Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am requesting to waive the one term deadline to academically appeal two courses in my 3rd year for a Credit standing: In POLS 347 The Politics of Africa, I am not sure if my professor graded my final paper as I sent it through email when I was sick-he never replied to my many emails throughout the semester, and there was no OnQ page. In POLS 392 Topics in Canadian Politics, Canadian elections was very foreign to me, despite trying to keep up with materials, compared to my classmates who participated in the election simulation naturally-I felt intellectually insecure. I struggled to maintain focus and motivation to do well in the courses I outlined above. During these two semesters, I experienced unhealthy coping mechanisms like isolating myself, strict nutrition and high intensity workouts to distract myself from racing thoughts and suppressing the traumatic experience. This was rooted from traumatic family events in the summer of 2018 (physical abuse).
I persevered to not address the experience in my second year to focus on my studies however, suppressing my mental health backfired in my third year. I had a bad habit of pushing myself even though my mental health could not keep up. It is also considered shameful and embarrassing to share intimate details about your mental health or family struggles to others in Arab cultures. This expectation has been culturally ingrained in my attitude towards addressing my mental health. I did not know how to explain my situation to others until I addressed the issue myself and was hoping to retake one of the courses before I graduate. I was also extremely critical over delaying my expected academic plan by taking a 5th year to improve my GPA and retake courses. I chose to complete my sociology credits in my 4th year to focus on doing well when I retake the course in my 5th year (POLS 346 was suddenly not offered this year). I was able to lose 20 kg, and I sought out a mental health professional in the fall of 2020 (Beverley Drakes).
Dr. Jefferies's (ophthalmologist) assessment reports an optic nerve injury requiring a prism to accommodate the sensory diplopia, vergence dysfunction and decompensating esophoria that contributes to an accommodative dysfunction (Bincoular Vision Assessment 2018, p.6). She also suggested a bi-nasal occlusion. Signing up for vision therapy was a four-month waitlist, and I convinced myself I was fine. I faced a sense of embarrassment and was reminded of the negative experience from the questions made as to why I had to wear fogging strips on my eyeglasses. When I took the glasses off, my eyes would move inwards when I was tired from reading large amounts of materials and attending lectures, and from lack of sleep from insomnia. I am still prescribed to have a prism in my eyeglasses, which has helped my eye condition.
To address my mental health, I was urged by friends and family to speak to Beverely Drakes during the Fall 2020 semester, and I currently contact her occasionally. My academic success during this time reflects my mental health progress. I was able to become more aware about my mental health that has allowed me to address and be open to others supporting me. I also took a behavioural approach and was able to be more academically successful. For example, I began stabilizing my mood and addressing racing thoughts through moderate, steady exercise rather than resorting to high intensity exercise or by avoiding social interactions to suppress negative thoughts. Steady exercise became a channel for self-reflection. This is when I changed my perspective on taking a 5th year. I realized adjusting my career and academic plans would be beneficial in the long-term for my mental health. My initial aim was to go to law school right after my undergraduate degree; however, I am more confident now that my mental health trumps my initial desire to overly exert myself to get where I expect myself to be. I can always attend law school after my masters.
I also spoke to Solita Hoogendam from Queen's Student Wellness in December of 2021 when I had a negative experience in the summer that was bringing back negative habits from the year before. She supported Beverley's recommendation for me to get a mental health assessment. Upon talking to Solita I found myself taking the behavioural approach again to ensure I don't remain in old patterns.
Overall, talking to Beverely has been extremely useful for my personal and academic life. My 4th year was a time where I self-reflected and tried to see what works for me and my mental health. I have taken my 5th year to maintain and continue to tweak my habits to ensure I am able to reach my goals. As a result, I have been accepted to the Sociology graduate program at Queen's for next year as well as at the University of Toronto. I want to academically appeal as these grades on my transcript do not accurately reflect my capabilities and work ethic. I have become more confident that the development of my habits is an iterative process to support my mental health and academic goals.