Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Sarah Cornish, and I am appealing to late-drop PHYS242, PHYS213, and MATH221 (Fall 2021).

In Fall 2020 I also appealed to late-drop some of these courses. I first will explain what happened in Fall 2021, before addressing why the plan I had set into place after the first appeal didn??t work. I will then lay out my plan moving forwards and show how it has been effective in Winter 2022.

I??ve been dealing with anxiety since I was in elementary school and for the most part, I have been managing it. When it became more severe, I started antidepressant/antianxiety medication (February 2021) and have been on it ever since. They have been beneficial in preventing severe depressive episodes like the one I had in Fall 2020 (for more information on this please see my previous appeal). I also have a chronic health condition called Crohn??s Disease, the treatment for which is immunosuppressants.

I began feeling more anxious again in the first few weeks of classes in September 2021 due to stress from school and being on immunosuppressants in the middle of a global pandemic. I reached out to my doctor who decided that it would be beneficial to increase the dose of my medication. While this did help, I still had periods of severe anxiety and depression, causing difficulties sleeping which led to me sleeping during the day and staying up at night. The poor sleep patterns caused brain fog, and I had low energy due to my Crohn??s Disease and not getting enough sleep. The combination of these things made it difficult to regularly attend classes and stay on top of deadlines, causing me to fall behind. I was taking four classes in the Fall 2021 semester, and I ended up only passing one.

In my appeal for my Fall 2020, my plan had been to continue in counselling and taking my medication, as well as taking a lighter course load and better utilising my QSAS accommodations. While I was able to continue with the medication, I found that my counselling sessions over the summer weren??t as beneficial as I was hoping for, so I didn??t continue them once the fall semester started. I also found it difficult to utilise my QSAS accommodation because one of the symptoms of my depression and anxiety is that it can be very difficult for me book and attend appointments. Because of this I couldn??t check in with my QSAS advisor in week 7/8 to assess how I was doing in my courses, which had been an expectation when my previous appeal was granted.

Over winter break I decided that I needed to find a new therapist and set up consults to find the one who best fit my needs. By the start of second semester, I found one who I worked well with, and who had an online booking system so I wouldn??t become anxious about making phone appointments. I have been doing weekly counselling sessions with her since the first week of February and have found it extremely beneficial. This semester I decided to take a lighter load of three courses and am pleased to inform you that so far, I have passed 2 of them and while I??m still waiting for my marks to be released for the third, I??m optimistic that I passed it as well.

The combination of continued medication, a new therapist, lighter course load, and the loosening of restrictions have all had a hand in my success this semester. I believe that if I continue with these and make an appointment with my QSAS advisor for Week 6 at the start of the Fall 2022 semester, then I will be able to continue this upward trend in my academics.

Thank you for considering my appeal, please let me know if you have any questions.

Sarah Cornish
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