Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
My name is Amanda Fantin and I have just completed my last year in a Biology Major in the Faculty of Arts and Science. I am writing to you today to request a waiving of the one term deadline so that I may submit an appeal. The appeal I wish to submit past the deadline is an appeal for credit standing for three courses taken during 2014 and 2015.
While this request is very late past the one term deadline, there were extenuating circumstances that left me unable to pursue an appeal until now. When I first came to Queen¿¿s I began having mental health issues due to an adverse reaction to an acne medication, Acutane. I had never been warned that severe adverse mental health issues could be a possible complication so it took me months before I realized and stopped the medication in 2013. Unfortunately, the drug takes at least a year to work itself out of the body and negative effects persisted. While I did receive treatment it took many years to undo the damage that had been done and regain my health.
During this time I sought help at the Health Counseling and Disability Services as well as an academic advisor. I don¿¿t have documentation for those visits but if meetings are kept track of then I should have records from early 2013 to late 2015 for confirmation. My first meeting was with a doctor who gave me a prescription for antidepressants and sent me home with no follow up. I then decided to see a counselor. During my meeting with the counselor I was told that I could only be seen once a year and that I would have to find more help elsewhere. There was no follow up and I was not pointed in any particular direction except that I should keep seeing my own physiatrist, Dr. Lewis. I followed their advice but the constant, at least monthly, trips to Toronto were expensive and time consuming and put and even greater strain on my academics. I also sought advice from an academic advisor. I told them about my situation and how it affected my grades, which was unusual for me. I was told that there was nothing I could do about the marks but retake the course and move on. I did retake my first year, as I had to drop most of my courses and did not perform well in the others. I also tried my best to move on with continued treatment and help and have finished my time at Queen¿¿s as a much stronger person.
The person I spoke to was very dismissive of my academic issues. The side effects of the medication left me unable to leave my room, unable to focus and unable to take care of myself. Though each subsequent year showed improvement I had to focus all of my efforts into just the basics. As I was a year behind I lost the support of my peer group. This was a negative effect whose importance I believe is not emphasized enough. I had no peers to turn to for advice and I was not channeled toward any of the supports on campus. It had taken me months each to work up the courage and energy to see out those three councilors. I was embarrassed and ashamed and exhausted by the attempts so when they all told me the only thing to do was keep my head down and keep seeing my physiatrist, I believed them unequivocally.
I did not realize that credit standing was even an option until I had a friend hear my story and tell me about the process. They had been through the process due to a particularly difficult divorce of their parents and encouraged me to look in to the process. I was skeptical, as I still believe those few early visits, but after reading more realized that it was exactly what I should have been directed to in the first place. This experience came a few weeks ago, when I was feeling better than I ever had since coming to Queen¿¿s and the idea of an appeal process did not seem so daunting. I had only just this year had the courage to approach disability services to discuss issues I had been having with accessibility issues.
My experience with the way mental health is dealt with on campus came at what I see now was a tipping point. There are services on campus now that did not exist when I was seeking help and there has been a greater effort to make students aware of resources. I know it is an extremely complex issue, and that every effort is being made to help students. Unfortunately, I fell through the cracks. I hadn¿¿t realized, however, the full extent to which I did until now. Even if I had, I was not mentally fit enough to deal with initiating and following through with such an appeal until this past year. I worked extremely hard to make myself healthy again and become an excellent student. I am very proud to say that I am graduating with a final year average of 3.76. In addition, I have dedicated myself to giving back to the Queen¿¿s community as the Editor in Chief for QSURJ amoung other positions. I am currently working in a lab that I will continue on in for my Master¿¿s in the Fall at U of T for Physiology. I also one day hope to attend medical school and help those who have gone through what I have gone through. More importantly, however, I worked hard every day to make a path for myself that wasn¿¿t defined by my past mental health issues and the terrible decision my parents and I made to start that acne medication. I am strong now and have big plans but those three marks could hold me back from those ambitions. I humbly ask that you allow me to appeal them late so I can further explain how my issues have affected my grades.
Thank you very much for time and consideration,
Sincerely,
Amanda Fantin
My name is Amanda Fantin and I have just completed my last year in a Biology Major in the Faculty of Arts and Science. I am writing to you today to request a waiving of the one term deadline so that I may submit an appeal. The appeal I wish to submit past the deadline is an appeal for credit standing for three courses taken during 2014 and 2015.
While this request is very late past the one term deadline, there were extenuating circumstances that left me unable to pursue an appeal until now. When I first came to Queen¿¿s I began having mental health issues due to an adverse reaction to an acne medication, Acutane. I had never been warned that severe adverse mental health issues could be a possible complication so it took me months before I realized and stopped the medication in 2013. Unfortunately, the drug takes at least a year to work itself out of the body and negative effects persisted. While I did receive treatment it took many years to undo the damage that had been done and regain my health.
During this time I sought help at the Health Counseling and Disability Services as well as an academic advisor. I don¿¿t have documentation for those visits but if meetings are kept track of then I should have records from early 2013 to late 2015 for confirmation. My first meeting was with a doctor who gave me a prescription for antidepressants and sent me home with no follow up. I then decided to see a counselor. During my meeting with the counselor I was told that I could only be seen once a year and that I would have to find more help elsewhere. There was no follow up and I was not pointed in any particular direction except that I should keep seeing my own physiatrist, Dr. Lewis. I followed their advice but the constant, at least monthly, trips to Toronto were expensive and time consuming and put and even greater strain on my academics. I also sought advice from an academic advisor. I told them about my situation and how it affected my grades, which was unusual for me. I was told that there was nothing I could do about the marks but retake the course and move on. I did retake my first year, as I had to drop most of my courses and did not perform well in the others. I also tried my best to move on with continued treatment and help and have finished my time at Queen¿¿s as a much stronger person.
The person I spoke to was very dismissive of my academic issues. The side effects of the medication left me unable to leave my room, unable to focus and unable to take care of myself. Though each subsequent year showed improvement I had to focus all of my efforts into just the basics. As I was a year behind I lost the support of my peer group. This was a negative effect whose importance I believe is not emphasized enough. I had no peers to turn to for advice and I was not channeled toward any of the supports on campus. It had taken me months each to work up the courage and energy to see out those three councilors. I was embarrassed and ashamed and exhausted by the attempts so when they all told me the only thing to do was keep my head down and keep seeing my physiatrist, I believed them unequivocally.
I did not realize that credit standing was even an option until I had a friend hear my story and tell me about the process. They had been through the process due to a particularly difficult divorce of their parents and encouraged me to look in to the process. I was skeptical, as I still believe those few early visits, but after reading more realized that it was exactly what I should have been directed to in the first place. This experience came a few weeks ago, when I was feeling better than I ever had since coming to Queen¿¿s and the idea of an appeal process did not seem so daunting. I had only just this year had the courage to approach disability services to discuss issues I had been having with accessibility issues.
My experience with the way mental health is dealt with on campus came at what I see now was a tipping point. There are services on campus now that did not exist when I was seeking help and there has been a greater effort to make students aware of resources. I know it is an extremely complex issue, and that every effort is being made to help students. Unfortunately, I fell through the cracks. I hadn¿¿t realized, however, the full extent to which I did until now. Even if I had, I was not mentally fit enough to deal with initiating and following through with such an appeal until this past year. I worked extremely hard to make myself healthy again and become an excellent student. I am very proud to say that I am graduating with a final year average of 3.76. In addition, I have dedicated myself to giving back to the Queen¿¿s community as the Editor in Chief for QSURJ amoung other positions. I am currently working in a lab that I will continue on in for my Master¿¿s in the Fall at U of T for Physiology. I also one day hope to attend medical school and help those who have gone through what I have gone through. More importantly, however, I worked hard every day to make a path for myself that wasn¿¿t defined by my past mental health issues and the terrible decision my parents and I made to start that acne medication. I am strong now and have big plans but those three marks could hold me back from those ambitions. I humbly ask that you allow me to appeal them late so I can further explain how my issues have affected my grades.
Thank you very much for time and consideration,
Sincerely,
Amanda Fantin