Petition Letter
I am appealing the final course grades I received in KNPE 255 and PSYC 370 in the Winter 2018 semester. Due to extenuating circumstances that were dealt with through the Queen's Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Working Group, I was unable to focus on and succeed in my academic studies to my fullest ability. Due to the events I endured, I suffered not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well. For choosing to pursue a formal investigation I was put through a series of interviews where I was asked to recall various details of a very traumatizing situation and asked questions about very personal subject matter. Having to talk about what happened over and over again caused me to have nightmares and I began functioning off very low levels of sleep. I began to worry that something was going to happen to me every time I was in a public situation whether that was being with my friends, going to class/work, or buying groceries. This slowly started affecting the relationships I had with my both my friends and peers. I started to isolate myself because I felt better and more in control of what was going on around me if I was alone. I found myself experiencing anxiety attacks in public which made getting out of bed and getting ready for the day extremely hard. I missed a lot of lectures during this semester due to this, not from my unwillingness to go but rather a feeling that I couldn't be on campus without fearing for my safety. I remember sitting in lectures at the beginning of the semester when I tried forcing myself to go and not being able to focus on the content being taught because I would sit in the back and cry. I simply could not handle the stress of sitting in class and being surrounded by so many people. Due to the amount of mental and emotional resources that went towards worrying about what was going to happen with my case I quickly became mentally and emotionally drained. This meant it was hard for me to focus on my education in order to earn an adequate mark that accurately represented my understanding of course content in both KNPE 255 and PSYC 370. My case was eventually taken to court after many months of delay and even after that I was required to wait even longer for the results as to how the situation was going to be handled. As a result of having my case dragged out for a long period of time, the negative side effects I was experiencing were prolonged. This continued to affect my ability to learn, attend classes, and perform well on tests/assignments. Eventually, I sought medical help from my family doctor and was prescribed Sertraline (an anti-depressant) for sleep and mood regulation. This medication took some trial and error to figure out a dose that worked best for me and I slowly started sleeping better and feeling more stable mentally/emotionally. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after exams that I started to feel myself again and my grades suffered as a result of a situation I had no control over. In the future I plan on seeking help earlier to avoid the negative outcomes of letting my mental state deteriorate. I also plan on seeking help from Queen's University resources earlier to find ways of making me feel safer on campus. I will speak to my professors when I feel like I cannot attend lectures or write tests due to feeling inadequately prepared. This plan will aid me in achieving my academic goals of attending grad school at Queen's by ensuring that I have a strong support system that is willing to help me when I need it the most.