Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,

I am writing this letter to appeal to drop CHEM 223 (Winter, 2019).

Since Fall 2018 of this academic year, I have been struggling with mental health issues
which have and continue to severely affect my performance. This can be seen by my
final grades on my transcript and in my current marks, specifically in CHEM 223.

Because the course material for CHEM 223 has been very hard for me to grasp, my
constant state of worry, panic and stress has caused me great turmoil and has
severely worsened the state of my mental health in the weeks since I began the course.
I received a very low grade on the first and second midterm exams for CHEM 223 (both
of which were below 50), which caused a long panic-episode. For example, on the
day of my second midterm exam I had a severe panic attack. I submitted a selfdeclaration
to have my midterm exam date moved, which thankfully was approved, but
I still failed the midterm on the moved day. The grade I received on that second
midterm also caused a panic episode. The level of worry has made it increasingly
difficult to focus on learning making it impossible for me to fully understand the
material, no matter how many ways I have tried to learn it. I believe this course is the
epicenter of my anxiety and feel strongly that my issues will continue to worsen if I
continue the course or fail the course and have the results on my academic record
indefinitely.

The stress and confusion of my repeated attempts to grasp this course have left me in
a state where I find it hard to function day-to-day. For this reason, it has put my mental
health in a place that I never would have hoped it would be. Not only am I feeling
depressed and stressed, but I am also experiencing panic attacks on a regular basis. I
believe that dropping CHEM 223 will be a tremendous benefit to assist me in getting
my mental strength back to a manageable state so that I can continue to work towards
my academic goals at Queen¿¿s University.

I did not drop CHEM 223 earlier (before the drop deadline) due to the feelings that I
had been having about the course in its entirety. I felt overwhelmed to the point where I
felt paralyzed. I tried to improve the situation by trying to study more, exercising,
asking for help, trying more self-care not realizing my mental health was getting worse
with each day that passed. I also did not drop CHEM 223 earlier due to a series of
panic attacks I had been having through the weeks leading up to my second midterm
exam. The last date to drop a Winter 2019 course without academic penalty was
March 1, 2019, and I was supposed to write my second midterm exam for CHEM 223
on March 7, 2019. Leading up to March 7, the severe panic attacks I had been having
debilitated me from doing any work, and the March 1 deadline passed in the midst of
these events. Over the course of the weekend of March 9-11, I spoke with my therapist
for nearly two hours about these worries I had. With a clear mind after having my
second midterm exam moved, we discussed the prospect of me dropping CHEM 223.
As his letter confirms, he has noticed the issues I have had, and agrees that dropping
CHEM 223 will allow me to have a better headspace to work through my mental health
struggles.

If this appeal is granted, I plan to continue my other three courses for the remainder of
the Winter 2019 term, that being CHEM 221, CHEM 222 and HLTH 102. I believe the
reduced load will allow me to balance the time needed to focus on mental health and
academics. The material covered in the remaining courses, although still challenging,
has not caused the level of stress that has come from CHEM223. With help from my
therapist, academic advisor and accommodation advisor my goal is to transition from
the Chemistry program into a program that is better suited to my academic abilities
and interests. I plan to continue to take a reduced course load as I work on developing
better coping strategies. I plan to continue to access resources both on- and offcampus,
such as ones that assist in creating new learning, study and organization
strategies. I will continue to work with my therapist to manage my mental health and
create strategies to promote positive growth moving forward.

I sincerely appreciate the opportunity for this appeal. Thank you very much for your
consideration, and I await to hear your response.


Kind regards,
Sam Williams