Petition Letter
During the Fall and Winter semesters, I contended with severe addiction and mental health difficulties. I resumed my studies in September after some years. The challenge of making a direct transition from a homeless shelter back to Queen's as well as social isolation while contending with my pre-existing issues resulted in a bad relapse that led to two hospitalizations in October. This threw me into a bad tailspin. I dropped a couple of courses but only managed to complete the coursework for one of my courses during that semester. The winter semester started off well but I ran into some serious issues with my medication which resulted in another bad relapse. During the month of April, I tried to save the semester but did not have enough time. Since I failed to submit any coursework for the two winter courses that I am appealing it was not possible for the instructors to grant me the (very little) time I requested to complete all of the outstanding coursework via a temporary IN. The two courses that I did manage to finish I earned an A and an A-. Currently, I am attending relapse prevention groups at the Kingston Detox, have a 12-step sponsor (Interfaith Chaplain Kate Johnson), and regularly attend several other addiction groups in the community. I am also enrolled in summer courses to make up for lost credits and have met with an academic advisor to chart a realistic path to graduate by spring 2019. If I am permitted to drop the courses for which I am appealing and continue to get As in my remaining courses (something that I am entirely capable of), my GPA will be half-decent and will allow me the possibility of access to graduate programs.