Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Associate Dean (Academic)
Queen??s University

I am writing this academic appeal letter as a request to drop all of my 2021 Fall courses late. These courses are ASTR 101, GPHY 101, HIST 106, and HIST 108.

The reason for this appeal can be almost completely attributed to my actively deteriorating mental wellness at the time, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic alongside internal feelings of depression and helplessness. Going into the 2021 Fall academic term I already had a feeling of being lost in what I wanted to pursue and what I wanted to be, which fed into an underlying sense of having no purpose. From the onset of the term going forward, I tried my best to fight these feelings and push forward with my academics; yet, as time went on, I couldn't help but notice myself becoming more and more drained.
These feelings culminated during the fall mid-term break when my roommate had left to go back home, and I was left alone in the residence for a wee. Being alone with these thoughts for a long stretch of time had left me feeling incredibly unmotivated and helpless, confining myself to my bed I became isolated socially from anyone else. From here my mental health would only get worse as this mindset made it almost impossible for me to concentrate on any of my academics. Therefore, I began to procrastinate on my work - and what ensued was a snowballing effect of greater and greater guilt along with a strong underlying state of depression. As these feelings coalesced it became almost impossible to sleep, making recovery from my current position that much more difficult. This predicament would of course continue swelling within myself and as it went on it became harder to tell anyone or reach out for help. Out of pure terror of the implications, I wouldn??t open up to anyone about it, and in doing that my procrastination continued into a spiral. The longer it went on the worse it became.
This continued through the start of the winter academic term when I was back home in Vancouver. I would find myself in my bed for most of the days unable to find a purpose in leaving it. Due to the overwhelming feelings of depression and helplessness, I was experiencing, this time, in particular, was extremely difficult for me. These days of staying in bed and feeling hopeless would go on until finally, during February reading week, I opened up to my parents about what I had been going through in an attempt to salvage myself and come back from this situation I had created.
I reached out to a psychiatrist through my parents by the name of Dr. John Ogrodniczuk (https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/person/john-ogrodniczuk/) who is the director of the psychotherapy program at UBC and also the founder of HeadsUpGuys, who has been a massive help to me and who I continue to meet with weekly through zoom. He was also the one who advised me to take a leave of absence from academics at Queen??s University for the remainder of this current Winter term and come back in the 2022 Fall term. In my absence from academics, I will be seeking to better myself and learn about myself by seeking employment opportunities and bettering my mental health through different means such as my psychiatrist and fitness. When the time comes for me to return to the University I feel that I will be in a better mental and physical position to succeed, and I will also make sure to take advantage of the resources the University has to offer in terms of academic advisors, counsellors and tutors. Additionally, I feel that I will be in a more positive and healthy environment as I will be living out of residence and in a house in Kingston with peers that will be supportive of my well-being and my academic success.
This past fall and early winter were some of the most harrowing and depressing times of my life thus far, and my academic record from this time does not accurately or adequately represent my intelligence, drive and will to succeed within the Queen??s community. I hope you will accept this appeal so that I can better my mental wellbeing and come to Queen??s in the fall with a positive outlook, excitement to learn and an overall truer representation of who I am and the student I want to be at Queen??s.