Petition Letter
My name is Brooke-Lynn Dorval, 20340610, I’m a second-year student at Queen’s University.
I’m submitting this petition with the hopes of having my 2023 fall courses dropped. As an individual who has been suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and depression since a young age, moving to Kingston has come with great challenges for me.
I grew up in a small rural community in the North and decided to attend Queen’s university for its great reputation. However, this move, meant that I had to move 6 hours away from my hometown with no family or friends near me. I came here alone, but with high hopes for my education. I will allow myself to be vulnerable as I write this petition. As an individual who has long suffered from mental health disorders, I’ve had to find numerous strategies and medications to cope with my condition throughout the past 5 to 6 years.
Having experienced my first major depression at the beginning of my high school, I’ve gone through many different therapists and counsellors to find a psychologist I felt comfortable sharing with. It took me months to even consider speaking to someone for help other than my mother. Despite my depression at the time, I still felt like my presence had a purpose in my hometown. I was a friend, a best friend, a daughter, a sister, an athlete, an all-honourable student, a coach, a volunteer and more. With that said, in 12th grade, I had gone through my greatest growth emotionally and I felt like anything was achievable, my depression was at its lowest and I was at my highest; maybe that explains why I set the bar so high for myself and decided to attend Queen’s University. Making that decision at the time, my mother and I knew coming here came with risks to my mental health given it was 6 hours from my family and friends. I was coming to a city very unfamiliar to me in every aspect possible and I came alone at the age of 17. I did not attend residency in my first year. I lived with 3 other girls before moving into a new apartment with 1 other girl for my second year. With that said, for the past year, I have felt a deep sense of isolation and not any sense of connectedness which has driven me into my second major depression. As I write this petition, I essentially can’t give much purpose to my presence in Kingston. This depression has been very different from the last given the absence of all my coping mechanisms and prevention strategies which is impacting my daily life greatly.
As I am trying to work through this second depression, I have decided to return home for the remainder of my academic career. This depression has subjected me to new limits preventing me from fully performing in all aspects of my academic and personal life. In one of my classes, we were describing what mental health meant to us and someone said, “There is nothing you cannot do if you have good health”. I want the opportunity to perform and achieve my goal to the best of my ability, and for me, that means returning home to take time and focus on my mental health and well-being.
Before the final drop date, October 30th, I had decided to move back home for the second semester and continue my academic career closer to home. Therefore, I dropped PSYC 100 and my second-semester classes. However, under my conditions, being in Kingston comes with incredibly increasing day-to-day challenges that have driven me to permanently end my academic career at Queen’s earlier than expected. For this reason, I hope it is possible to drop my FALL 2023 classes, as I will be returning home within the week and reapplying to a university closer to home for the winter 2024 term or the fall 2024 term.
I’m submitting this petition with the hopes of having my 2023 fall courses dropped. As an individual who has been suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and depression since a young age, moving to Kingston has come with great challenges for me.
I grew up in a small rural community in the North and decided to attend Queen’s university for its great reputation. However, this move, meant that I had to move 6 hours away from my hometown with no family or friends near me. I came here alone, but with high hopes for my education. I will allow myself to be vulnerable as I write this petition. As an individual who has long suffered from mental health disorders, I’ve had to find numerous strategies and medications to cope with my condition throughout the past 5 to 6 years.
Having experienced my first major depression at the beginning of my high school, I’ve gone through many different therapists and counsellors to find a psychologist I felt comfortable sharing with. It took me months to even consider speaking to someone for help other than my mother. Despite my depression at the time, I still felt like my presence had a purpose in my hometown. I was a friend, a best friend, a daughter, a sister, an athlete, an all-honourable student, a coach, a volunteer and more. With that said, in 12th grade, I had gone through my greatest growth emotionally and I felt like anything was achievable, my depression was at its lowest and I was at my highest; maybe that explains why I set the bar so high for myself and decided to attend Queen’s University. Making that decision at the time, my mother and I knew coming here came with risks to my mental health given it was 6 hours from my family and friends. I was coming to a city very unfamiliar to me in every aspect possible and I came alone at the age of 17. I did not attend residency in my first year. I lived with 3 other girls before moving into a new apartment with 1 other girl for my second year. With that said, for the past year, I have felt a deep sense of isolation and not any sense of connectedness which has driven me into my second major depression. As I write this petition, I essentially can’t give much purpose to my presence in Kingston. This depression has been very different from the last given the absence of all my coping mechanisms and prevention strategies which is impacting my daily life greatly.
As I am trying to work through this second depression, I have decided to return home for the remainder of my academic career. This depression has subjected me to new limits preventing me from fully performing in all aspects of my academic and personal life. In one of my classes, we were describing what mental health meant to us and someone said, “There is nothing you cannot do if you have good health”. I want the opportunity to perform and achieve my goal to the best of my ability, and for me, that means returning home to take time and focus on my mental health and well-being.
Before the final drop date, October 30th, I had decided to move back home for the second semester and continue my academic career closer to home. Therefore, I dropped PSYC 100 and my second-semester classes. However, under my conditions, being in Kingston comes with incredibly increasing day-to-day challenges that have driven me to permanently end my academic career at Queen’s earlier than expected. For this reason, I hope it is possible to drop my FALL 2023 classes, as I will be returning home within the week and reapplying to a university closer to home for the winter 2024 term or the fall 2024 term.