Petition Letter
I would greatly appreciate having my grade for GEOL 543 changed to DR for the 2021-2022 academic year. This course was my undergraduate thesis, which I was unable to complete due to the university going online for the 2022 winter semester. This hampered my ability to use the necessary Queen's facilities to properly analyze samples, as most of the thesis work was very hands on with samples and fieldwork. I was also undergoing a significant mental health strain as a result of the isolation that resulted in me not being able to apply my usual standard of academic labor.
I apologize that this appeal was not submitted sooner. I maintained contact with my supervisors and the geology undergraduate coordinator, and worked out a plan to submit an academic appeal. However, over the course of the fall semester, I experienced several material challenges to academic wellbeing. I moved 2 times from the start of the semester and experienced some economic instability. At the start of September, I moved into a house with a new roommate. Beginning in late September to early October, I started experiencing an unstable housing situation. Due to a hostile roommate situation, it was safer for me to be couch surfing for several weeks with friends I could stay with, as well as occasionally staying all night at campus. At the beginning of November, I had moved into a new house. However, this was not financially sustainable over a long period, and I have since moved into a new house in February 2023. I did not have a steady source of income over this period, and with the additional stress of moving into a more expensive house, I experienced some difficulty budgeting for essentials.
During this time period, I experienced significant mental health strain. This was likely initiated by my housing instability, but was reinforced when I ran out of my medication at the end of October. This resulted in a tenuous mental state, and contributed to a large depressive episode that characterized my mood for the rest of the Fall Semester. For portions of November I did not leave my room for weeks at a time, and was unable to maintain personal or academic well-being. This had significant impact on my ability to go about day to day life. I recognize that during this time seeking mental health assistance is vital. I did seek aid through the therapy service Betterhelp, but changed therapists two times over the course of the semester before finding one I regularly met with. I attempted to reach out to student wellness services at Queen's, but I experienced prohibitively long wait times when attempting to book an appointment. I reached out to QSAS as well, but was directed back to Student Wellness Services. I realize that there was more I could have done to secure mental health services, but the issues I ran into combined with the material factors I was dealing with led to me not being able to reach out sufficiently.
I apologize that this appeal was not submitted sooner. I maintained contact with my supervisors and the geology undergraduate coordinator, and worked out a plan to submit an academic appeal. However, over the course of the fall semester, I experienced several material challenges to academic wellbeing. I moved 2 times from the start of the semester and experienced some economic instability. At the start of September, I moved into a house with a new roommate. Beginning in late September to early October, I started experiencing an unstable housing situation. Due to a hostile roommate situation, it was safer for me to be couch surfing for several weeks with friends I could stay with, as well as occasionally staying all night at campus. At the beginning of November, I had moved into a new house. However, this was not financially sustainable over a long period, and I have since moved into a new house in February 2023. I did not have a steady source of income over this period, and with the additional stress of moving into a more expensive house, I experienced some difficulty budgeting for essentials.
During this time period, I experienced significant mental health strain. This was likely initiated by my housing instability, but was reinforced when I ran out of my medication at the end of October. This resulted in a tenuous mental state, and contributed to a large depressive episode that characterized my mood for the rest of the Fall Semester. For portions of November I did not leave my room for weeks at a time, and was unable to maintain personal or academic well-being. This had significant impact on my ability to go about day to day life. I recognize that during this time seeking mental health assistance is vital. I did seek aid through the therapy service Betterhelp, but changed therapists two times over the course of the semester before finding one I regularly met with. I attempted to reach out to student wellness services at Queen's, but I experienced prohibitively long wait times when attempting to book an appointment. I reached out to QSAS as well, but was directed back to Student Wellness Services. I realize that there was more I could have done to secure mental health services, but the issues I ran into combined with the material factors I was dealing with led to me not being able to reach out sufficiently.