Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean of Academics,
I am appealing to drop DRAM 100, SOCY 122 (Fall/Winter, 2023/2024), and HLTH 102 (Winter, 2024).
I understand that this is a formal academic letter, so I have tried my best to address this in a straightforward and unemotional manner. However, what I went through this year was anything but straightforward. I understand that you must receive appeals from countless desperate students - like myself, but I really hope this request is considered with the same severity as my situation.
I have diagnosed ADHD, anxiety, and depression. In semester one, I was taking ADHD medication (30mg Vyvanse). However, in a three-year timeframe, I moved from Singapore to Victoria BC, and then to Kingston. This prevented me from finding a family doctor to renew my prescription, and when I turned to Student Wellness Services, I was unaware that prescriptions for controlled substances took longer than any other medications. Unfortunately, this left me unmedicated on and off for a large part of the second semester, and the final weeks of the first (more specifically, the first time I was unmedicated was around the time of midterm exams). Additionally, I could not set up my QSAS accommodations for the majority of the year, as my documentation was not accepted due to the fact that I did not, and still do not have a family doctor. Thankfully, through my counselling sessions with Queen’s counsellor Terra Sweigard, I was finally able to set up the accommodations needed for the second semester.
My ADHD is debilitating. If I do not take my medication I simply cannot function; it exacerbates my symptoms of depression and anxiety, which led me to spend a large part of my first year unable to get out of bed, stuck in a state of depressive lethargy that persisted even during the times I was able to access my ADHD medication. During the second reading week, my Mum had to fly to Toronto to take me to multiple trips to the doctor. I was diagnosed with canker sores, which ended up being exacerbated by chronic stress, and I had a high fever for over a week. Additionally, during term time I experienced severe panic attacks almost daily, which prevented me from attending classes. Unsurprisingly, my attendance dropped, and consequently my grades followed suit. Without oversimplifying my condition, in the absence of medication, my motivation levels prevent me from doing anything, let alone completing my work, even if I used my QSAS approved extensions. My reasons for wanting to drop these classes simply boils down to the premise that when I was medicated, I was receiving high grades in almost all of my work that I submitted, but without medication, I was simply unable to submit work that reflects my true academic ability, or even at all. During the fall, my GPA was a 3.5, but I ended up with a 1.97. I believe that there is a clear injustice here, as my grades on the work I actually did submit compared to my final grades simply do not add up. Thankfully, I did not fail any courses, but it prevents me from pursuing an honours degree in psychology, which has been my plan since I was a young girl and first learned what ‘psychology’ was.
Why I want to drop HLTH 102:
I took this course in the winter semester, and I found that I was extremely interested and passionate about the course, receiving high grades in the weekly RAT’s, and my part one of the HSBA assignment. During the times I was unmedicated, I was unable to complete the second quiz. I also submitted the second part of the HSBA assignment only a few hours past the deadline which took 5% off of my final course grade. Additionally, I missed the final quiz due to an ER trip, and because of my lack of medication leading to a lack of motivation, I did not submit an academic consideration form in time. At the time, I pleaded with the course director to re-open the two quizzes, and even submit any other work to improve my grade, but unfortunately my supporting documentation was not accepted, and as I also did not have any documentation regarding my ER visit, they were unable to re-open any quizzes, or provide any kind of compensation.
Why I want to drop SOCY 122:
Full transparency, I found this course extremely challenging. However, if that were the only issue I would not include this in the list of courses I wish to drop. My mid-year grade was a C, and in all honesty, I was fine with that. However, once again due to the reasons regarding medication that I have repeated countless times in this letter, I finished with a D. My attendance/participation for tutorials went from 60% in the fall term to 0% in the following semester. Although 60% is not exactly exemplary, clearly there was something severely wrong with me for my attendance to reduce to zero in one single semester. This was mostly due to a lack of medication access, but even when I had my Vyvanse my severe anxiety stopped me from going to any classes or tutorials. In the first semester, I submitted multiple summaries of weekly readings to my TA, Brooklyn Bartlett, which awarded me with partial participation marks, but by the winter term, I was incapable of even completing the readings, let alone submitting detailed 500-word summaries on them.
Why I want to drop DRAM 100:
I thoroughly enjoyed taking this course, so my D- grade is distressing. Right after psychology, drama - and performative arts as a whole - is the second largest factor shaping my identity, not only as a student, but as an individual (the theatricality of this statement alone displays ironic self-awareness). A personal anecdote that displays an inch of my passion on the subject is that my family is heavily drama-focused. My great grandfather won an oscar in acting, inspiring me to take drama classes or involve myself in productions, working hard enough to always secure main roles at every school I have attended since I was 9. When I moved countries for 12th grade - the third relocation in my highschool career - I had to balance the hardships of settling in, adjusting to a new curriculum, catching up on missed work due to competing in the rugby provincial finals, exams, and applying to universities. Instead of cursing the world for not having any time to act, I still worked backstage for the production that year. Additionally, when I lived in Singapore, I was awarded distinctions in my LAMDA level 5 monologues, and received top grades in my drama IGCSE exams. Thankfully, I secured an 82% for my lab mark, mainly because during the time I was unmedicated my professor, Grahame Renyk, kindly gave us the option to miss a large sum of labs if we did not want to act in the final presentation. The first reason my grade does not reflect my ability is that my medication issues prevented me from completing the production analysis part 1 and 3 to the best of my ability, seeing as I got 50% on part 1, and 24% on the second. Combined, these two pieces of work are worth 35% of my final grade. Secondly, I did not submit the second choice analysis assignment, worth 10% of my final grade. This was initially due by the first semester’s end (when I was still unable to access QSAS accommodations), and I was granted a week-long extension. Then, when I ran out of medication during my mid-term exams, I was granted academic consideration for extenuating circumstances for my philosophy exam and my drama paper. I emailed both my professor, and the DRAM100 email to inform them of this, and ask for a date to submit it, but I never heard back. Throughout the second semester, I sent multiple emails to DRAM100, my TA, and my professor, but I did not hear back about the due date for this paper until after the semester ended, and I was told I had less than two days to submit it, and the highest grade I could get would be a C+. During this time I was staying at an airbnb close to campus as term was over, and unfortunately, I misplaced my medication, and despite numerous calls to student wellness, I was unable to replace it.
Apart from HLTH 102, I did not drop any of these courses earlier, because they are full year courses, and I did not want to suffer the consequences of it being on my transcript. I chose these courses early on when I had access to medication and had no idea that I would struggle this much.
If this appeal is granted, I plan to major in psychology. To ensure academic success, I will be much more proactive in managing my medication and mental health. Throughout the year I was seeing a counsellor on campus, and this summer I have had one counselling appointment, with a plan to make it a weekly occurrence. I also booked a full mental-health check by a psychiatrist in June. Moreover, I will renew my QSAS accommodations and seek extra academic support at Queen’s to ensure I stay on track with my schoolwork to reach my final goal of working in the field of psychology.
I am appealing to drop DRAM 100, SOCY 122 (Fall/Winter, 2023/2024), and HLTH 102 (Winter, 2024).
I understand that this is a formal academic letter, so I have tried my best to address this in a straightforward and unemotional manner. However, what I went through this year was anything but straightforward. I understand that you must receive appeals from countless desperate students - like myself, but I really hope this request is considered with the same severity as my situation.
I have diagnosed ADHD, anxiety, and depression. In semester one, I was taking ADHD medication (30mg Vyvanse). However, in a three-year timeframe, I moved from Singapore to Victoria BC, and then to Kingston. This prevented me from finding a family doctor to renew my prescription, and when I turned to Student Wellness Services, I was unaware that prescriptions for controlled substances took longer than any other medications. Unfortunately, this left me unmedicated on and off for a large part of the second semester, and the final weeks of the first (more specifically, the first time I was unmedicated was around the time of midterm exams). Additionally, I could not set up my QSAS accommodations for the majority of the year, as my documentation was not accepted due to the fact that I did not, and still do not have a family doctor. Thankfully, through my counselling sessions with Queen’s counsellor Terra Sweigard, I was finally able to set up the accommodations needed for the second semester.
My ADHD is debilitating. If I do not take my medication I simply cannot function; it exacerbates my symptoms of depression and anxiety, which led me to spend a large part of my first year unable to get out of bed, stuck in a state of depressive lethargy that persisted even during the times I was able to access my ADHD medication. During the second reading week, my Mum had to fly to Toronto to take me to multiple trips to the doctor. I was diagnosed with canker sores, which ended up being exacerbated by chronic stress, and I had a high fever for over a week. Additionally, during term time I experienced severe panic attacks almost daily, which prevented me from attending classes. Unsurprisingly, my attendance dropped, and consequently my grades followed suit. Without oversimplifying my condition, in the absence of medication, my motivation levels prevent me from doing anything, let alone completing my work, even if I used my QSAS approved extensions. My reasons for wanting to drop these classes simply boils down to the premise that when I was medicated, I was receiving high grades in almost all of my work that I submitted, but without medication, I was simply unable to submit work that reflects my true academic ability, or even at all. During the fall, my GPA was a 3.5, but I ended up with a 1.97. I believe that there is a clear injustice here, as my grades on the work I actually did submit compared to my final grades simply do not add up. Thankfully, I did not fail any courses, but it prevents me from pursuing an honours degree in psychology, which has been my plan since I was a young girl and first learned what ‘psychology’ was.
Why I want to drop HLTH 102:
I took this course in the winter semester, and I found that I was extremely interested and passionate about the course, receiving high grades in the weekly RAT’s, and my part one of the HSBA assignment. During the times I was unmedicated, I was unable to complete the second quiz. I also submitted the second part of the HSBA assignment only a few hours past the deadline which took 5% off of my final course grade. Additionally, I missed the final quiz due to an ER trip, and because of my lack of medication leading to a lack of motivation, I did not submit an academic consideration form in time. At the time, I pleaded with the course director to re-open the two quizzes, and even submit any other work to improve my grade, but unfortunately my supporting documentation was not accepted, and as I also did not have any documentation regarding my ER visit, they were unable to re-open any quizzes, or provide any kind of compensation.
Why I want to drop SOCY 122:
Full transparency, I found this course extremely challenging. However, if that were the only issue I would not include this in the list of courses I wish to drop. My mid-year grade was a C, and in all honesty, I was fine with that. However, once again due to the reasons regarding medication that I have repeated countless times in this letter, I finished with a D. My attendance/participation for tutorials went from 60% in the fall term to 0% in the following semester. Although 60% is not exactly exemplary, clearly there was something severely wrong with me for my attendance to reduce to zero in one single semester. This was mostly due to a lack of medication access, but even when I had my Vyvanse my severe anxiety stopped me from going to any classes or tutorials. In the first semester, I submitted multiple summaries of weekly readings to my TA, Brooklyn Bartlett, which awarded me with partial participation marks, but by the winter term, I was incapable of even completing the readings, let alone submitting detailed 500-word summaries on them.
Why I want to drop DRAM 100:
I thoroughly enjoyed taking this course, so my D- grade is distressing. Right after psychology, drama - and performative arts as a whole - is the second largest factor shaping my identity, not only as a student, but as an individual (the theatricality of this statement alone displays ironic self-awareness). A personal anecdote that displays an inch of my passion on the subject is that my family is heavily drama-focused. My great grandfather won an oscar in acting, inspiring me to take drama classes or involve myself in productions, working hard enough to always secure main roles at every school I have attended since I was 9. When I moved countries for 12th grade - the third relocation in my highschool career - I had to balance the hardships of settling in, adjusting to a new curriculum, catching up on missed work due to competing in the rugby provincial finals, exams, and applying to universities. Instead of cursing the world for not having any time to act, I still worked backstage for the production that year. Additionally, when I lived in Singapore, I was awarded distinctions in my LAMDA level 5 monologues, and received top grades in my drama IGCSE exams. Thankfully, I secured an 82% for my lab mark, mainly because during the time I was unmedicated my professor, Grahame Renyk, kindly gave us the option to miss a large sum of labs if we did not want to act in the final presentation. The first reason my grade does not reflect my ability is that my medication issues prevented me from completing the production analysis part 1 and 3 to the best of my ability, seeing as I got 50% on part 1, and 24% on the second. Combined, these two pieces of work are worth 35% of my final grade. Secondly, I did not submit the second choice analysis assignment, worth 10% of my final grade. This was initially due by the first semester’s end (when I was still unable to access QSAS accommodations), and I was granted a week-long extension. Then, when I ran out of medication during my mid-term exams, I was granted academic consideration for extenuating circumstances for my philosophy exam and my drama paper. I emailed both my professor, and the DRAM100 email to inform them of this, and ask for a date to submit it, but I never heard back. Throughout the second semester, I sent multiple emails to DRAM100, my TA, and my professor, but I did not hear back about the due date for this paper until after the semester ended, and I was told I had less than two days to submit it, and the highest grade I could get would be a C+. During this time I was staying at an airbnb close to campus as term was over, and unfortunately, I misplaced my medication, and despite numerous calls to student wellness, I was unable to replace it.
Apart from HLTH 102, I did not drop any of these courses earlier, because they are full year courses, and I did not want to suffer the consequences of it being on my transcript. I chose these courses early on when I had access to medication and had no idea that I would struggle this much.
If this appeal is granted, I plan to major in psychology. To ensure academic success, I will be much more proactive in managing my medication and mental health. Throughout the year I was seeing a counsellor on campus, and this summer I have had one counselling appointment, with a plan to make it a weekly occurrence. I also booked a full mental-health check by a psychiatrist in June. Moreover, I will renew my QSAS accommodations and seek extra academic support at Queen’s to ensure I stay on track with my schoolwork to reach my final goal of working in the field of psychology.