Petition Letter
I am appealing for a requirement to withdraw. After exams I knew I had not done well in school. In high school I had accommodations for my exams due to my anxiety disorder. At the start of the year I was too afraid to ask how to get these accommodations for university, but I now realize that I needed them. I missed the first deadline to appeal the requirement to withdraw because the anxiety of finding out my results made me too scared to even check my email.
The first few weeks of school I was excited to be there, yet I still had a few issues with leaving some of my relationships at home. The friends I had made during the first few weeks had started to exclude me. After this I started to isolate myself, which made me feel incredibly lonely. I found myself barely able to leave my bed. I would go a day or two without eating and I either slept all day or did not sleep at all. I found no pleasure in any of the things that I used to love. Exams were now coming up and I have always had severe test anxiety. In the past, my accommodations for exams allowed me to write exams in a smaller room and provided me with more time to write exams. During mid-terms in December an important personal relationship ended, which set me into an even worse state. This happened the day before one of the exams. I went to the exam feeling like I had to try to do it, but I got in there and could not think straight so I had to leave the exam. For my last exam I decided to get a 48 hour hold but it was end of term. This is when I started having thoughts about hurting myself. A few of my friends called campus security out of concern for me. I went the entire next week without eating or sleeping. Then my next exam came around and I knew there was no way I could do well on it. This exam was a course I had been struggling to understand as well so I was already feeling pretty anxious about it. I ended up missing the exam, hoping to write it at a later date.
When I got back from the break I still was not in the best mindset. I ended up writing the one exam I walked out of, but I was pretty sure I did not do too well. Based on the bad results of this exam, I knew I was not ready to write the other exam. The professor had changed and I was too anxious to ask about the exam I had missed. After the break I also went on a new medication to treat my anxiety and depression. The first few weeks on this medication was hard because it caused some negative side effects. I was even more anxious most of the time and got easily aggravated. Once the medication started to work I did feel less anxious and sad but I also felt like I did not care about anything, making it hard to do school work. I started to see the counsellor designated to my residence building as well as a therapist off of campus. I began to isolate myself less and decided to reach out to make new relationships. By late January I was starting to feel better and I ended up signing a lease to live in a house with a few other girls who were looking for a roommate. However, when the second round of exams came along my exam schedule was also quite crammed. I had two exams in one day back to back, and a week later I also had both my math exams on the same day back to back. This made me quite anxious about my exams as well as being very tired for the second exam on each of those days.
My academic plan moving forward would be to take a reduced course-load and possibly switching majors, but still be a full-time student. Reducing my course load down to three or four courses per semester would benefit me. I could focus more on the courses I am taking and have less exams to worry about. I plan to go through the process with the accessibility services to get the accommodations I feel that I need to do better in school. I would continue to see a counsellor at queens if I were to come back. I am currently seeing one at home and I feel that I am feeling a lot more stable than I was during the majority of the first year at Queen¿¿s. I would also use all the resources that the professors and the school provide to help their students do well in school. If I did not understand a course I was taking I would either get a tutor or drop the course before the deadline if I thought there was no hope for me to do better in the course. During your consideration of my appeal I would also like to discuss options for my failed courses and possible credit standing for the courses that I passed.
I am really hoping to come back to Queen's this September and I thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal.
The first few weeks of school I was excited to be there, yet I still had a few issues with leaving some of my relationships at home. The friends I had made during the first few weeks had started to exclude me. After this I started to isolate myself, which made me feel incredibly lonely. I found myself barely able to leave my bed. I would go a day or two without eating and I either slept all day or did not sleep at all. I found no pleasure in any of the things that I used to love. Exams were now coming up and I have always had severe test anxiety. In the past, my accommodations for exams allowed me to write exams in a smaller room and provided me with more time to write exams. During mid-terms in December an important personal relationship ended, which set me into an even worse state. This happened the day before one of the exams. I went to the exam feeling like I had to try to do it, but I got in there and could not think straight so I had to leave the exam. For my last exam I decided to get a 48 hour hold but it was end of term. This is when I started having thoughts about hurting myself. A few of my friends called campus security out of concern for me. I went the entire next week without eating or sleeping. Then my next exam came around and I knew there was no way I could do well on it. This exam was a course I had been struggling to understand as well so I was already feeling pretty anxious about it. I ended up missing the exam, hoping to write it at a later date.
When I got back from the break I still was not in the best mindset. I ended up writing the one exam I walked out of, but I was pretty sure I did not do too well. Based on the bad results of this exam, I knew I was not ready to write the other exam. The professor had changed and I was too anxious to ask about the exam I had missed. After the break I also went on a new medication to treat my anxiety and depression. The first few weeks on this medication was hard because it caused some negative side effects. I was even more anxious most of the time and got easily aggravated. Once the medication started to work I did feel less anxious and sad but I also felt like I did not care about anything, making it hard to do school work. I started to see the counsellor designated to my residence building as well as a therapist off of campus. I began to isolate myself less and decided to reach out to make new relationships. By late January I was starting to feel better and I ended up signing a lease to live in a house with a few other girls who were looking for a roommate. However, when the second round of exams came along my exam schedule was also quite crammed. I had two exams in one day back to back, and a week later I also had both my math exams on the same day back to back. This made me quite anxious about my exams as well as being very tired for the second exam on each of those days.
My academic plan moving forward would be to take a reduced course-load and possibly switching majors, but still be a full-time student. Reducing my course load down to three or four courses per semester would benefit me. I could focus more on the courses I am taking and have less exams to worry about. I plan to go through the process with the accessibility services to get the accommodations I feel that I need to do better in school. I would continue to see a counsellor at queens if I were to come back. I am currently seeing one at home and I feel that I am feeling a lot more stable than I was during the majority of the first year at Queen¿¿s. I would also use all the resources that the professors and the school provide to help their students do well in school. If I did not understand a course I was taking I would either get a tutor or drop the course before the deadline if I thought there was no hope for me to do better in the course. During your consideration of my appeal I would also like to discuss options for my failed courses and possible credit standing for the courses that I passed.
I am really hoping to come back to Queen's this September and I thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal.