Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Letter: Jacob Anderson
124 Helen Street, Kingston, ON, Canada
Phone: +33 6 95 02 73 16

DR. JENN STEPHENSON
Student Services, First Floor Dunning Hall
Phone: (613) 533-2470 ext. (79584)

Dear Dr. Stephenson,

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1. Your letter to the Board should aim to clarify any elements of your extenuating circumstances that you believe were misinterpreted or inadequately recognized during the first level of appeal:

ANSWER: Thank you kindly for your thorough explanation and response. I need to clarify a couple things that perhaps were mistaken through my communication, which directly affect your decision.

That is, it is mistaken that I did not try to hand in the assignment until 3 weeks after the agreed upon due date. As my father and others could attest to, I had the assignment (from varying degrees of almost finished-finished) and was ready to submit it (regardless of the status) if it was to be accepted. However, I never heard back from Dr. Melkevik if he was still able to accept my paper (one email attached). Of course, most people would probably have just handed it in regardless (in addition to not caring about the embarrassment or what the professor thought of them because of all of this), but this is one major difference that my disability (primarily severe OCD) creates.

This is most evident in the fact that I told Dr. Melkevik I would hand in what I had done on at least 2 occasions, but could not bring myself to do that, even with repeated encouragement from family to just submit. Instead, I was locked by my computer or bed for weeks on end, in a lethargic and depressed state, pacing both physically and mentally, going through exhaustive OCD rituals in my head. When I was able to focus, I would obsessively refine and re-refine sentences, making little progress on the actual paper. At the end of the day, I barely could have finished more than a few basic tasks, let alone work on my paper.

I would imagine that someone in a more rational state of mind, without severe chemical imbalances in the brain, would have submitted, taken the slightly reduced mark instead of a 0, and moved on with their life. I would have loved to have been able to do that. For one, the area of the world I was in at the time was a great motivator for moving on and enjoying my university exchange, something I had been working hard towards for over a year (a huge stress in itself with failed COVID tests, massive Visa delays, exams, and well; breakdowns), and something I had looked forward to for at least 6 years. Yet the fact I couldn??t make such an obvious decision should speak volumes of my capacity at that time. I could try to explain further if needed (I mentioned one of my diagnoses above because that may give you a better idea), but there is a certain level of unfamiliarity for others that makes it naturally difficult to understand or sympathize with how my brain operates with my diagnoses.

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2. Timeline (start, duration, and present state of your extenuating circumstances):

ANSWER: Stated in the initial letter, from December 2021, to January 2022.

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3. Severity (during the time period under appeal):

ANSWER: Explained in this letter, as well as in the initial appeal letter. Safe to say; very severe, probably more than it is possible to convey in a letter, or more importantly, for those who have not experienced severe debilitating OCD to understand.

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4. Impact of your extenuating circumstances on your academic performance (specific ways that your studies have been affected):

ANSWER: At the very start of my appeal process I had thought that, and emailed in turn to my psychologist(s):
Something that says I experienced the symptoms, which would expectedly affect my schoolwork, as it did with everything else in my life, would probably be good enough. Unable to complete academic responsibilities is kind of an 'on-the-nose' description. I worked at the final assignment but was unable to finish it on time due to the symptoms of my conditions. A letter doesn't have to describe in detail the specific constraints on my academics, only that the symptoms exist, and any reasonable person could be able to see how such symptoms make academic life much more difficult.

However, I grew to be unsure the extent to which the appeals office expected specific details on my academic constraints. In my email correspondence with the psychologist(s), I realized they likely would only be able to write in a supporting letter that, your mental health symptoms would have likely affected your academic performance. They would also mention the number of sessions I attended therapy with them, and the letter would cost 200-300+ dollars (not covered by insurance).

After consulting others and rereading the various advice posted by the Appeals Office, I confirmed that the appeals office would likely want the specific constraints that my symptoms had on my academics. Crucially, however, I am not sure the exact extent to which I divulged such specifics in session (I know I did talk about them though), and more importantly if my psychologist(s) wrote them down (I don't think they did very much). Obviously, medical professionals can only state what they recorded down in sessions.

On a side note, I don't even think my family doctor, who was unable to write a letter because I am out of country but who is more familiar with my conditions, knows exactly my specific academic constraints. It's just not something that I share very much detail about in my medical appointments, nor is it something they often find pertinent to record I think, especially compared to other much more serious things discussed in my medical appointments. I??m sure this can be understood.

My parent??s letter might help clarify some of the specific effects on my academics, as can the letter from my psychologists/doctors if ultimately paid for and attached. Lastly my letter here and my initial appeal letter should give detail to the specifics of my symptoms and the obvious effects that had on my academic responsibilities. I will repeat them here for ease of reading and clarity:

?? The biggest effect my diagnoses have are on my anxiety, which directly effects my focus in everything I do. When in severe stages of OCD, I spend most of the day rather uncontrollably obsessing over certain fears, repeating physical and mental rituals to try to rationalize away the fear. In December into January this took up all the waking hours of my day, drained my energy, and helped contribute to an unusually high depressed state. I struggled to get out of bed even more so than before, often for hours at a time (as my doctors can attest to), and would use escape mechanisms to distract myself from the constant weight of the various fears I held at the time.
?? Even when I could get down to work on my paper, I couldn??t focus for more than 10 minutes at most (probably more accurately less than 5), and would search out distractions, or otherwise get caught by a fear and the ensuing rituals (lasting anywhere from 10-30 minutes, or more often simply not ever really ending). The realization at the end of the day of how little I had done was embarrassing, scary, and depressing. Further, the seeming lack of improvement through treatment, especially after years of trying, made me feel that much more hopeless.
?? Naturally, this anxiety effects my focus, but as you can see also effects my mood, my ability to handle difficulty and cope, my ability to work any period of time on one thing, my thinking capacity, my energy, and my health overall.
?? For this paper specifically, it made it difficult to move on from one sentence to the other, without incessantly refining and altering them. It also made it difficult to string any sort of progress together because of the long periods of time I spent away from the material, I would have to reread my long readings and regather my thoughts and arguments each time I battled out my OCD and returned to work.

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5. It is helpful to the Board if the information provided explains whether the extenuating circumstances you experienced are now resolved, have improved, or are being managed:

ANSWER: Actively managed, as described in initial appeal letter.

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Thank You Kindly,

Jacob Anderson
Undergraduate Student
Queen??s University
June 7, 2022