable to focus, and as if I was hallucinating my life. Since Bupropion was not effective, he prescribed Wellbutrin, which I started to take the following month. I no longer felt the haziness that came with Bupropion, but instead, I just felt very numb. I was very uncomfortable with the medication because I felt it was causing me to lose myself and my ability to feel anything. I felt emotionally suppressed, but I knew I had to take it to be functional academically. I tried to resume completing coursework in classes in which it was not too late to pass. As December approached, I realized I was still bound to do very poorly in all my courses based on the lack of submitted work. Friends in some of my classes who knew about my depressive episodes convinced me to speak to my professors about my circumstances. Professor Dawes, Professor Ableson, and Professor Smith agreed to change the weighting of my marking scheme to better reflect the work that I did complete in their courses.

During this period, I would like to appeal to drop CISC 333 from my transcript since I was not healthy enough to contribute any academic work to that course.

I stopped taking my medication during the holiday break. I hoped that I could continue with the winter semester without the medication. I went into it feeling confident and excited. That feeling was very short-lived, though, and an overwhelming feeling of incompetence and stress set in instead. For me, this was the breaking point -- the point at which I realized that the only way for me to succeed in school was to be medicated with a substance that I felt made me lose my identity. I did not resume taking it. I did not want to feel its numbing side-effects. I was so afraid of becoming severely depressed and suicidal again, that I tried to ignore things that I thought would cause me to feel stress, including my responsibilities in school. My attendance in classes began to drop again, and I had trouble completing coursework. I stopped regularly seeing my psychiatrist as well, since I did not want to be reprimanded for not taking my medication. I knew my choice of not taking Wellbutrin was destructive, but at that point, I felt less numb, and suicide was a less often recurring thought in my head. I began to experience high anxiety as the semester went on, and so I restarted taking Wellbutrin on and off. I also started to severely restrict my diet during this period to only consuming a single meal to be had during a half hour slot in the morning. I did this because it gave me the false security of being in control of something in my life. However, it also caused me to become chronically tired and physically unhealthy. I wanted to succeed, but I did not know how to manage my emotional instability. I felt alone and powerless.

I received an email from one of my professors, Professor Roblin, about lack of coursework submission (PROF 211). She was very understanding of my state, and allowed me to submit a series of very late assignments, granting me a B in the course. Exam season approached, and I only had two courses with final exams: PSYC 221 and CISC 235. I wrote the exams even though I did not think I would pass the courses. I did well on them, allowing me to pass both courses. I would not have passed CISC 235, but Professor Dawes replaced a student's course grade with their final exam mark if they performed better on it, which brought me up from a 0 to an A- in the course.

During that period, I would like to appeal for the submitted grade change for COGS 300, for an AG in PHIL 240, and CR in both PSYC 221 and PSYC 471.

The fall and winter of 2014 presented the same unbroken cycle -- a cycle in which I tried, failed, and accepted professor accommodations when they were offered. I rarely approached professors for accommodations because I had not improved over the past years, and I felt embarrassed by my degraded state. I knew I was a failure, and I had frequent emotional breakdowns when that thought surfaced. I continued to take Wellbutrin on and off in hopes that I could recover my life. I started to speak to Queen's counsellors towards the end of the winter semester too. They taught me methods to cope with my emotional instability that enabled me to do well enough on some final exams to pass courses. At the end of that winter, I made a choice that I would permanently stop taking Wellbutrin since it felt like more of a bandage solution that would only temporarily help me break out of my depression.

During that period, I would like to appeal for the submitted grade change for MATH 221. I would also like to appeal for a CR in CISC 326, MATH 272, MATH 232 and to drop MATH 312 from my transcript.

In the summer of 2014, I worked at healthily pushing my stress threshold and building my resilience. I also practiced methods of cognitive behavioural therapy and meditation.

I have waited four years to make this appeal because I knew I was stuck in a cycle, and did not want to make an appeal that would be followed by more academic failure and instability. It has taken several years of recovery and guidance for me to get to this point, in which I now feel mentally stable. I have not taken antidepressant medications since May of 2014, and I finally feel like I have a support system. I also know that I can now succeed academically.

I took six course this past fall -- one of which was my independent studies course where I was to meet with a professor on a weekly-basis to discuss a research project (CISC 499). Due to a physical accident I had early in the semester, though, I could not meet with the professor. It was decided that I would complete that course in the winter semester instead, which is why I am appealing to drop it from my transcript.

Due to the accident, I lost three of my teeth, got 10 facial stitches, fractured the occipital condyle of my spinal cord, broke my scapula, and got a severe concussion, but it has been completely incomparable to the mental trauma I had experienced in my previous years. I worked hard, and was able to fully complete five of my courses. I achieved three A-s, one A, and one A in those courses. This semester, I am currently standing at an A in CISC 320 and an A in CISC 325.

In December of 2014, I completed an essay for COGS 300, a course for which I am appealing to receive the letter grade change sent in by my professor.

I am appealing to receive an AG in PHIL 240, a course in which I completed 70 percent of the course work, but received a failing grade. I did not learn that I could apply for an AG until this year.


I am appealing to receive the change of grade submitted for MATH 221. I took the course in the fall of 2013, and wrote the exam in the summer period because of a lack of response from the professor when I tried to contact him, and the anxiety that came with that. As well, even though the exam was written in the summer, a change of grade form was not submitted by the professor until late fall of 2014, even upon my constant reminders to update the grade.

Thank you for considering my appeal.