Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Appeal to the Associate Dean (Studies)

To: The Associate Dean (Studies)

I am writing this letter because I would like to appeal to drop the following fall 2015 semester classes past the drop deadline. The classes I wish to drop are: CLST 200, CLST 306, PHIL 273 and PSYC 100A.

The reason behind this appeal goes back as far as the fall semester of 2014 (The beginning of my second year). It was at this time that I noticed that I was struggling with focusing on my studies. Some members of my family who work in the health care industry suggested that I may have ADHD, and I took the steps of approaching the Health Counseling and Disabilities Service. I completed the screening process with inconclusive results. After further review of my results I decided not to pursue the matter any further because at that point I no longer believed that carrying on with that particular process would yield any future benefit to me. At this point I had already reduced my course load and was only taking three classes in the fall semester and four classes in the winter semester. I had hoped that reducing my course load would help me focus more on each individual class; however even after a lighter course load I still completed my second year with a similarly low GPA as my first year (about 1.7).
I was disappointed and slightly ashamed of my academic performance at this point, and decided part of the reason may be that I did not see a future career for myself in the Classical Studies/Philosophy Medial that I was in. I decided that I needed to make a change and intended to re-take my first year Psychology course with the hopes of achieving a better grade and switching into a psychology oriented program (whether it be a major, a minor or a medial). It was also over the summer of 2015 that I found out that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was a challenging reality to face.

I approached the fall semester of 2015 with much optimism for my future. I felt that I was working towards a goal/program that would be more meaningful to my future and hoped that this would provide me with a slightly more motivated attitude to maintain focus in on my academics. I had also changed where I was living and whom I was living with. Before I had been living in a low quality student house (compared to other student houses), with students who liked to go out drinking frequently and who I found were a part of what was distracting me from my studies. I moved to a much nicer, quieter house out of the student ghetto with friends I had become close with in second year who are much more focused on their studies, and who go out drinking much less frequently. By about a month into the fall semester I realized that I was still having the same problems focusing as I had been having in the past, however now the problems were increasing in severity. I was having difficulty even motivating myself to even leave the house for class. It got to the point were I would prepare for class (Shower, pack my bag and eat), but when the time came to leave I could not bring myself to. I found that the only time I was leaving my house was when it was absolutely necessary (Work, grocery shopping, etc.). I did not realize how bad things had gotten until I missed one of my midterms. It was at this point that I approached the HCDS again and began speaking with a counselor. I met with her on a bi-weekly basis, and came the conclusion that I may have some problems with social anxiety, and was going through symptoms of depression.
The last month of the semester was the toughest. The counseling meetings I was attending were very helpful, however they were also bringing back many painful memories that I had suppressed from my childhood, and as a result I was in almost a perpetual state of depression. I found myself in my room reflecting on painful memories and weeping as many as 3-4 days a week (a fact I did not bring up in counseling as it was simply to difficult to talk about). I was eating an average of only one meal per day and the occasional snack and I had completely lost hope in even attempting to catch up in my classes.

As I stand now, I have failed all four of the classes I wish to appeal. My intentions for the winter semester are to take some time off school and live at home. I intend to speak to a specialist in anxiety disorders and focus on improving my mental health state and any other problems that my have been effecting my academic performance. I have not yet come to a full decision on where the future of my academics lies, however I do have every intention to continue schooling whether it is at Queens or elsewhere.

For these reasons I would like to appeal the classes listed above, and I greatly appreciate any consideration in this matter.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,

Sincerely,

Jordan Tandan (10066955)