Petition Letter
Dr. Jenn Stephenson
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen's University
Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
My name is Riley Wales and I am a second year Life Science major. I am appealing to drop two courses that I failed last term, CHEM281 and PHGY215 (Fall, 2018). I believe an ongoing mental health issue was the cause for these failures. Throughout the Fall semester, I was going through personal mental health issues with anxiety and minor depression and I strongly believe it affected my ability to do well in my courses.
The anxiety and minor depression I was dealing with made it difficult to attend classes, study, and write exams. This strongly affected my academic studies as I failed two courses, and barely passed my other two. These mental health issues started affecting my academic performance after the first few weeks of the semester, and have been ongoing since. I chose not to drop them after the 8 week deadline because they are requirements for my degree and I didn't realize at the time how much my mental health was affecting my performance. I found it difficult to get out of bed to go to my classes and I worried constantly about exams as every time I write an exam I am overrun with anxiety and irrational thoughts. The anxiety and stress I faced throughout the semester caused frequent headaches, almost every day, where it made it impossible for me to study and focus on my classes. Since I have seen a doctor, they believe the frequent headaches were linked to my anxiety and the constant worry and fears I carried with me every day.
I met with a doctor January 9th 2019, to talk about what was going on throughout the semester and why I was going through these things. I was diagnosed with anxiety and minor depression and given a new treatment plan that involves medication and regular check-ins with the doctor. I will continue this throughout my last two years of university to ensure this doesn't happen again and I remain on track.
My future plan is to retake these courses this semester and in the summer. I am already re-taking PHGY215 online this winter, and plan to take CHEM281 online in the summer. I have talked with the Life Science academic adviser and have set up this plan in order to keep me on track to graduate. I will continue to take courses in the following summers to ensure I don't fall behind.
I am hoping that if the two failed courses are removed from my transcript and I am able to drop them, I will be able to re-take the courses and get a grade I deserve. I hope I can turn this around and with the help from doctors and academic advisers, I may be able to get my grades up and apply to graduate programs.
Thank you for your time,
Riley Wales
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen's University
Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
My name is Riley Wales and I am a second year Life Science major. I am appealing to drop two courses that I failed last term, CHEM281 and PHGY215 (Fall, 2018). I believe an ongoing mental health issue was the cause for these failures. Throughout the Fall semester, I was going through personal mental health issues with anxiety and minor depression and I strongly believe it affected my ability to do well in my courses.
The anxiety and minor depression I was dealing with made it difficult to attend classes, study, and write exams. This strongly affected my academic studies as I failed two courses, and barely passed my other two. These mental health issues started affecting my academic performance after the first few weeks of the semester, and have been ongoing since. I chose not to drop them after the 8 week deadline because they are requirements for my degree and I didn't realize at the time how much my mental health was affecting my performance. I found it difficult to get out of bed to go to my classes and I worried constantly about exams as every time I write an exam I am overrun with anxiety and irrational thoughts. The anxiety and stress I faced throughout the semester caused frequent headaches, almost every day, where it made it impossible for me to study and focus on my classes. Since I have seen a doctor, they believe the frequent headaches were linked to my anxiety and the constant worry and fears I carried with me every day.
I met with a doctor January 9th 2019, to talk about what was going on throughout the semester and why I was going through these things. I was diagnosed with anxiety and minor depression and given a new treatment plan that involves medication and regular check-ins with the doctor. I will continue this throughout my last two years of university to ensure this doesn't happen again and I remain on track.
My future plan is to retake these courses this semester and in the summer. I am already re-taking PHGY215 online this winter, and plan to take CHEM281 online in the summer. I have talked with the Life Science academic adviser and have set up this plan in order to keep me on track to graduate. I will continue to take courses in the following summers to ensure I don't fall behind.
I am hoping that if the two failed courses are removed from my transcript and I am able to drop them, I will be able to re-take the courses and get a grade I deserve. I hope I can turn this around and with the help from doctors and academic advisers, I may be able to get my grades up and apply to graduate programs.
Thank you for your time,
Riley Wales