Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Bryn Harvey-Raymond and I am a second year Life Sciences student in the Faculty of Arts and Science. I am appealing to drop PSYC 271 (Fall, 2018), and CHEM 281 (Fall, 2018),
BIOL 243 (Fall, 2018). In addition to this, I am appealing to have a credit standing in PHGY 215 (Fall, 2018).

During the semester of Fall 2018, I began struggling with my mental health more than I had during my first year of studies at Queen¿¿s University. I first began struggling with anxiety in 2012, but last semester it began affecting my academics more than it ever has. My anxiety, while mostly under control, is something that I deal with on an ongoing basis. Certain times are worse than others, making sleeping and focusing a large challenge. During Fall 2018, I was really struggling to get a good night¿¿s sleep, leading me to frequently miss class. During the times I was awake, I found it very hard to focus and complete my work, leading me to not making up for missed class material. This affected my marks in my classes as I went into exams and evaluations with minimal studying and having missed a large amount of lecture material. During the semester, I expected myself to be able to improve before final exams and being able to pass the courses, but unfortunately that was not the case and this resulted in failing multiple courses.

In addition to this, I was struggling with a mild hormonal imbalance throughout the last semester. This lead to fatigue, trouble sleeping, increased anxiety as well as a hard time focusing. This combined with my anxiety lead to a significant impairment in maintaining the academic standards I have set for myself in the past.

As for my future academic plan, in order to help the academic struggles I have been facing, I need to address my anxiety. I am planning to begin a 12 week program of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, something I have found very beneficial in the past. This will hopefully improve the symptoms of my anxiety that prevent me from being able to adequately complete my work. I have also met with multiple specialists and completed a full work up to see if there was a reason for the hormone imbalances, and will continue to meet with my physician to prevent these imbalances from reoccurring.

In addition to this, I will be taking 4 summer courses to get back on track for number of courses in my degree, including retaking two of the courses I am appealing to drop. My future plan is to take a reduced course load next year, and take summer courses next summer as well so I have less courses to focus on and hopefully not fall behind to the same extent.

Lastly, I am currently in the process of registering with Queen¿¿s Student Accessibility Services to set up academic accommodations that I had during high school, such as extra time for assignments and on tests. This will decrease my stress level during examinations and allow me to submit my best work on assignments.

Thank you very much for the consideration.