Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I hope I am finding you well. I am submitting this petition in light of an extenuating circumstance that has been relevant to me for a large portion of time - my mental health, or more clearly, my anxiety and depression. To keep utmost conciseness, my mental health issues primarily stem from childhood trauma - the death of my Mother and the circumstances following this fact. In the year 2024, I experienced a rapid decline in my mental health during the winter months. This status critically affected my ability to socially engage, manage work and gather enough motivation to do much of anything. I have been diagnosed with depression, and took prescribed antidepressants until roughly 2022 (Escitalopram), after which I halted the medication. In the following years I found myself in strict schedules, managed by trained school and camp personnel, mitigating the effects that would have stemmed from a lack of prescribed medicine. This scheduling of course halted when I enrolled at Queens. I have never been one to recognize my need for help, thus unfolding the events that took place in the 2024 winter term. Without much external assistance, counselling or a way out of my consuming depression, I failed two courses, resulting in an academic probation status. At this point, I was made to believe by my peers, family and myself that the circumstance was entirely my fault, the lack of work ethic and motivation was a product of me not trying hard enough. This may be true; however, in the following semester (Fall 2024) of my second year, I was able to collect myself and improve my GPA. This would not last very long at all, as the same cycle that had begun itself in the previous year would once more take its course. This semester (Winter 2025), I have fallen into a deep depression again, my anxiety often preventing me any venturing from my home, and my thoughts growing increasingly negative.
I take great interest in my studies, and it disappoints me even more that I wasn’t able to perform or really contribute anything to PHIL 296, which had a large portion of the grade rooted in participation and attendance. I failed to meet most of these grade requirements, and most of the assignments in this class were heavily affected by this. The correlation between my depression and academic performance is seen in my great lack of sleep due to nighttime panic, stress and anxiety, thus resulting in very difficult mornings, whereas my anxiety ramps up, making it hard for me to communicate with others or leave the safety of my home. My depression also almost entirely negates my ability to gather motivation for important tasks, often leaving me in feelings of helplessness, sorrow or over-analysis, resulting in extreme procrastination, driving my stress higher. The culmination of these issues leaves me in severe psychological distress on most of my nights and days in the wintertime, where I have no access to much sunlight, am not distracted by work and am placed under academic obligations. This issue has been affecting me for the last decade of my life, and was momentarily halted by the program I took in the summer of 2022, and the private school i attended in my grade 12 year of 2022-2023. Only last year had it resurfaced, and I am trying my best now, because I am more aware of its severity, to intervene. I have gone to a counselling session with a Queens psychotherapist for documentation, and have been in contact with my most recent nurse practitioner in an attempt to mitigate these issues as I stand, and will receive more documentation as I do so.
The PSAC-901 strike has also made this process, which has already been very taxing on my mental state, more confusing and played a role in my lack of motivation. The fact that I had already struggled deeply with productivity and work ethic seemed to dive even deeper into disorder once my actual classes stopped and my assignments began to be reweighted/not graded at all.
In light of these circumstances, whether I am put on a one-year required suspension because of my academic probation or not, it is likely that I will take next year off as a means to fix this problem, and will see a personal therapist regularly while I work. I will also attempt to receive psychoanalysis at institutions to gain a better understanding of any issues that may also be contributing to this (ADHD or OCD). I am writing this letter in order to help soften the blow my mental state has had on my academics, which resulted in my ability to efficiently learn and participate in school, so I may rehabilitate my mental health and prove to myself that this constant resurfacing of depression is not a fundamental mechanism of my being, but an obstacle I can overcome and prove myself in light of.

I thank you dearly for your consideration given these facts,
Jonah Papp