Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am appealing to drop PSYC 236 (Winter 2022), as I have undergone two traumatic events that have greatly impacted my studies.

Over Winter reading week, I took a trip to Mexico with my friend. On February 20, 2022, I underwent something extremely traumatic. At the time, I did not fully understand what had happened to me, and I was still in shock from the situation. Unfortunately, the next day, I experienced a similar event that was even more traumatic than the first event. For the remaining days of the trip, I could not stop replaying the events of my traumatic experiences in my head, and I had multiple panic attacks that lasted hours on end. Although, I was able to keep it together for most of the remainder of the trip, because I was still in shock and denial about what had happened to me. I returned to Kingston after the trip, and it was not until I had finally settled back into my house that I had to face what had happened to me. My emotions were a mess; I went from laughing to crying to feeling numb in a matter of seconds. I could not accept what had happened to me. I also could not stop playing the events of what happened to me over and over in my head. I continued to go to my classes, but there was no point in attending because I could not pay attention to anything the professors were saying. In class, I would try to pay attention, but I could not stop myself from zoning out and replaying the incidents in my head. I could not even register what the professor was explaining, because all I could hear was the sounds from the incidents. Even when I could force myself to pay attention in class, I was faced with brutal reminders of the incidents. This is because I study psychology, and I have to sit through classes and learn material that directly relates to what I experienced, such as PTSD. It is especially difficult for me to sit through my clinical psychology class. I made an emergency appointment with my therapist because I was struggling with day-to-day tasks, and she was so concerned for me she gave me her personal phone number to contact her. It has been three weeks since the incidents, and I am still struggling immensely. I am an extremely dedicated student, and I pride myself on my work ethic and school abilities. Last semester, my cumulative GPA was 4.2, and I have never skipped a class. Since the incidents, I have been forgetting assignments and missing classes because I am in so much mental pain, and I can not force myself to get up and go to them. Missing assignments and skipping class is something I could not even have imagined doing before reading week. I have been seeing my therapist twice a week, I have been speaking to a Queen's University trauma counsellor, and I have called the Sexual Assault Crisis line multiple times. I was also granted academic consideration, but unfortunately, doing 5 courses is too much for me at the moment. I have immense difficulty concentrating for long periods of time, which is extremely difficult for me because before reading week I used to sit down and study for up to 10 hours before big exams. Small tasks take me hours to complete, and after I complete them, I am mentally exhausted. Trying to keep up with school while working to improve my mental health is extremely difficult, and unfortunately, I have too much on my plate right now. My grades have already started dropping, which is extremely frustrating for me, because the incidents already took so much away from me. I had to miss my clinical psychology midterm because I could not bear to study the material, as trying to study it triggered me. Therefore, I hope to drop PSYC 236 and resume it when I am in a better mental headspace and can put in the effort the course requires.

My plan for the rest of the semester is to work hard in my remaining four courses. I plan to retake PSYC 236 in the fall 2022 semester when my mental health has improved.

Thank you for your consideration,

Taylor Birrell
20207723