Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I don't know how to exactly go about explaining my case here as there is more than a single factor that's lead to my appeal. My mental condition, and complications related to it caused by events outside my control at the time. I am writing this appeal to explain a condition that has recently become more clear to me as problems in my life have piled and intersected to a point where i required outside help. I'm now aware that my struggle with anxiety has caused a depression that I found myself lost in for what feels like more than a few years. My transition from living in Vancouver while in high school and then moving to Kingston for post secondary fueled my anxiety and thus my ability to fulfill the goals I had set for myself (including and especially my academic ones.) The opportunity to study at Queen's was the greatest blessing and achievement of my life and I can say that I did try hard to overcome my struggles and continue on the academic path i had set for myself. The psychological damage that i withstood in order to operate as close as I could to a normal able student is painful to look back on as I feel better dealing with my condition now that I'm actually aware of it. My anxiety started off as a fluctuating obstacle to my studies and caused sleep loss on and off on top of direct pressure to refrain from the outside. It only got worse as I was discouraged by it's effect on my academic standing in my classes and my social life. I resorted to excessive alcohol consumption as well as regular doses of cannabis which I attempted to stop doing at the beginning of the 2014 fall semester in hopes that it would change my patterns. My anxiety turned in to occasional to more frequent episodes of anxiety attacks where I felt hopeless and kept it all under wraps. I felt guilty that I was wasting an opportunity which so many people sacrificed for in order for me to develop myself and my aspirations. I feel now that this guilt was and Is a great contribute to painful depression this struggle flowered into. As my struggle with anxiety escalated, it was stamped by the stains it left on my academic record as trouble it caused directly refrained me from performing to the level i tried to. I felt hopeless and tired in what felt endless. the reason I continued in the midst of this dark personal struggle has to do with my idea of a good life. My idea of a good life for myself revolves around my ability to acquire information and understand it. I have a genuine attraction to learning in general, whether it be literature, politics or art history. My interests branch off from the classical humanities and my personal interests and reading material reflect this. Imaging the idea of me being barred from continuing my academic pursuits is truly terrifying. I want nothing more than the ability to continue as an active student immersed in the castle of interactive information that is Queen's. If I imagine myself free of anxiety and depression, what I'd want is nothing more than to pursue what I've always wanted, which is a world class education at an institution I admire and know. In second year things got much worse. To understand what happened to me in second year, I need to explain a little bit of background from a time shortly before my first year at Queen's. i was on the premise of the 2011 Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver which saw headlines and follow ups by a large police task force. I was caught on camera participation in the riots. It was over a year later, in the midst of the second semester of my second year when I received a very threatening phone call from an RCMP officer in British Columbia. He informed me that I was in serious trouble and that I needed to leave immediately in order to address accusations in Vancouver. The fear this caused me was extreme to the extent that it took me a month to tell any of my family about it. After seeking legal council on my own, I was able to continue extending my court obligations with short extensions in order to finish my year at Queen's. i lived with the additional fear of knowing I could be extradited back to Vancouver at any time which was a direct threat from officials in contact with me. Me, in my most fragile state was left with the additional fears of serious legal trouble which could inflict on my ability to continue with my most important priority which was and Is my personal education. It's hard to describe with words the hardships this cost me over the span of that year. After luckily being able to continue my already difficult daily school routine with anxiety, I was faced with the reality that I had been asked to leave Queen's for a year. I realize now I wouldn't have been able to come back because of my court obligations in Vancouver anyway but It was a very difficult fact face considering the amount of sweat and tears I had put in to come as far as I did. All i wanted to do was come back and continue what I had started. this opportunity seemed very far off to me at the time as I was in the midst of a legal battle for my freedom. i was literally facing time behind bars which as one can imagine was very terrifying. This all fueled my anxiety and left me in a constant depressive state which felt like one long hard struggle. As i mentally prepared myself for the very real possibility of going to prison, I had the contrasting image of my life at Queen's. This was clearly what i wanted to do if I was awarded my freedom. I finally settled with community service which I completed continuously till days before my departure to Kingston. I was under house arrest for all times except for medical emergencies, and community service. This continued as I finally got to come back to Queen's for the opportunity to salvage my academic pursuit. At the end of November my House arrest switched to a curfew which was from 7pm till 6am. i was barred into my home and nearly isolated if it wasn't for my ability to go to campus for school. I decided to try sobriety as I was very eager to try anything to avoid the disasters of the past. I ended up doing quite well with the courses I took first semester but my house arrest was a real cause of sadness for me as it made me socially awkward in my mind because i was more sensitized to company. Its hard to describe, but it changed me. Going to class became a huge ordeal for me, my anxiety started to peak higher to the point of constant sweating which only fuels the anxiety. It became grueling near the end of my curfew, but I thought I'd be relived to be set free from my conditions. Instead, I was left in a place where I felt more last than before. Scared, alone and paranoid is what I became after my whole legal ordeal. This directly affected my ability to operate as a functioning student. I was too scared to seek academic advisement as I couldn't bare the thought of facing the possible reality of being asked to leave again. I was finally forced to after an especially painful week where I couldn't finish an important philosophy assignment which starved me of sleep and cause appetite loss as well. I felt more broken than ever and resorted to drinking and drug use in order the preserve the bit of piece of mind I thought I had left. At that point in my grief, I just wanted a glimpse of some sort of relief from this chaos that was my life. That's what brought me to finally contact the academic advisement office. I was confronted to find a considerate ear on the other end of the line who was more forgiving of my life than myself. I told my adviser everything I could in a desperate attempt for help and was relived to find out that someone was sympathetic to my dark and lonely struggle. She advised me to write this appeal and make reference to which courses where affected my the extenuating circumstances which I faced. She agreed that If I could have the dark cloud of my past which a lot of in my mind is my tainted academic record, I could work to recover and grow into what I desire. I am asking for an opportunity to actualize what I want most in life without the clout that my misfortunes have brought me in the past. Please consider giving me a helping hand out of the this hole that I can't seem to dig myself out of. I hope to focus more on my health when I go back to Vancouver later this summer and focus on working out the details of helpful practices which I could adopt to help avoid the painful cycles of the past and manage my anxiety so that I can continue with my life as an active Queen's student. I don't know how to exactly go about explaining my case here as there is more than a single factor that's lead to my appeal. My mental condition, and complications related to it caused by events outside my control at the time. I am writing this appeal to explain a condition that has recently become more clear to me as problems in my life have piled and intersected to a point where i required outside help. I'm now aware that my struggle with anxiety has caused a depression that I found myself lost in for what feels like more than a few years. My transition from living in Vancouver while in high school and then moving to Kingston for post secondary fueled my anxiety and thus my ability to fulfill the goals I had set for myself (including and especially my academic ones.) The opportunity to study at Queen's was the greatest blessing and achievement of my life and I can say that I did try hard to overcome my struggles and continue on the academic path i had set for myself. The psychological damage that i withstood in order to operate as close as I could to a normal able student is painful to look back on as I feel better dealing with my condition now that I'm actually aware of it. My anxiety started off as a fluctuating obstacle to my studies and caused sleep loss on and off on top of direct pressure to refrain from the outside. It only got worse as I was discouraged by it's effect on my academic standing in my classes and my social life. I resorted to excessive alcohol consumption as well as regular doses of cannabis which I attempted to stop doing at the beginning of the 2014 fall semester in hopes that it would change my patterns. My anxiety turned in to occasional to more frequent episodes of anxiety attacks where I felt hopeless and kept it all under wraps. I felt guilty that I was wasting an opportunity which so many people sacrificed for in order for me to develop myself and my aspirations. I feel now that this guilt was and Is a great contribute to painful depression this struggle flowered into. As my struggle with anxiety escalated, it was stamped by the stains it left on my academic record as trouble it caused directly refrained me from performing to the level i tried to. I felt hopeless and tired in what felt endless. the reason I continued in the midst of this dark personal struggle has to do with my idea of a good life. My idea of a good life for myself revolves around my ability to acquire information and understand it. I have a genuine attraction to learning in general, whether it be literature, politics or art history. My interests branch off from the classical humanities and my personal interests and reading material reflect this. Imaging the idea of me being barred from continuing my academic pursuits is truly terrifying. I want nothing more than the ability to continue as an active student immersed in the castle of interactive information that is Queen's. If I imagine myself free of anxiety and depression, what I'd want is nothing more than to pursue what I've always wanted, which is a world class education at an institution I admire and know. In second year things got much worse. To understand what happened to me in second year, I need to explain a little bit of background from a time shortly before my first year at Queen's. i was on the premise of the 2011 Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver which saw headlines and follow ups by a large police task force. I was caught on camera participation in the riots. It was over a year later, in the midst of the second semester of my second year when I received a very threatening phone call from an RCMP officer in British Columbia. He informed me that I was in serious trouble and that I needed to leave immediately in order to address accusations in Vancouver. The fear this caused me was extreme to the extent that it took me a month to tell any of my family about it. After seeking legal council on my own, I was able to continue extending my court obligations with short extensions in order to finish my year at Queen's. i lived with the additional fear of knowing I could be extradited back to Vancouver at any time which was a direct threat from officials in contact with me. Me, in my most fragile state was left with the additional fears of serious legal trouble which could inflict on my ability to continue with my most important priority which was and Is my personal education. It's hard to describe with words the hardships this cost me over the span of that year. After luckily being able to continue my already difficult daily school routine with anxiety, I was faced with the reality that I had been asked to leave Queen's for a year. I realize now I wouldn't have been able to come back because of my court obligations in Vancouver anyway but It was a very difficult fact face considering the amount of sweat and tears I had put in to come as far as I did. All i wanted to do was come back and continue what I had started. this opportunity seemed very far off to me at the time as I was in the midst of a legal battle for my freedom. i was literally facing time behind bars which as one can imagine was very terrifying. This all fueled my anxiety and left me in a constant depressive state which felt like one long hard struggle. As i mentally prepared myself for the very real possibility of going to prison, I had the contrasting image of my life at Queen's. This was clearly what i wanted to do if I was awarded my freedom. I finally settled with community service which I completed continuously till days before my departure to Kingston. I was under house arrest for all times except for medical emergencies, and community service. This continued as I finally got to come back to Queen's for the opportunity to salvage my academic pursuit. At the end of November my House arrest switched to a curfew which was from 7pm till 6am. i was barred into my home and nearly isolated if it wasn't for my ability to go to campus for school. I decided to try sobriety as I was very eager to try anything to avoid the disasters of the past. I ended up doing quite well with the courses I took first semester but my house arrest was a real cause of sadness for me as it made me socially awkward in my mind because i was more sensitized to company. Its hard to describe, but it changed me. Going to class became a huge ordeal for me, my anxiety started to peak higher to the point of constant sweating which only fuels the anxiety. It became grueling near the end of my curfew, but I thought I'd be relived to be set free from my conditions. Instead, I was left in a place where I felt more last than before. Scared, alone and paranoid is what I became after my whole legal ordeal. This directly affected my ability to operate as a functioning student. I was too scared to seek academic advisement as I couldn't bare the thought of facing the possible reality of being asked to leave again. I was finally forced to after an especially painful week where I couldn't finish an important philosophy assignment which starved me of sleep and cause appetite loss as well. I felt more broken than ever and resorted to drinking and drug use in order the preserve the bit of piece of mind I thought I had left. At that point in my grief, I just wanted a glimpse of some sort of relief from this chaos that was my life. That's what brought me to finally contact the academic advisement office. I was confronted to find a considerate ear on the other end of the line who was more forgiving of my life than myself. I told my adviser everything I could in a desperate attempt for help and was relived to find out that someone was sympathetic to my dark and lonely struggle. She advised me to write this appeal and make reference to which courses where affected my the extenuating circumstances which I faced. She agreed that If I could have the dark cloud of my past which a lot of in my mind is my tainted academic record, I could work to recover and grow into what I desire. I am asking for an opportunity to actualize what I want most in life without the clout that my misfortunes have brought me in the past. Please consider giving me a helping hand out of the this hole that I can't seem to dig myself out of. I hope to focus more on my health when I go back to Vancouver later this summer and focus on working out the details of helpful practices which I could adopt to help avoid the painful cycles of the past and manage my anxiety so that I can continue with my life as an active Queen's student. I am request late drops in POLS 110; FILM 260; GPHY 101; DEVS 220; DEVS 240 and possibly even credit standing in DEVS 100 and DEVS 230.