Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am appealing to drop MATH 112 (Winter 2022) and PSYC 271 (Fall 2021) late. Extenuating circumstances beyond my control restricted me from dedicating the appropriate amount of time to coursework. Further, after seeking professional help, my general physician diagnosed me with attention deficit disorder and was prescribed medication for overcoming the disorder's associated symptoms.

Beginning in the Fall of 2021, the dramatic switch from online to in-person learning severely impacted my Attention Deficit Disorder which at the time had gone unrecognized. Symptoms such as inattentiveness, depression, and anxiety that are strongly correlated with ADD thus, heightened due to factors such as low connectivity between professors and students, lack of online content, and quality that would have been provided if the university taught courses entirely in person, which courses such as PSYCH 271 exhibited. Additionally, transferring back and forth from in-person to online learning made it impossible to establish a study routine and adapt different learning styles that would help me excel in my classes. Along with uncoordinated learning styles and the uncertainty of COVID-19, it made my mental health poor and increased feelings of un-motivation and isolation, which harmed my grades in Winter 2022. MATH 112 had begun entirely online and was assumed to be taught fully online. However, starting in March of 2022, Queen's University took the initiative to switch back to in-person learning in time for exams. Despite this, I had just adjusted to online learning and attempted to be proactive and gain a diagnosis for my mental health struggles. However, I went back to in-person to take my exams without an option to take the remainder of my classes online. My final exams had an even more significant impact on my mental health, ultimately leading me to get poor results and fail MATH 112.

Future and present, my ADD diagnosis has resolved an enormous amount of anxiety, depression, and inattentiveness, along with the partial relief of COVID-19 and in-person learning. In turn, I have contacted my academic advisor to seek help to overcome academic probation and raise my cumulative GPA. Seeking help from my general physician and prescribing medication to deal with my symptoms have helped me get better grades and become a better student. In addition, my mental health has improved, leading me to be more proactive and reach out for help when needed, such as an appeal for a late drop in my MATH 112 and PSYC 271. A credit drop in these classes would help my cumulative GPA better reflect my work as a university student at Queen's rather than my negative grades in Fall 2021 and Winter 2022, which were poor due to circumstances that were out of my control. The uncertainty of COVID-19 and my lack of awareness surrounding my disorder prevented me from dropping MATH 112 and PSYC 271, as it was unknown that the school would transfer back online and to in-person learning.