Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academics),

My name is Claudia Timachy and I am currently a Queens third-year BAH major student, who is shadowing a Computing major, in hopes of switching faculties. However, due to a series of events out of my control during my time here, I have faced a number of challenges in meeting my own goals for success as a student. My true passion is Computer Science, but it has felt out of my reach for some time now due to my past academic transcript, which was largely affected due to my mental illness. I am writing to you in hopes of gaining a pardon and late drop on my transcript for the following classes, CISC 121, MATH 112, Math121, CISC 124, CISC 204, STATS 263.

I had been diagnosed with severe depression, and moderate anxiety at the age of 15, and have been struggling to deal with it in my daily life since then. Due to my diagnosis, in 2016, I had then been put on a high dose of anti-depressants, been in touch with multiple therapists, and as well as a psychologist. These things had helped me succeed in my high school years, and I had naively thought I would have been able to handle the transition into university without support from Queens. I did not want to be defined by my mental illness any longer in a place that felt like a fresh start to me. However, the transition to university would be a difficult one, as it already is for those without the added pressure of dealing with depression. Against my previous judgement, I had decided to call ahead in the summer and set up an appointment at the Wellness centre, to get some support here at Queens. When I had originally gone, I felt as if I was brushed off and not appointed to the proper resources I needed. It had discouraged me from reaching out to the Wellness Centre for mental health help from that point on.

My first semester had gone relatively well for me in this transition period as can be seen on my transcript. I had begun to make many friends and felt myself getting happy and comfortable.
Things had changed when I sustained my second concussion on December 1st in 2018, which altered my mood drastically. My first concussion was only a year and a half prior, lasted a year in length, and I had felt as if I finally had gotten back to my previous academic level. This had put me back at the starting line, and I suffered for a long time from post-concussion syndrome as well as a problem with short term memory. I had seen a few doctors for this and had gotten multiple tests done (as well as with the school), but nothing seemed to make it any easier for me. Depression is one of the symptoms of post-concussion syndrome, and as I had already had depression prior to this, it had only elevated it further. A decision was made over the Christmas break that we would try and switch medications as I was in a very low place. However, it had only sent me in a fast downward spiral.

In the summer of 2019, I had started to feel much better and my doctor had decided it would be to my benefit to phase me off of the antidepressants. As you can see from my Fall 2019, this had a great impact on me and I had failed most of my courses, as I was not able to get out of bed most days. Due to my lack of communication with my parents, they had sensed something was wrong and cut their time working abroad to aid me in getting help. In December a few days before my exams, they had come to Kingston and I visited the crisis councillors here at Queens. I had gotten some temporary support, but the damage had already been done as I had been struggling to get up or eat, let alone find the motivation to study. It had crossed my mind during that exam season to check myself into a hospital because I did not feel like myself, but I was worried about my schooling as well as what my peers would think. I however came into my Winter 2020 semester, more positive, on the proper medication, and looking to turn things around for myself academically. Tragedy struck in early January where my closest cousin had died in an airplane that got struck down over Iran due to a missile. I had sought help and barely made it by in the semester, once again crushing my goals of applying myself, so I could switch into a computer science major and get my GPA up.

Since then, I have felt the effects of COVID heavily when it first hit, as most people with mental health have due to the isolation. I had originally planned to take the summer for myself to get back on track with my mental health but I instead decided to take a math course I needed. This was not a good idea and I had ended up doing quite poorly.

Since then I have been in touch with QSAS and had gotten registered for help, gone back on a steady dose of medication, and have been able to see my therapist on a more frequent basis. I am currently in Kingston for this semester and have been receiving a lot of support from friends, as well as family nearby. You can see I have improved through the reflection of my grades in my transcripts from the past semesters. I recognize I have not made the best decisions regarding my mental health in the past, but I hope you can see I have been working hard to improve myself and gain support academically and mentally while battling depression. I am asking for forgiveness, to stop letting my past academics while dealing with mental illness, define my future here at Queens, as it is holding me back from what I would like to truly do. Previously I had been scared to let the label define me, but instead, my illness had taken over and has since defined me academically at Queens. I, however, would like to let my smarts and drive define my academic performance, rather than my depression. I hope you see the potential in my future here at Queens.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Claudia Timachy