Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Caroline Koskie and I am going into my third year of studies at Queens University. I really enjoy studying at Queens and I truly do believe Queens is the right school for me. Unfortunately throughout my time at Queens I have undergone a lot of personal issues that have affected my mental health putting a strain on my academic studies. I reached out to a mental health nurse in first year as I found the transition very difficult physically and socially causing me to fall into a state of depression. They advised me with the struggles I was going through to take a lighter course load the following year. I followed their advice and enrolled in four courses Fall of 2013. Unfortunately my mental health issues worsened as I felt uncomfortable with my living conditions and company in Kingston. I began isolating myself and returning back to Toronto often to be with my family as it was a getaway for my thoughts and stress. I fell behind in one particular class Fall of 2013, FILM240 Media and Film culture, as this course fell on a Thursday night and that usually when I found myself returning home. I found that the stress of missing the classes caused a spiral of events. I felt too embarrassed to reach out to the prof due to the large attendance of students in the class. I began not wanting to check my emails and class posts about this course because the idea of shutting it out felt most stable. I soon realized that ignoring my problems made my issues a lot worse causing me to often break down,but i wasn't ready to reach out to anyonegiven the timing of mid school year. As my academic year came to an end I was very stressed in my lack of achievements academically and felt very embarrassed and honestly very scared. I thought by pushing my problems away and not dealing with them it would make me feel better, that was not the case at all. I found myself in a frozen state and did not meet the requirements for my major of choice. This summer I reached out to my family about my issues for the first time and also sought medical assistance from my doctor. After many challenging conversations with my family and doctor, I was able to face some of my several deep routed issues. I have began seeing a social worker here in Toronto and I'm planning on beginning to see someone in Kingston when I return to school in September 2014.

These past few years have been really difficult for me causing a drastic change in my psychological state and effecting my academics immensely. I am writing this appeal today to get permission to drop FILM240 taken this past Fall 2013.

Thank you for your consideration.

Many Thanks,
Caroline Koskie.