Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard,

My name is Ryan Bate, and I have recently completed my fourth year in the Life Sciences program. I am writing to you to appeal for aegrotat (AG) standing in PATH 310. I was enrolled in this class during the winter term of 2015 and have completed 70 of the course work. As of the week of August 16th, all of my other credits have been finished. If granted AG standing in this course, I will apply to graduate in the fall, as this is now my only outstanding credit.

During my fourth year at Queen's, and in particular during the winter semester, I began to suffer from anxiety and occasional panic attacks. I believe that this was the result of numerous factors, including stress from school and maintaining a good GPA for graduate school. Although I began experiencing mild symptoms during the fall semester, I was able to drop a course and relieve some of the pressure I was experiencing. As the winter semester progressed, my performance began to drop in some of my classes, and my symptoms peaked after classes ended and the exam period began. I started to experience both the physical and the psychological aliments associated with anxiety, and this made studying incredibly difficult. During the time that I attempted to study I could not focus and I experienced a number of panic attacks for the first time in my life. As a result, I was unable to accomplish nearly as much as I needed to do. This created more stress, until I eventually decided to seek help. I made numerous visits to Counselling Services at this time, and I paired up with a very helpful counsellor.
Prior to speaking with my counsellor, I had planned to push through my exams, even though I knew I would be unprepared for them. She mentioned the option to defer my exams to later a date, and after weighing the alternatives, I decided to pursue this. After completing a deferral form, I contacted my professors and began the process of deferring my exams. After contacting the administrative offices for Life Sciences, the option of applying for AG standing was mentioned as an alternative. Unfortunately, many of my courses had exams worth 50-60, and AG standing was not an option for them. My professors were all very understanding, and I have since completed those courses to the best of my ability. With the completion of last exam and a summer course, all which is left for me to address is PATH 310. As mentioned, I have completed the majority of the course work and am seeking AG standing in this course to complete my degree.
Should this appeal be granted, I will continue to take steps to improve my mental health. I believe that a major component of my anxiety was brought about by lack of adequate sleep. This was in part due to my living arrangement, and partially due to anxiety. My living situation has changed as I am home for the summer. Sleep strategies were given to me by my counsellor, and on her recommendation, I also saw a physician in Kingston. The doctor I spoke with was very helpful, and prescribed me a mild, as needed, sleep aid. In tandem, the strategies for good sleep hygiene and the sleep aid have helped right my sleeping pattern. In addition, I have begun to exercise regularly again, and this has helped my mood and sleep. I also followed up with my family doctor at home for further advice.
In addition, I worked through the sections of Your Best You: Managing Your Anxiety, that pertained to me. This resource was recommended to me and available on the Queen's Student Wellness page. I have also decided to take a year off, and wait to apply for graduate programs. In doing all this, I have relieved a great deal of pressure that I was feeling and putting on myself, and feel as though I am in a much better place now than I was before.