Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: November 21st 2014

Dear the Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing to drop Pharm 230 (Winter 2014).

Just over two years ago, my father was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer¿¿s disease at the age of 57. Initially the diagnosis was a huge shock but life seemed to carry on. When I returned home from university for two weeks at Christmas last year, I noticed a huge change in my father which was very upsetting. The reality of how this disease was going to change his life and our life as a family weighed heavily on my mind. It was difficult to return to Queen¿¿s in January and the fact that my housing situation was not working only added to my stress.

In February, I was admitted to the psychiatric ward for seven days at Kingston General Hospital for a major depressive episode (see supporting documents). As a consequence of my hospitalization, I missed the majority of my midterms and a full week and a half of classes. I tried to study for my midterms in hospital but was not in the right state of mind to concentrate on my studies. Unfortunately, after I was discharged, I had to go back into hospital for stress related issues. After I left KGH, I attended mandatory doctors¿¿ appointments and weekly counselling sessions to aid with my recovery. My transition back into classes was very difficult as I was prescribed medication that made me feel physically ill, unable to concentrate and provoked changes to my eating and sleeping behaviors. I became very behind in all my courses and had most of my April exams deferred (see supporting documents). Eventually, I moved out of my student house and into a more supportive environment where I could concentrate on my health and finishing up the term. I was able to complete all my exams by the end of April except for the Pharmacology 230 exam. I met with Professor Racz who was very supportive and agreed to delay this exam.

I needed to returned home to Vancouver for the summer to focus on my health and spend time with my family. In addition, I worked with a counsellor at home all summer to help with my recovery and to enable me to feel confident to return Queens this fall. My family is now linked with the Alzheimer¿¿s Clinic and, while the journey won¿¿t be easy, we all feel much better supported on how to help each other cope with the changes. This term has been much more successful for me and I feel better about managing my stress. From this experience, I can now identify triggers and know when it is time to seek professional help if I am feeling overwhelmed. I have become more aware of my mental health and actively work to better it daily. Given the distance from Vancouver, I am taking the time to communicate frequently with my family so that we can all support each other as things change at home. I will be making up this class by taking an online course in the summer through Queen¿¿s Distance Studies. I have done two 6 credit online courses in the past (PHGY 210 and ENGL 100) and have been successful in both of them. I feel extremely confident that I can do well in another online course. In addition, I have not let this experience interfere with my current academic grades. In three out of four of my classes this term, I achieved over 85 on my midterms.

I am thankful for the support that I have received at Queen¿¿s University so far in allowing me to continue with my studies during a very difficult time. I appreciate your time and consideration of my request to drop Pharmacology 230 from my transcript.

Respectfully,

Caitlin Gordon