Petition Letter
The Request:
I am petitioning for the below stated courses to be changed to ‘CR’ status or dropped as indicated, or the extent of these that can be changed within Queen’s policy as my illness stretched over a long duration.
Winter term 2022 (Jan-Apr 2022):
• GEOL 333 - Terrain Evaluation “D-” – petition to change to CR
• GEOL 362 - Petrology Application to Ore Deposit “D” – petition to change to CR
Fall term 2022 (Sept-Dec 2022):
• BIOL 110 - Human Genetics and Evolution “F” – petition to “drop” from transcript
Winter term 2023 (Jan-Apr 2023):
• GEOL 368 - Carbonate Sedimentology “F” – petition to “drop” from transcript
Fall term 2023 (Sept-Dec 2023):
• GEOL 478 - Classic Sedimentology “D-“ – petition to change to CR (Note that SOLUS is wrong in that I did not get “A+”; I was informed by the professor that this was a technical glitch and they said they would correct it)
• BIOL 110 - Human Genetics and Evolution (also taken Fall 2022 term) – both received “F”. Petition to “drop” from transcript.
Winter term 2024 (Jan-Apr 2024):
• GEOL 400 - Adv. GeoSci Field School – I added this course in Sept 2023 and needed manual permission to drop it. I was unable to drop it in SOLUS as needed manual permission and was unable to ask due to my mental state at the time. I’m requesting to “drop” it from my transcript and receive a refund if possible. I will need to take this course in the future as it is required.
Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances:
Beginning in early 2022, and worsening over time, I started having significant mental health issues. Within a short period I became so incapacitated by anxiety that I was unable to leave my room, unable to concentrate or focus on my studies and was unable to even reply to or send an email. My sleep was practically non-existent, staying awake and being paralyzed by anxiety for days at a time. My mental state prevented me from being a good student across the board. I would fixate on assignments trying to make them perfect, reading them over dozens of times and even though I would finish them, I would not submit them out of self-deprecation. This was to the extent that I would spend weeks on a final report, only to not submit it at all because I thought it was ‘bad’ anyway and thought failure was inevitable. I was suicidal during this time and I was unable to reach out for help or confide in my parents, feeling shame and embarrassment for my condition. My mental illness became extreme by the Winter 2023 semester and I began actively planning when and how to commit suicide. I was continually prevented by my mental state from reaching out for help, including to the department to drop courses. I found even communication with family to be debilitating, and I completely withdrew from the world.
With my grades declining and me paralyzed by my condition, I thought there was no hope for me academically, and that as I was planning on ending my life anyway that even if I was mentally able to reach out for help academically, it would be futile and a waste of the university staff’s time. I was unaware of the academic petitions process until my hospitalization in April 2024. During this time my psychiatrist mentioned about submitting an academic petition in discussion of how my decline in academic standing has been extremely distressing and had a further effect on my mental state. I was consistently a good student prior to my illness and I didn’t know what to do when my grades started falling and all aspects of my life deteriorated as I was too anxiety-ridden and embarrassed to ask for the help I desperately needed.
My decline, as reflected in my grades, began in Winter 2022 and by Winter 2023 I was essentially “dead” and my grades reflect that through the present. Report-heavy or essay-based courses were the first to suffer (2022) and it soon became all academic-related tasks that I was unable to perform in. At the beginning of last semester, I added 5 courses to show them on paper, then dropped them all (barring one that I couldn’t without manual permission) before the deadline for fees due as I planned to end my life by the end of the semester (following a failed attempt in November) and didn’t want to further burden my family by having them pay fees for courses I didn’t intend to complete or be around to see the end of.
Future Plan:
I was hospitalized in April 2024 and was started on medications to treat my condition. Upon my return home to Vancouver I’ve set up weekly outpatient counselling, bimonthly in person family physician visits, psychiatric help and am joining a cognitive behavioral therapy group. I am fully committed to getting well and have made good progress in the past month but realize it will take some time. My medical team reassures me that my conditions are treatable and the prognosis is good. I desperately want to finish my degree by any means, and plan to return in Fall 2025, taking the next year to ensure that when I return I will be completely unburdened by mental health issues and can be fully committed to my academic study. I am prepared to take a lighter course load and will continue with regular medical and counselling appointments when I return to Kingston. I’ve also realized that pursuing the Smith Certificate in Business is not realistic and am withdrawing from such.
I am petitioning for the below stated courses to be changed to ‘CR’ status or dropped as indicated, or the extent of these that can be changed within Queen’s policy as my illness stretched over a long duration.
Winter term 2022 (Jan-Apr 2022):
• GEOL 333 - Terrain Evaluation “D-” – petition to change to CR
• GEOL 362 - Petrology Application to Ore Deposit “D” – petition to change to CR
Fall term 2022 (Sept-Dec 2022):
• BIOL 110 - Human Genetics and Evolution “F” – petition to “drop” from transcript
Winter term 2023 (Jan-Apr 2023):
• GEOL 368 - Carbonate Sedimentology “F” – petition to “drop” from transcript
Fall term 2023 (Sept-Dec 2023):
• GEOL 478 - Classic Sedimentology “D-“ – petition to change to CR (Note that SOLUS is wrong in that I did not get “A+”; I was informed by the professor that this was a technical glitch and they said they would correct it)
• BIOL 110 - Human Genetics and Evolution (also taken Fall 2022 term) – both received “F”. Petition to “drop” from transcript.
Winter term 2024 (Jan-Apr 2024):
• GEOL 400 - Adv. GeoSci Field School – I added this course in Sept 2023 and needed manual permission to drop it. I was unable to drop it in SOLUS as needed manual permission and was unable to ask due to my mental state at the time. I’m requesting to “drop” it from my transcript and receive a refund if possible. I will need to take this course in the future as it is required.
Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances:
Beginning in early 2022, and worsening over time, I started having significant mental health issues. Within a short period I became so incapacitated by anxiety that I was unable to leave my room, unable to concentrate or focus on my studies and was unable to even reply to or send an email. My sleep was practically non-existent, staying awake and being paralyzed by anxiety for days at a time. My mental state prevented me from being a good student across the board. I would fixate on assignments trying to make them perfect, reading them over dozens of times and even though I would finish them, I would not submit them out of self-deprecation. This was to the extent that I would spend weeks on a final report, only to not submit it at all because I thought it was ‘bad’ anyway and thought failure was inevitable. I was suicidal during this time and I was unable to reach out for help or confide in my parents, feeling shame and embarrassment for my condition. My mental illness became extreme by the Winter 2023 semester and I began actively planning when and how to commit suicide. I was continually prevented by my mental state from reaching out for help, including to the department to drop courses. I found even communication with family to be debilitating, and I completely withdrew from the world.
With my grades declining and me paralyzed by my condition, I thought there was no hope for me academically, and that as I was planning on ending my life anyway that even if I was mentally able to reach out for help academically, it would be futile and a waste of the university staff’s time. I was unaware of the academic petitions process until my hospitalization in April 2024. During this time my psychiatrist mentioned about submitting an academic petition in discussion of how my decline in academic standing has been extremely distressing and had a further effect on my mental state. I was consistently a good student prior to my illness and I didn’t know what to do when my grades started falling and all aspects of my life deteriorated as I was too anxiety-ridden and embarrassed to ask for the help I desperately needed.
My decline, as reflected in my grades, began in Winter 2022 and by Winter 2023 I was essentially “dead” and my grades reflect that through the present. Report-heavy or essay-based courses were the first to suffer (2022) and it soon became all academic-related tasks that I was unable to perform in. At the beginning of last semester, I added 5 courses to show them on paper, then dropped them all (barring one that I couldn’t without manual permission) before the deadline for fees due as I planned to end my life by the end of the semester (following a failed attempt in November) and didn’t want to further burden my family by having them pay fees for courses I didn’t intend to complete or be around to see the end of.
Future Plan:
I was hospitalized in April 2024 and was started on medications to treat my condition. Upon my return home to Vancouver I’ve set up weekly outpatient counselling, bimonthly in person family physician visits, psychiatric help and am joining a cognitive behavioral therapy group. I am fully committed to getting well and have made good progress in the past month but realize it will take some time. My medical team reassures me that my conditions are treatable and the prognosis is good. I desperately want to finish my degree by any means, and plan to return in Fall 2025, taking the next year to ensure that when I return I will be completely unburdened by mental health issues and can be fully committed to my academic study. I am prepared to take a lighter course load and will continue with regular medical and counselling appointments when I return to Kingston. I’ve also realized that pursuing the Smith Certificate in Business is not realistic and am withdrawing from such.