Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Arts and Science,
I am appealing to drop FILM 240, PHYS P20, HIST 280, and WRIT 125 from my transcript records. These courses were taken through the Fall 2014 session of my academic year.
During the academic session of Fall 2014, I unfortunately found myself still dealing with extenuating circumstances that I had difficulty controlling. The time frame of these events began in Fall 2013 and still effect my academics to this day. The beginning of 2013 I found myself dealing with grief of a lost uncle, as well as issues within my student housing that ultimately caused me to move out and back to my parents in late February of 2013. At this time I had been battling depression and anxiety that had only been treated a few years before but had since ignored.
With this came a loss of relationships with those around me, and lack of motivation to prosper and continue my studies. Entering Queen¿¿s I had a drive to do well and had a somewhat clear idea of where I would find myself in my last year of studies. I believe due to my lack of education and experience with handling my troubles with my mental health, I created a barrier from my friends and family and found it easier to run from my problems and disregard my future.
My transcript reads how my mental health began to suffer, in that I had once been an average student, but lack of communication with peers in my lecture and more classes skipped ultimately caused me to lose track and struggle with my studies. I had never before reached out to anyone, and although I was aware that many resources are out there to help me get on track, I still found myself lost. I began to get upset and mad about how I was handling my struggles with life and my education, and my mental state had me in a frame of mind where temporary happiness was best and to ignore any of my problems head on.
Not until this fall term of 2014 was I able to reach out. I moved out of my student apartment and back with my parents due to the stability they offered. Within my 2013-2014 studies I had seen a few different health care professionals, about my mental state it was not until my parents recommended myself to my family doctor and I was soon put on anti-depressants. This was the best move for me at the time, for it brought light to both my family and my family doctor and my true issues and struggles would come to surface and be worked on. I understood at this time that my mental health the year before greatly affected my studies. My inability to balance lectures, readings, and school work with all obstacles occurring outside my studies really had me flustered.
This imbalance caused me to get angry and disregard my future. I stopped thinking ahead or thinking constructively in general. I found myself staying busy by working more than thirty hours a week and doing minimal work. This was not due to my lack of appreciation for my education but instead was caused by my lack of motivation. I stopped believing in myself, and choose to instead believe that I was only going to continue to fail. I choose to then do all my classes online. I felt this was a better option as I would not have to step foot on campus and my anxiety levels would remain at a minimum. I also planned to change my degree to a Bachelor of Arts, without honours, thus allowing me to finish my degree sooner. What I thought would be constructive and easier for me proved to be more difficult. I did not have a drive to do well in my studies, with no push from professors as well as no feeling of being part of a class, due to correspondence. I was not being challenged like I was used to, and thus my marks continued to drop. I thought at the time this was the best option for me, to continue my studies online but ultimately I was not ready to take any classes. I should have took a break from my studies and put them on pause so I could start really taking care of myself and finding a solution to my struggle with mental illness.
My plan for my future with Queen¿¿s, is to pause my education for now. I wish to take a small work load this coming Fall 2015, and will therefore finish my degree at my pace. I feel a lot better about myself right now, as I did not go through with my winter term of this year. I continue to see my doctor about my mental state and keep my family involved. I believe that this break will be extremely important for my future education and will better me as a Queen¿¿s student as well as a citizen within society.
Thank you,
Hillary Kerr