Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies) Dr. Johanne Bénard,

I am appealing the Faculty of Arts and Science's decision that I must withdraw from Queen's University for one year, effective May 22, 2018. I received this decision in accordance to regulation 13.4 of the Faculty of Arts and Science Calendar.

For the past couple of years, I have been struggling to keep up with my academics. I would attend most of my lectures but not be able to focus. I would skip out on meals and spend most of my time in bed sleeping or trying to fall asleep. I would lie to myself that I was alright, and my behaviour was normal. However, I realized, last year, when I got my letter for academic probation, that I am not alright and that I am denying myself the future that I work so hard for because I am afraid to associate myself with mental illness and the stigma that surrounds it. I was also denied OSAP because of my school standing. So, when this school year started, in September 2017, I called the clinic located on campus and made an appointment for October 5th, 2017. I went to my appointment and the physician, Dr. Peter Bettle, did what I feared. He said I have had depression for a few years now and it had progressed to this state because I didn't tell anyone or try to get help. He gave me tablets to take daily to help with my mood (I will attach a picture I took of the prescription at the time because I am currently unable to go to Kingston to get the physicians letter at this time). I had started feeling better and was able to focus more during lectures and tutorials and I did well on the assignments that I had during that time. I also had submitted a form explaining my circumstance to OSAP and was given money to continue my studies. I have gotten several As and Bs in a few of my courses (BIOL401, BIOL335, and GNDS212). Then, on November 27th, 2017 my uncle in Sri Lanka passed away due to a heart attack. No one had noticed what had happened until the next morning. I believe this caused me to relapse into my old habits. I was not even able to attend the funeral because my financial situation does not allow me to take a sudden trip overseas. I was not able to study for my exams and I even mistook one of the exam dates as the wrong one and was unable to get it rescheduled. When the new year started I was unmotivated and succumbing to the depression. I tried to distract myself by surrounding myself with my housemates instead of isolating myself in my room. I started having study sessions with two of my friends whom were in two of my online classes (BIOL350 and HLTH200). Once the school work started picking up and I started feeling more depressed, I started focusing less on school and more on my friend and her problems because it was something I could easily fix. I started skipping lectures to escape the fact that I didn't understand what was going on in lecture. As a result, I failed both of my on-campus classes (BIOL202 and BIOL206). I had a rough year, dealing with the diagnosis of my depression and the loss of my uncle. I now must come back for another year, as I had originally planned to graduate May 2018, because of circumstances out of my control.

I hope that you take in my financial and personal circumstances and allow me to continue my studies this year. If further documentation is required, please let me know. I have attached a letter from last year from a professional when I had appealed to drop a course.

Thank you for your time,
Kiruthika Varathanathan