Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies):

I am appealing to drop HIST 208 (Fall, 2015), HIST 209 (Winter, 2016), HIST 313 (Winter, 2016) and ENGL 215 (Winter, 2016) and requesting a credit standing for ENGL 274 (Fall, 2015).

Following the meetings with the advisor and medical professional, the completion of my exams for this semester, the move back to my family home for the summer, the first two weeks of my placement and after successfully finding a summer job, I was able to complete this appeal.

The extenuating circumstances which resulted in a psychological challenge affecting my academic performance are a house fire, which occurred on January 15, 2015, that destroyed my family home and the anxiety and depression which subsequently followed this event. Initially, for the first few months, following the fire I thought I was coping okay and managed to successfully complete the second semester of my first year at Queens. I began to encounter the psychological challenge when I returned home for the summer and lived in a variety of hotels, before my family was able to rent a house in a nearby village. It was difficult to deal with the physical remains of our family home when we visited the property throughout the summer. I noticed that I struggled with sleep and began to encounter feelings of anxiety and depression that had not existed previously. I was excited to go back to university hoping that these things had resolved themselves, but unfortunately that was not the case. Immediately after beginning my second year I was struggling academically, something that had previously never happened to me.

I began to put off completing essays and assignments, which previously I would have completed on a much earlier timeline. I also began to dread participating in a couple of my classes, where participation marks are a significant part of my final grade. I believe these extenuating circumstances greatly impacted my academic performance, specifically in HIST 208, HIST 209, HIST 313, ENGL 215 and ENGL 274. The only reason I was able to obtain okay grades in PROF 210 and HIST 295 was because attendance was a substantial portion of my grade as well as group work, which brought my mark up significantly. I met with an academic advisor who reviewed my transcript and noticed that something had significantly impacted my academic performance during my second year. In my first year of university, the lowest grade that I received was a B- and by the end of my first semester that was the highest grade I obtained. She advised me to go ahead with this appeal. I was fortunate to have an older sister who also attends Queens who encouraged me to seek a mental health evaluation at LaSalle which I completed March 29, 2016. Following the assessment, the doctor believes I have a form of social anxiety and depression and asked if I was interested in a prescription for antidepressants. She also encouraged me to attend regular counselling sessions. I decided to attend the counselling sessions without the prescription of medication in hopes of resolving these issues without pharmaceutical drugs. Together, with the support of my counsellor I believe I am on a path to coping with my anxiety and depression and am trying new strategies to support me socially, emotionally and academically.

This summer I am taking two online courses, HIST 260 and WRIT 125 to make up for the failed credits from my second year. I plan on meeting regularly with a medical professional (counsellor) to continue to deal with the psychological challenges I will face. The counsellor and I came up with a variety of strategies to deal with my anxiety towards academics such as starting assignments much earlier and looking at them in smaller pieces instead of the entire project at once, which can be overwhelming. In addition, I will be taking steps to confront my anxiety by celebrating smaller accomplishments, and recognizing that although I may not be entirely comfortable with the process that I am okay at the end of it, before moving to tackle issues evoking even more stress. The counsellor whom I¿¿d been seeing suggested that I could obtain an accommodation for my in class participation such as meeting one-on-one with my professor or other alternate methods. I am confident that these steps and continued counselling sessions will enable me to successfully deal with any psychological challenges that I may face in the future.