Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: 1840 DeCew Road, RR1, Fonthill, Ontario, L0S 1E6

Dr Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Studies)
Faculty of Arts & Science
Queen¿¿s University

Dear Dr Bénard,

I have just completed my first year, and I am writing to appeal to drop past the academic deadline three
failed courses (History of Life GEOL 107, The Dynamic Earth GEOL 104, and Water Resources GPHY
103) and to appeal for credit standing the one course I did pass as a retake (The Dynamic Earth GEOL 104)
because an undiagnosed anxiety disorder developed, amplifying my documented learning disabilities and
impacting my ability to cope academically.

Although I came to Queen¿¿s University aware of my learning disabilities (attached report), I was
unaware of the debilitating impact that a moderately severe anxiety disorder would have. I now see that I first
started to suffer from anxiety during the Fall midterm exams. One professor commented on the contrast between
the understanding I showed in class and my performance on the exam. Looking back, I see now that the shock of
my underperformance worsened my anxiety which continued throughout the rest of the school year, but at the
time I felt that if I worked harder and stayed focused my performance would improve. Instead, the anxiety
amplified my other disabilities and made all aspects of schoolwork much more difficult. This only increased the
time I spent managing my anxiety. It also made it almost impossible for me to seek academic counseling
through the DSO or elsewhere.

I had to do something, so I dropped the hardest course (Calculus MATH 120), but when I discovered
that I had failed all the other exams in January, I felt powerless. I wanted to drop out at this point and return in
September, but was advised by both the DSO and Student Services that this was not possible. Instead I chose to
enroll in five new courses, but when things deteriorated again I quickly dropped three before the academic
deadline, and focused on the two classes I felt I was most likely to succeed in. Even so, I was unable to
overcome what now had become debilitating anxiety and I failed one of the courses (GPHY 103), passing the
other (GEOL 107) with a poor mark. Since then, I have met with my educational psychologist in St. Catharines
who confirms that the significance of my anxiety disorder had been underestimated in previous assessments.

In high school, I successfully managed my three documented learning disabilities (dyslexia, mild ASD,
and mild ADHD-I), with a series of strategies, but I realize now that the environment was not unduly stressful.
As a result, I rarely became very anxious, and so this byproduct of my disabilities never really surfaced.
Managing a challenging course load, without the supports of home, accelerated this anxiety disorder early in my
year at Queen¿¿s. I was unaware of its ability to undermine my productivity and to enhance my preexisting
learning disabilities. Anxiety took over my life. As a result, I was neither able to deal with it effectively nor able
to assess its negative impact on my performance. I was also not able to self-advocate and seek assistance or
counseling. My anxiety progressively created a deficit feedback loop throughout the year, which I had never
experienced before.

Although this past year has been unsuccessful academically, I have learnt much about why I performed
so poorly. I would therefore like to defer my return to Queen¿¿s until September 2016 and instead take the coming
year to develop the strategies that will prevent this situation from recurring. I will take some courses at Brock
University and meet with my educational psychologist regularly to discuss coping strategies in the context of my
academic progress.

I therefore request that I be granted this appeal to drop past the academic deadline the three courses I
failed, and credit standing in the course I did pass as a retake, so that my transcript is cleared of grades affected
by my disability. I wish to be able to return to Queen¿¿s in 2016 with a clean slate and earn a BSc with honours in
Geology. I know that without this option, it will be difficult for me to feel confident enough to move beyond this
past year¿¿s negative experiences. Thank you for considering this appeal.

Regards,
James Head (10150295)