Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Kayla Justinich
06211521
February 21, 2018

To whom it may concern,

I am appealing failing grades in the following courses: WRIT 265 (fall 2017), GNDS 421 (fall 2017) and ENIN 200 (fall 2017), and request that they be dropped from my transcript for reasons of psychological illness.

Obtaining my degree has been a long and difficult journey for me- one that has been marked with severe mental illness and the ups and downs associated with such a diagnosis. Throughout the past 7 years, I have struggled with depression, anxiety, undiagnosed ADHD as well as various addictions. While I truly enjoyed my chosen area of study and the academic community at Queen¿¿s, my mind has prevented me from reaching my full potential in this realm.

In the fall of 2017, I truly believed that I would be able to manage my mental health and finally complete my degree. I had started seeing a psychologist regularly, was on numerous medications and felt confident about my ability to complete my final courses successfully. Within a couple of weeks, everything fell apart once again. When faced with my first assignment I quickly spiraled into anxiety and relapse, missing my doctor¿¿s appointments and failing to take my medication for the next 3 months. Attached is supporting documentation from my family doctor indicating that this resulted in a major depressive episode that prevented me from completing my course work.

While I would have loved to finish the full four years of my intended degree, I am at the point that I feel I need to move on and leave the last few difficult years in the past. For this reason, I hope to have my failed courses dropped from my transcript and to appeal to graduate with a 3 year BA with a major in Gender Studies.

Thank you for your consideration and please let me know if you require any further documentation,
Kayla Justinich