Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing to you today to petition for a late drop of the course ENGL 296, during the Fall 2024 semester. Throughout the term, I have been experiencing severe underlying mental health issues that have been exacerbated by family issues.

I have recently been made aware of the severity of my father’s affairs. I had known that my father had been cheating on my mother in early April 2024, however I had been told that it had ceased and things were going to go back to normal. It was during late this semester that I learned that my father had not kept his word, and that he was continuing to commit adultery. I had found this information out through multiple phone calls with both my younger brother and my mother, both of who are living back in Toronto.

I went home for a few days during the weekend of November 23rd to celebrate the memorial of my Aunt who had recently passed away from cancer this July. Considering that my aunt had been residing in the Philippines, my family and I were unable to travel last minute for her funeral. This was particularly tough for me because I felt that I was unable to close that chapter, especially after watching her pass away on a video call. It was during this time at home that I had really fallen into a deep depression as it had re-opened my grief wounds, and I was concurrently struggling with the knowledge of our family issues. It was because of these two main stressors, my aunt’s death, and my father’s infidelity that caused the exacerbation of my underlying mental health conditions.

At the beginning of the semester, I had already known that I was going to be struggling to handle both of these stressors alone, so I seeked help. I had tried my best to set myself up with support from many of the services at Queen’s as I regularly see Dr. Billing through Student Wellness Services. During my visit with her in September, she acknowledged my situation, and prescribed me 50mg of sertraline to help cope with my anxiety and depression. I have been regularly taking my medication despite the negative side effects like drowsiness and nausea, but as of December 3rd, I have been moved up to a higher prescription of 75mg. Additionally, I have been seeing a mental health therapist, Pamela Hall, on a regular basis every two weeks. Despite receiving support from those on campus, I had still felt very stuck and was unable to motivate myself to get out of bed, and even eat properly for at least a week following my return home.

My situation with my family has greatly impacted my ability to complete the work in this class as I was unable to focus on the readings and material, which are crucial to being able to perform well on the assignments. I struggled with being able to sit through the many readings as my anxiety was always heightened and I was constantly thinking about the family issues that I would return to. Furthermore, because of the situation at home, I received many more phone calls from both my mother and my brother explaining how they were also struggling with the issue. This instilled guilt, for not being able to physically be with them during this tough time.

Additionally, I was unable to complete and submit assignments because of my circumstances. As I was unable to maintain focus on my school work rather than family affairs and grief, it was difficult for me to keep up with the material in class. As it is an English class, it is important to understand the readings and material to be able to analyze it effectively using literary theories and frameworks. I felt heightened anxiety every time I tried to complete any English work because I felt so behind, but I knew that I was trying my best given my situation. However, I did not drop the class during this time because I was still actively seeing a therapist and she taught me techniques like breathing patterns and refocusing attention to hopefully help me get through the class. I had thought that I would have been able to pull it together and pass the course, however that unfortunately was not the case.

Overall, the impact of my mental health conditions have been so severe and have prohibited me from being able to submit my best work for this class. I will continue to seek support on campus, and ensure that I can prevent this from reoccurring. I kindly ask that you please acknowledge my situation and grant me the ability to drop the class despite it being past the due date.

Sincerely,
Eliza Michelle Manuel