Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Mackenzie Lauren Ling

20112239

17mll7@queensu.ca

613-854-9481

1760 Featherston Drive

K1H 8J8


To whom it may concern,

My name is Mackenzie Ling and I am a student in my fourth year at Queen's. I'm appealing to drop my DEVS 221 course late this term. Since the first week of March up until now, I've been dealing with a severe flare up of mental health conditions. This flare up has lasted over the course of many weeks up until now and has been very debilitating for me. It has been severely impacting my ability to concentrate on my academics, to complete assignments and get tasks done efficiently within a timely manner. It has been severely impacting my sleep, keeping me up within most hours of the night, often causing me to fall asleep at late hours and waking up earlier.

Since the month of March was also midterm season for most of my classes throughout the winter term, the stress of just trying to manage my mental health and juggling all my tasks was nearly impossible for me to accomplish. I was also still processing the loss of a housemate who was a Queen's student and had passed away from suicide in October of the 2021 fall semester. I found it especially hard for me to complete my assignments for DEVS 221, because it required a lot of emotional connection with the course material and because the course dealt with very heavy topics, I felt triggered by some of the material.

For three weeks I felt very embarrassed and scared to reach out for help. Even just getting out of bed was hard for me. However, I realized once I started experiencing suicidal ideation, that enough was enough and that I had to get help. It was then when I finally plucked up the courage to reach out for help. On March 27th I reached out to the DEVS 221 teaching team, and they referred me to Professor Fanning. I was then able to let him know what was happening to me and he recommended that I appeal to drop the course late. He kindly said he'd be willing to support my appeal. I then reached out to Student Wellness Services and saw them on the 29th for care. I also followed up with my psychologist, family doctor and sought care within the following weeks. Furthermore, because I am registered with QSAS, I reached out to my QSAS advisor Cristina Cardelus to let her know I was having a flare up with my mental health that was creating new barriers for me and my academics. She then helped provide extra accommodations beyond my typical accommodations for my other classes because the severity of my flare up.

In the documents that follow this letter, I will be sharing medical documentation provided by my psychologist and student wellness services. Considering this information, I kindly request you grant my appeal to drop my DEVS 221 course after the drop deadline. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to look over my letter and attached documentation. I am happy to meet with you should you want to discuss anything further. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Mackenzie Ling.