Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean of Studies,
I am appealing the Factuly of Art and Science¿¿s request that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for a minimum of three years, due to severe extenuating circumstances that affected my overall academic performance for the last year and into the summer.
The extenuating circumstances in question that negatively affected my academic performance and ability to perform at the level that is expected at Queen¿¿s University are extreme mental health difficulties which ultimately left me unable to properly attend classes, finish assignments on time, and effectively study for exams. From Fall 2015 I have been struggling with severe mental health difficulties which include prolonged episodes of depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia. These mental health difficulties have been considered part of a larger mental health issue affecting me since Fall 2015 that has since April 2016 thought to be Bipolar II disorder. The episodes of depression left me with very low energy and motivation towards all aspects of my life, and a very diminished outlook towards my life, resulting in a negative outlook towards my academic responsibilities at Queen¿¿s University. As a result, over the past year I have had an inability to get myself out of bed for weeks on end at times, impacting my ability to attend classes and finish assignments in a timely manner. This also affected my ability to properly study for exams and take the steps that I otherwise would¿¿ve taken to advance my academic standing, including seeking additional help for concepts or assignments that I was struggling with due to my prolonged absenteeism. In addition, anxiety towards people in general and towards people seeing that something was wrong with me left me feeling like I couldn¿¿t leave the house, contributing to the depressed cycle that I was in, which in turn prolonged the negative impact the mental health difficulties had on my overall academic performance. This generalized anxiety provoked agoraphobic behavior, inducing a fear and sense of dread towards going outside of my home and socializing with people both on an academic and social level. In April 2016, I began to feel a sense of normalcy in my mood and behavior and began to recognize for the first time that my mood and overall behavior for the last year was not normal to how I have previously conducted myself in school and other social aspects of my life. I decided to seek assistance for my mental health difficulties for the first time, reaching out to the counselling services offered on campus and have since continued with on-going counselling appointments on a weekly basis. The counselling services that were provided to me helped me recognize that since Fall 2015, between the months of October and November, I have been dealing with severe mental health difficulties, impacting my ability to perform at the level I am accustomed to working at. The severity of these mental health difficulties made it impossible to seek help prior to April 2016 when I began to feel a sense of normalcy in my overall mood and behavior.
If my appeal to waive the request that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for a minimum of three years is granted, I have a plan in place to make sure that I achieve the academic success that I myself desire and that the university asks of me to uphold. To start, I will continue meeting with counselling services on a bi-weekly manner to help monitor my mood and behavior through the continued use of cognitive behavioral therapies that have been introduced to me since seeking assistance for my mental health difficulties in April 2016. Additionally, I have sought out further support through the use of medication, prescribed to me by the mental health services offered on campus to help combat the symptoms I dealt with this past year with regards to my depression, anxiety and agoraphobia. Continued support and assessment of my severely fluctuating mood due to the Bipolar II disorder is also something I plan to keep up with going forward. Furthermore, I have enrolled myself in a mental health program offered by the university, focusing on mindfulness, to gain further information on the issues I¿¿ve dealt with this past year and ways to monitor them and make sure that they do not negatively affect my academic performance in the future. I¿¿ve also began creating a support system here at Queen¿¿s with people whom I trust with this information, as up until April 2016 I have had a very difficult time talking about these sort of issues with anyone. This support system is to help monitor my moods and to aid in making sure that I do not continue in a cycle that would negatively impact my academics. Overall I believe that the use of continued medication to combat the negative symptoms of my mental illness, continued counselling appointments, the use of support systems offered through the university and within my own group of select friends and family here at Queen¿¿s and back in my hometown will allow me to reach the academic success that I know I can achieve.
I am appealing the Factuly of Art and Science¿¿s request that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for a minimum of three years, due to severe extenuating circumstances that affected my overall academic performance for the last year and into the summer.
The extenuating circumstances in question that negatively affected my academic performance and ability to perform at the level that is expected at Queen¿¿s University are extreme mental health difficulties which ultimately left me unable to properly attend classes, finish assignments on time, and effectively study for exams. From Fall 2015 I have been struggling with severe mental health difficulties which include prolonged episodes of depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia. These mental health difficulties have been considered part of a larger mental health issue affecting me since Fall 2015 that has since April 2016 thought to be Bipolar II disorder. The episodes of depression left me with very low energy and motivation towards all aspects of my life, and a very diminished outlook towards my life, resulting in a negative outlook towards my academic responsibilities at Queen¿¿s University. As a result, over the past year I have had an inability to get myself out of bed for weeks on end at times, impacting my ability to attend classes and finish assignments in a timely manner. This also affected my ability to properly study for exams and take the steps that I otherwise would¿¿ve taken to advance my academic standing, including seeking additional help for concepts or assignments that I was struggling with due to my prolonged absenteeism. In addition, anxiety towards people in general and towards people seeing that something was wrong with me left me feeling like I couldn¿¿t leave the house, contributing to the depressed cycle that I was in, which in turn prolonged the negative impact the mental health difficulties had on my overall academic performance. This generalized anxiety provoked agoraphobic behavior, inducing a fear and sense of dread towards going outside of my home and socializing with people both on an academic and social level. In April 2016, I began to feel a sense of normalcy in my mood and behavior and began to recognize for the first time that my mood and overall behavior for the last year was not normal to how I have previously conducted myself in school and other social aspects of my life. I decided to seek assistance for my mental health difficulties for the first time, reaching out to the counselling services offered on campus and have since continued with on-going counselling appointments on a weekly basis. The counselling services that were provided to me helped me recognize that since Fall 2015, between the months of October and November, I have been dealing with severe mental health difficulties, impacting my ability to perform at the level I am accustomed to working at. The severity of these mental health difficulties made it impossible to seek help prior to April 2016 when I began to feel a sense of normalcy in my overall mood and behavior.
If my appeal to waive the request that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for a minimum of three years is granted, I have a plan in place to make sure that I achieve the academic success that I myself desire and that the university asks of me to uphold. To start, I will continue meeting with counselling services on a bi-weekly manner to help monitor my mood and behavior through the continued use of cognitive behavioral therapies that have been introduced to me since seeking assistance for my mental health difficulties in April 2016. Additionally, I have sought out further support through the use of medication, prescribed to me by the mental health services offered on campus to help combat the symptoms I dealt with this past year with regards to my depression, anxiety and agoraphobia. Continued support and assessment of my severely fluctuating mood due to the Bipolar II disorder is also something I plan to keep up with going forward. Furthermore, I have enrolled myself in a mental health program offered by the university, focusing on mindfulness, to gain further information on the issues I¿¿ve dealt with this past year and ways to monitor them and make sure that they do not negatively affect my academic performance in the future. I¿¿ve also began creating a support system here at Queen¿¿s with people whom I trust with this information, as up until April 2016 I have had a very difficult time talking about these sort of issues with anyone. This support system is to help monitor my moods and to aid in making sure that I do not continue in a cycle that would negatively impact my academics. Overall I believe that the use of continued medication to combat the negative symptoms of my mental illness, continued counselling appointments, the use of support systems offered through the university and within my own group of select friends and family here at Queen¿¿s and back in my hometown will allow me to reach the academic success that I know I can achieve.