Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Associate Dean (Academic),

I am writing to appeal to late drop my classes from the fall semester of the 2021/2022 school year. These courses include POLS 388, POLS 338, POLS 384, LAW 202, and POLS 230.

There have been many issues in my life during this time which led up to me being forced to appeal my classes as I was not able to complete them to the best of my ability whatsoever. I have been experiencing mental health problems since high school, which were treated and got a bit better during first year. During the middle of my second year, these problems started to arise again due to issues I was having with myself, my family, and my education. I started to attempt guidance and counselling during second year which did not go well as it did not seem that it was very helpful at all. Once I arrived in Kingston for my 3rd year, this is when everything went downhill. With a mix of my depression, anxiety, and overall loneliness on top of everything that was occurring in my life at the time, my entire life went into a spiral and I was not able to do anything. I was not able to get out of bed every single morning and would just lay in a filthy room all day for the entire semester. I stopped exercising and gained over 40 pounds, during 2021, the issues between my parents and the rest of my immediate family significantly worsened, and the problems within my house (roommates) got worse by the day. During 3rd year, I was seeking counselling very regularly through QSAS in order to get any sort of help as I knew there was nothing else I could do. For the last year, I??ve felt as if I have been at rock bottom, and there is absolutely no way of getting out. During November, I attempted to get everything back on track and try and complete at least 2-3 of the courses I was enrolled in so that I wouldn??t fall as behind as I am now. But, on November 13th, I tested positive for COVID-19 and had horrible symptoms for the entire month and beyond. During the beginning of the month, one of my housemates tested positive, and it wasn??t until the first week of December that we were all out of isolation due to other people getting it as well. I had fever-like symptoms, a cold, and horrible body aches and pains for the first 2 weeks, along with being unable to eat. I lost my sense of taste and smell which did not return until a few days before Christmas, it was until this point that I was not able to eat or sleep properly. The COVID isolation through me into more of a spiral, which I am still trying to recover from, but it has been extremely difficult. At this point, I have no other options. Attempting to write my exams within the next few weeks will put me up to 3-4 weeks behind on all of my classes this semester which is going to ruin my life and education even more. This is my only option.

My plan to make things better for the future consists of various factors which I can utilise to improve my overall well-being and my ability to succeed academically. I have been going to counselling regularly and will continue to do so during the rest of the school year. I have deleted all social media from my phone and have removed most distractions from my life so that I can focus on school. I have left my current house in Kingston for now and will be living at home in a less toxic environment so that I can focus and have social support around me from family. I am planning to work with a physician regarding mental health support, along with support from an occupational therapist. Furthermore, I will be registered with QSAS as well and will be in contact with professionals regularly in order to stay on top of everything in my life, especially my academics.

Thank you very much for taking your time to read this letter. I hope it finds you well.
Best,
Zafar Mahmood.