Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I was only able to enroll in PSYC 236 from the waitlist on September 19, 2023, and I have been sick almost continuously since then.

I had a stomach bug/cold starting on Sept. 25 and continuing for a few days, for which I did not get documentation because I know students are eligible for academic consideration for illness without documentation once per semester.

I then had a positive rapid test for covid on Oct. 9, 2023, and I experienced symptoms including extreme fatigue, chest pain, and severe brain fog for several days. I visited the emergency room on Oct. 11 for chest pain related to covid. I submitted Case Study 1 on Oct. 13, while I still had some degree of covid-related brain fog. Due to my brain fog, I was unable to locate the example assignments on the course website, and I therefore did not do my assignment to the needed specifications and received a grade of only 70%. I am normally an A+ student at Queen’s.

My symptoms remitted briefly but then rebounded a week later, and they continued through Nov. 3. I was also extremely anxious in late October and early November because I inadvertently passed on covid to my parents, who are aged 69 and 70. This happened because I did not realize my symptoms from Oct. 16 to early November were covid rebound rather than a more benign virus, I tested negative for covid twice prior to the rebound (and therefore concluded that I was no longer contagious) and therefore my parents did not cancel their plans to visit me in Germany. I wore FFP3 (better than N95) masks for most of my time with my parents, but I did share meals with them, which is likely how they got sick.

Additionally, I experienced discrimination based on language and disability from the nurse at my family doctor’s office on Oct. 26. She refused to allow me to use Google Translate to communicate with her, even though I speak very little German, she speaks no English, and my family doctor speaks minimal English. This was the culmination of years of microaggressions from her regarding my difficulties with learning German (which are disability-based), and I am therefore additionally burdened with consulting the local anti-discrimination counselling centre regarding her behaviour.

Furthermore, I experienced significant social stress from the Israel/Palestine conflict in October and the first two weeks of November, because I have a very social-justice-oriented circle of friends with widely diverging perspectives, from people who lost friends in the initial Hamas attack, to Jewish people with major Holocaust trauma, to people who think Israel is a settler-colonial state and shouldn’t exist.

Even after all this, I thought I might be able to finish the course. However, from Nov. 6 to Nov. 15, I had an extremely heavy menstrual period in which I lost approximately 200 ml of blood. I did not realize how much it was affecting me until Nov. 13, when I had blood drawn at my ear, nose, and throat doctor’s office because I was scheduled to have deviated septum surgery on Nov. 27. I became very dizzy following the blood draw, and I had to lie down for an hour and get a medical taxi home.

I submitted Case Study 2, which is worth 10% of my grade, on Nov. 15. However, after getting the mark back on Nov. 19, I realized I had been penalized for referencing secondary sources rather than directly referencing the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). When I was writing the case study, I was unable to recall how to access the DSM-5 through the Queen’s library system—I tried Queen’s Google Scholar and could not access it there, so I relied on secondary sources instead of remembering to look on the actual Queen’s library website.

I believe my failure to remember how to access the DSM-5 via Queen’s library services was directly related to the blood loss and additional ADHD symptoms I experienced during and following this extremely heavy menstrual period. Since this was only my second menstrual period after going off birth control, I was not prepared for the severity of its effect on my ADHD. (My ADHD is on record with QSAS.) I was only able to obtain a 74.25% on the assignment despite generally being an A+ student at Queen’s.

Additionally, I have had multiple grades under 90% on quizzes for this course despite the quizzes being open book. I believe this is also likely due to the impact of illness-related brain fog.
Also, I am scheduled for deviated septum surgery on Nov. 27, which will interfere with my ability to complete the fourth case study and study for the exam in this course.

I am also having problems managing my hypothyroidism. (I believe my hypothyroidism is on record with QSAS.) A thyroid hormone dose of 200 micrograms is too high and makes me anxious and unable to sleep, so I dropped my dose to 175 micrograms a few weeks ago. However, the dose of 175 micrograms is causing hypothyroidism symptoms (which include brain fog), and in the past lowering my dose to 175 micrograms has resulted in blood test results indicating that my thyroid hormone dose is too low. I have been referred to an endocrinologist so that this can be investigated, but I do not yet have an appointment.

I would really appreciate the opportunity to withdraw late from this course and retake it during another semester when I do not have such a long string of illnesses and adverse events. I had a 96% in PSYC 100, which is a difficult course, so having a much lower grade in PSYC 236 is worrying to me, especially since I need an excellent grade in this course (which is in clinical psychology) for potential graduate school admission in psychology or social work.

Sincerely,

Christine Hughes-Wiklund