Petition Letter
I am appealing my final grades for courses ARTH 391 and ARTH 410. I took ARTH 391 last winter (2021) and I took ARTH 410 last fall (2021). I am reaching out today to appeal these grades because I did not know it was an option until recently, so I hope you can waive the 21-day appeal requirement. I did not look into the appeal option before because my mental health was not in a state where I was feeling hopeful enough to seek the academic consideration that I now believe I deserve. I am regretful of not doing it sooner and I hope my delay in sending this letter will not impact your decision in granting me the credit standing I am requesting. Hopefully you will see that the grades I received in these two classes were not an accurate representation of my work ethic and desire to learn and that they were unfortunately impacted negatively by the circumstances I will describe below.
Last April I was preparing to work on my final assignments for ARTH 391 when my brother told me he tested positive for covid. This was before vaccines were available so I was immediately concerned for his life since he is severely asthmatic. I share a small living space with my brother and was not able to go home for two weeks because he was required to isolate and very ill. His two-week isolation period was during the exam period so I was already stressed more than normal. I found myself couch-surfing at different places in the university district and was not sure where I was going to eat or sleep each night because by the end of the semester money was very tight. Having said, I could hardly work on my final assignments for this class because I barely found places to sleep let alone focus and study. ARTH 391 was the only class I had left to work on during this period as all my other courses were wrapped up and this unfortunate situation is why my grade ended up being so low. My normal study routine and home life was disrupted and I was more worried about my brothers health than the work I could produce for this class. My ability to focus on studying at this time was worsened by my underlying diagnosis with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder and my brother testing positive for Covid further worsened my mental state. I know this period was the reason why my grade was much lower than it should have been because for all the other assignments in that class I received a much higher grade. I am confident if my normal living conditions were not disrupted, I would have had much more time to focus on this course and therefore would have received the grade I deserved.
My mental health last fall was at a low point and it caused me to miss many classes for the ARTH 410 seminar with Antonia Behan. Out of 12 classes, I attended 2. The second class I went to was one of the worst days I have had at Queen??s and I ended up throwing up next to Ontario Hall from the amount of fear and anxiety I felt as I approached the building. My anxiety and depression was so horrible I found it nearly impossible to get out of bed most days and the only class I did very well in last term was an online class because I could do it all from home. I did not reach out to Prof. Behan because I figured there wasn??t anything she could do to help my mental situation as she made it clear that attendance and participation was a key part of this course. I did all the readings and written assignments to the best of my ability from home, but my absence from class discussion ultimately made it hard to succeed on these too. When it came time for class presentations, I felt physically sick thinking about going so I asked Prof. Behan if I could submit a presentation virtually. She agreed to an online submission and I ended up receiving an A- on that specific assignment. I sent her accommodations from QSAS but nothing could help my lack of attendance and participation from hurting my grade. By mid-October I found myself on the phone with counsellors instead of attending class. My lack of attendance throughout the term ultimately brought my grade down and I know that if I was healthy enough to attend every class, this never would have happened. I am happy to say that since then I have sought appropriate counselling support and I do not think attendance will ever be an issue again. Hopefully, the debilitating mental illness I experienced last semester was an isolated and rare event and I look forward to finishing my degree here at Queen??s with much better marks.
Last April I was preparing to work on my final assignments for ARTH 391 when my brother told me he tested positive for covid. This was before vaccines were available so I was immediately concerned for his life since he is severely asthmatic. I share a small living space with my brother and was not able to go home for two weeks because he was required to isolate and very ill. His two-week isolation period was during the exam period so I was already stressed more than normal. I found myself couch-surfing at different places in the university district and was not sure where I was going to eat or sleep each night because by the end of the semester money was very tight. Having said, I could hardly work on my final assignments for this class because I barely found places to sleep let alone focus and study. ARTH 391 was the only class I had left to work on during this period as all my other courses were wrapped up and this unfortunate situation is why my grade ended up being so low. My normal study routine and home life was disrupted and I was more worried about my brothers health than the work I could produce for this class. My ability to focus on studying at this time was worsened by my underlying diagnosis with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder and my brother testing positive for Covid further worsened my mental state. I know this period was the reason why my grade was much lower than it should have been because for all the other assignments in that class I received a much higher grade. I am confident if my normal living conditions were not disrupted, I would have had much more time to focus on this course and therefore would have received the grade I deserved.
My mental health last fall was at a low point and it caused me to miss many classes for the ARTH 410 seminar with Antonia Behan. Out of 12 classes, I attended 2. The second class I went to was one of the worst days I have had at Queen??s and I ended up throwing up next to Ontario Hall from the amount of fear and anxiety I felt as I approached the building. My anxiety and depression was so horrible I found it nearly impossible to get out of bed most days and the only class I did very well in last term was an online class because I could do it all from home. I did not reach out to Prof. Behan because I figured there wasn??t anything she could do to help my mental situation as she made it clear that attendance and participation was a key part of this course. I did all the readings and written assignments to the best of my ability from home, but my absence from class discussion ultimately made it hard to succeed on these too. When it came time for class presentations, I felt physically sick thinking about going so I asked Prof. Behan if I could submit a presentation virtually. She agreed to an online submission and I ended up receiving an A- on that specific assignment. I sent her accommodations from QSAS but nothing could help my lack of attendance and participation from hurting my grade. By mid-October I found myself on the phone with counsellors instead of attending class. My lack of attendance throughout the term ultimately brought my grade down and I know that if I was healthy enough to attend every class, this never would have happened. I am happy to say that since then I have sought appropriate counselling support and I do not think attendance will ever be an issue again. Hopefully, the debilitating mental illness I experienced last semester was an isolated and rare event and I look forward to finishing my degree here at Queen??s with much better marks.