Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Suruthey Sritharan and I have been a student at Queen¿¿s University since 2016. Throughout my undergraduate career, I had faced several challenges that had impacted my success in academia; specifically, mental health. In hopes to remedy the mental health problems, I had researched into further options with the assistance of Student Health and Wellness Services.

Being determined to complete courses, I continued to take full course loads every fall and winter term since 2016. Having taken loans from the government through OSAP, I felt I must graduate within the duration expected. The pressure had built up over the years from my family and the change in my housing dynamic significantly impacted my productivity. The worst of the issues had occurred the summer before Fall 2019 and having had taken six courses to meet the degree credit total requirement, I was stumped and was desperate for any form of alleviation.

The reasoning for having taken six 3.0 credits during Fall 2019 is due to the issues I had faced since first year of university. I was not able to keep up with the schoolwork successfully and had to drop a course as it was overwhelming trying to be healthy mentally and take on five courses. This resulted in having my credit total to being shortened and since I could not afford to take a fifth year, I had opted to take six courses in Fall. Although I had thoroughly enjoyed the course content, I had struggled with completely the work to the best of my abilities.

I have seen a counsellor and later a psychologist through Student Health and Wellness since I had started my undergraduate studies. Once the issues I had been dealing with had escalated, the decision was made to start taking medication in hopes to alleviate some of the problems caused by poor mental health. I had started my prescriptions in September/October 2019 and continue to take it to this day. There has been significant improvement since December but the first few months were tough. It was incredibly difficult to adjust, and time was lost to side effects and coping with a multitude of factors in my environment and body. I had been recommended Sertraline and Lorazapem by Dr.Farah Nanji who is the psychologist whom I have been having regular appointments with for over a year. Once I had passed the diagnosis, Dr. John Touinema had prescribed me both the medications. Recently, I have had my dosage increased for the Sertraline by Dr. Lee. I have been able to stop taking the Lorazapem as the Sertraline has been effective to the extent I can regulate my anxiety better. With the improvement of my health due to the aid of the medication, I have been able to focus on my school work better and be more engaged during lectures. I am afraid the courses taken last term will significantly impactful and I hope to be able to have the grade removed so I can graduate this year.

I am writing this letter to appeal the final grades received for the following courses: PHIL410, PHIL459, and PHIl347 of the Fall 2019 term. I have significantly improved since the initial stage of the medication and can confidently say I have improved academically and am thoroughly enjoying class content. I sincerely hope that this appeal shows I am dedicated to be a successful student. Thank you for the consideration and I look forward to hearing soon.