Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: This past fall, I was diagnosed and suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I struggled with this in high school, however over first year it became worse, and debilitating in my second year. It began to worsen in October of the fall term (2021 fall), and by November I was very mentally unwell. The nature of OCD makes it very difficult to complete tasks, which in my case was largely school work and studying. Assignments or readings would take me double or triple the amount of time in which they normally could be completed in. Small tasks such as answering emails, finishing assignments, going to class, or doing short readings were extremely disabling for me and caused me a great deal of panic. In November, I went back to my home province to be with my family and seek professional help. My doctor and I made a plan, and I started medication and continued with the therapy I was already in. At the end of November, I received academic consideration from Queen's which deferred a few assignments and the final exams for me. I struggled to complete my deferred assignments, and have not yet taken these exams. I have decided to take the coming semester off (2021 winter), as I cannot make a full recovery and work on my mental health if I am still in school at the moment. This is a conclusion my doctors and I have come to. Therefore, I want to late drop my courses from the 2021 fall term so next year I can return to Queen's as a second year and retake these three courses when I am more mentally able. As I am taking the 2021 winter semester off, and will be short many second year credits, it makes sense to me to fully re-do second year. The work I did complete in these classes was not a reflection of me as a student, and I would take away much more information and expertise from the classes, if I am granted a late drop and retake them next year.