Petition Letter
To the associate dean (studies), my name is Paris Da Breo and I am writing this formal request to appeal to drop the following courses, FREN 250, GNDS 215, and PHIL 275 of winter 2019. As well as FREN 241 of fall 2018. Additionally, I am also appealing to drop ARTH 120A, COMM 200, COMM 231, HIST 122A, and LAW 202 of fall 2019, I did not take nor engage in the courses of fall 2019 and had planned to drop them, but I missed the deadline by 1 day. I will explain why I waited so long towards the end of this appeal. I am appealing to drop these courses for the following reasons, starting my timeline in the fall of 2017 being my first year at Queens university, I was already dealing with a variety of personal issues which distracted me from being 100 focused in my studies. A recent family adoption, depression, as well as a learning disability which I struggled with my entire academic life had already set me back before I had even begun my studies. My parents were not strong believers in learning disabilities, and my mother even less in mental health struggles. I had an IEP throughout elementary school as well as high school, which my mother discouraged the idea of me continuing to seek these academic accommodations, as she was led to believe they would negatively inpact my transcript thus affecting future opportunities for me, and also felt I would be seen as ¿¿less than¿. Therefore, going into university I did not seek the academic resources I needed, nor did I have a formal learning disability test which I should have had since I was a child. This inevitably set me up for failure at Queens university without ever having the chance to truly succeed. My mother always believed that depression was a choice and that if you allowed yourself to fall into that ¿¿dark hole¿ as she would refer to it, then you would have a really hard time bringing yourself out. She constantly made me feel like I could not open up about a lot of mental health issues I really struggled with for the past 2 years. Being the second individual in my entire family to attend university and a post-secondary education after my mother, I felt an immense amount of pressure when I began my journey at Queens, and doing it without the resources I needed made it even harder as I felt my brain was failing me, that I wasn¿¿t good enough to be here which I have now realized, my brain works differently and with the right resources I can succeed. This unpredictably led to many circumstances beyond my control including, anxiety and depression. My depression took over my life, I became less social and more isolated, and coming from such a strict and judgemental family I felt I was spiraling. Most days I could not get out of bed to go to class, I stayed in ate a lot and cried about it, I still tried my best in school, but I felt lost. I became in denial and thought if I ignored the awful grades and warnings that they would just go away. After a recent adoption in my family, which led to constant family problems as well as how poorly I was doing in school, I finished my first year very close to being on academic probation. As I entered my second year at Queens, I had not seeked any help nor addressed the issues I was battling with, and so when I mistakenly believed I would do better and be better everything only got worse. I finally had the courage to seek help from school resources because I was scared for myself, my depression increased to a suicidal point, I developed extreme anxiety as well as an inevitable genetic condition from my father being type 2 bipolar disorder which I was diagnosed with. Extremely poor mental health is a prominent pattern on my father¿¿s side of the family including depression, bipolar disorder and 2 suicides, which I fell victim of these conditions. When I finally had the courage to seek help it changed my entire life, I went to see an occupational therapist, councillor, and doctor all within Queens resources. I got to the root of many of the issues which I am able to control, and got medication and help for the issues out of my control. I saw a psychiatrist who was able to give me my diagnosis, as well as made an appointment for ADHD testing also within the school. Within the winter of my second year my grandfather also passed away which impacted lots of my courses.I just wasn¿¿t ready for school I needed to take a break and breath and use all of the resources I did not even know I needed but really helped me and be able to come back stronger. Additionally, I felt I was ready to come into third year with these resources, but I was not, I was not sure how I would move forward, and I felt lost and unhappy in my courses and felt I needed time to figure it out. I needed to make sure I was 100 okay, I stayed in Toronto for this first semester and I worked and focused on bettering my mental health, so that I may start my second semester with a fresh start. My future plan to achieve academic success includes, keeping up with frequent counselling sessions, continue to take my medication to manage my depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, as well as utilising resources for my learning disability. I also have learned through counselling that a lighter course load would be better in order to ease me into my new routine and, I also plan on dropping my French minor which is a subject I do poorly in and am unhappy in as well. My short-term goals include maintaining a higher GPA which I know I am capable of with the right resources, and my long-term goals include finishing my undergrad and hopefully applying to law school. To conclude, I just want a chance to start over and to start fresh, I am looking forward to starting the winter semester of 2020 with a good head on my shoulders. I am stronger, focused and I have matured, I have been through a lot, and I understand the importance and cruciality of receiving an undergraduate degree which I want nothing more than to succeed in my life. I am asking this department and university to give me an opportunity to rewrite my family history so that I may have a chance to succeed for myself.