Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern

I am writing this to appeal for a late withdrawal from POLS 385 due to some extenuating circumstances that I experienced this past semester (Winter 2022).

Firstly, I would like to apologize for how long it took me to write this appeal letter. I am just coming out of the timeframe where the extenuating circumstances were affecting me.

To begin, this past semester has by far been one of the most challenging times of my adult life. This is partially because I was cooped up at home while studying online in another province, where I spent the majority of my time completely alone. The reason that I was alone so often was because my mental health was at an all time low and I was dealing with severe depression and anxiety. This was made worse by the fact that several of my immediate family members and close friends tested positive for COVID-19 and became sick. I have a lot of anxiety surrounding myself or close family contracting COVID, and with so many loved ones sick at once my anxiety was constantly in overdrive. I did not reach out to my friends or family for long stretches of time, I lost friends, I lost my appetite, I slept most of the day, and I had severe difficulty concentrating or remembering anything. This impacted my academic performance because I couldn??t focus on my work or stay on top of deadlines whatsoever due to the constant physical/mental exhaustion and executive dysfunction. I could hardly muster up the energy to get out of bed for weeks on end, let alone attempt to do my coursework or attend tutorials. I was too afraid to reach out for help out of fear of disappointing my family or creating an additional source of worry during a time that was already very stressful for them as well. My withdrawal from my personal relationships was severely isolating, and I didn??t have a reliable support system or people I could safely talk to. At the same time I didn??t want to admit that I had a problem and I was in serious denial about my condition until just recently.

I have managed to maintain a 3.5 GPA throughout my studies at Queens, and if you look at my transcript, I hope that it can prove that this was a stand out semester in terms of academic performance, and not a trend. Normally, I am a good student, and I do take my academics seriously, I just didn??t have the skills or support to cope with this bout of severe mental illness. My poor performance in this course is seriously out of character for me and does not reflect my capabilities as a student. I was able to write one test for the class in which I received a 76%. I hope that this grade can demonstrate that it wasn??t a matter of me having difficulty understanding the course content; and had I not been suffering from depression/anxiety, I am confident that I would have been able to succeed in the course.

To improve my situation, I have recently moved from Winnipeg (my home) to Kingston so that I can benefit from in person instruction- which I feel is better for my mental health and gives me sufficient motivation to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. It already has made a huge difference, I have perfect attendance for my spring classes so far and I am feeling much better.
I am going to reach out to a local therapist, and hope to begin therapy and possibly medication for my depression and anxiety as soon as possible. I plan to have documentation of this within the upcoming week. As POLS 385 is a mandatory class for my program, I will retake the class as soon as possible (fall or winter 2022-2023).

This was very difficult for me to write, as I??m still coming to terms with what happened, and apologies again for the lateness of this request. I am actively taking steps to ensure that this never happens again. I know that there??s no guarantee of being afforded consideration, but I hope that the circumstances that I??ve described as well as my (upcoming) supporting documentation can provide a clear picture of what I was going through, and help you see that I wasn??t able to adequately succeed in the course due to the distress that I was experiencing. If you have any questions about my request feel free to contact me at 17elt1@queensu.ca

Thanks in advance for your consideration

Ellie Thorlakson (20106413)