Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am petitioning to drop WRIT 120 (Summer, 2023). This summer has been a very stressful summer for me as I was experiencing workplace harassment and was living away from home in my student house in Kingston. The harassment started at the beginning of my job in May, while I was in another summer course (RELS 131). I had a much older full-time employee take pictures of me non-consensually, I also had another co-worker who would be saying very inappropriate racial things in the workplace. This toxic work environment led to me dropping out of that course, which was essential to easing my course load for the upcoming year. That was truly a last resort for me because I needed the credit. So, I decided to take WRIT 120 from July-August to at least get one 3-credit course for the school year.
Unfortunately, dealing with this continued to take a toll on me, and I was barely able to function on a basic level. I was having trouble eating and sleeping, which made it hard for me to get out of bed and perform well at work and this course. I had therapist appointments every other week, but they were spent trying to calm myself down with no avail. Living alone was also hard as I did not have anyone to comfort me, and I felt very unstable. At this point in time, I did not have any academic accommodations for my PTSD and Generalized Anxiety, so I applied for academic considerations. This was my attempt to rectify the situation and my professor helpfully complied, as I desperately needed this course to help ease my course load for the upcoming year. This was essential as my anxiety does not bode well with a large course load. With these considerations in place, I truly believed that I was going to succeed and finish this course.
However, I was still having problems at work that had a negative effect on both my mental and physical health. I would open the textbook to read and would immediately get distracted by reoccurring memories of what happened at work, and the past trauma that caused my PTSD to begin with. That is how this illness affects me, I immediately get reminded of past traumas and must cope with it. I would then have to spend that time going through coping mechanisms to ease my stress levels. I would then have to take medication to calm myself down, but it would almost immediately put me to sleep. Nearly every day was like this, as PTSD often makes you feel as though you are reliving events (mentally and physically). The memories cycle through, and I never know how long they cycle for (it could vary from 3 days to 3 weeks), and it depends on support systems. I would have gone back home, but I did not have a job lined up for me back home, and this is my last summer for decent experience on my resume. Home is also another trigger for me as my PTSD was developed from my upbringing, so at times it can trigger me as well.
As I write this letter, I am prepared to go home for a week to visit my grandma who is now stage 4 cancer. This will also take a toll on me. I also want to go home (in a safe environment, not my place of upbringing) to stabilize myself before returning to my job, but I am truly unable to continue this course. I am regretful of this, as I really wanted to ease my course load this upcoming year, but I am having extreme difficulty in doing so. I would have submitted academic accommodations, but I did not have an updated diagnosis, and I did not know the process for obtaining it on my own. It took me a little while to figure out the steps, and I got my family doctor to refer me and got an appointment mid-July with a psychiatrist. My psychiatrist has just sent me (as of today Friday, August 4th, 2023) the completed academic accommodation form, and I have submitted it to QSAS. This is to prevent such a drastic course of action from happening again. I have an appointment with a QSAS advisor at the end of August. I have also talked to my boss, and we went to HR and now my situation at work is much better. I did not initially go to them because this work situation felt isolating and scary for me to deal with.
This upcoming school year, I am prepared to have support in place to assist me in my final year of studies. It has been a hard journey to learn how to study and cope with PTSD as well as live entirely alone for the first time. My summer was full of learning experiences regarding my mental health and reaching for outside support, as I have never applied for academic accommodations before, and I have never dealt with workplace harassment. I will ask for extensions and to write exams in a quiet room for some of my accommodations. This will help me regulate my PTSD symptoms as I often need time to use coping mechanisms while writing assignments, and exams as exams can really distract me and stress me out. I am submitting a letter from my psychiatrist as well as the QSAS form that she filled out. I will learn from this experience and will become a better student. I apologize for waiting as long as I did, and vow to not have this happen again.

Thank you for your time,

Kiara Prashad
Student 1D: 20309301
Email: 21kap15@queensu.ca