Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
My name is Brett Snowden, I will be entering my fourth year at Queen's University this fall with a focus in Applied Economics and Statistics and I am appealing to drop ECON 351 (Winter, 2015) from my transcript.
Following the passing of my grandfather in November 2014, I began to shut down; I became distant from my closest friends and even my family and became uninterested in activities I always enjoyed. When I returned to Queen's after the Fall 2014 semester, I constantly felt exhausted both mentally and physically. I regularly had problems sleeping and found it nearly impossible to get out of bed in the morning. I had no energy to leave my house which resulted in me missing most of my lectures and not handing in assignments no matter how heavily weighted they were. I found myself unable to handle the workload and I was forced to drop my first course in University because I hadn't handed in any of the assignments. Only having four courses I still found myself unable to cope with the workload and found it just as difficult to concentrate or get any work done as before. In ECON 351, I only handed in two of the assignments and did very poorly on the ones that I submitted.
On March 19, 2015 I finally spoke to my parents about how I was feeling at school and my mother asked me to speak to someone at Queen's Health Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS). On March 20, 2015 I spoke to a personal counsellor and a health care professional, I was diagnosed with depression and began taking antidepressants the same day. I spoke to my personal counsellor again on April 10, 2015 and the health care professional again on April 16, 2015. That was when I was given a verification of illness to send to my professors in order to defer my exams, as my performance would've been considerably affected. Since I have written one of my four exams and have planned to write one in August and one in early September. As for ECON 351, the professor has stated that I would be unable to write the exam at any time other than in December with the Fall 2015 class. A different professor teaches the class in Fall 2015 so the exam may have stronger emphasis on different topics and I feel that due to my affliction I would be at an unfair advantage going into the exam having not seen the material in 8 months without any feedback on my knowledge of the course.
I plan to take ECON 351 next semester (Fall, 2015) because it would give me a chance to complete the assignments in the course and receive feedback on my performance. Taking the course in the fall would also give me a better knowledge of what the new professor is looking for on the exam. As well I have maintained biweekly meetings with a personal counsellor and monthly check-ins with a health care professional at HCDS, I plan to continue these meetings as they have helped me return to being healthy both mentally and physically. My future plans would allow me to perform at the level I know that I can and would put me in a position to succeed and achieve my academic goals.
Thank you for your time,
Brett Snowden
My name is Brett Snowden, I will be entering my fourth year at Queen's University this fall with a focus in Applied Economics and Statistics and I am appealing to drop ECON 351 (Winter, 2015) from my transcript.
Following the passing of my grandfather in November 2014, I began to shut down; I became distant from my closest friends and even my family and became uninterested in activities I always enjoyed. When I returned to Queen's after the Fall 2014 semester, I constantly felt exhausted both mentally and physically. I regularly had problems sleeping and found it nearly impossible to get out of bed in the morning. I had no energy to leave my house which resulted in me missing most of my lectures and not handing in assignments no matter how heavily weighted they were. I found myself unable to handle the workload and I was forced to drop my first course in University because I hadn't handed in any of the assignments. Only having four courses I still found myself unable to cope with the workload and found it just as difficult to concentrate or get any work done as before. In ECON 351, I only handed in two of the assignments and did very poorly on the ones that I submitted.
On March 19, 2015 I finally spoke to my parents about how I was feeling at school and my mother asked me to speak to someone at Queen's Health Counselling and Disability Services (HCDS). On March 20, 2015 I spoke to a personal counsellor and a health care professional, I was diagnosed with depression and began taking antidepressants the same day. I spoke to my personal counsellor again on April 10, 2015 and the health care professional again on April 16, 2015. That was when I was given a verification of illness to send to my professors in order to defer my exams, as my performance would've been considerably affected. Since I have written one of my four exams and have planned to write one in August and one in early September. As for ECON 351, the professor has stated that I would be unable to write the exam at any time other than in December with the Fall 2015 class. A different professor teaches the class in Fall 2015 so the exam may have stronger emphasis on different topics and I feel that due to my affliction I would be at an unfair advantage going into the exam having not seen the material in 8 months without any feedback on my knowledge of the course.
I plan to take ECON 351 next semester (Fall, 2015) because it would give me a chance to complete the assignments in the course and receive feedback on my performance. Taking the course in the fall would also give me a better knowledge of what the new professor is looking for on the exam. As well I have maintained biweekly meetings with a personal counsellor and monthly check-ins with a health care professional at HCDS, I plan to continue these meetings as they have helped me return to being healthy both mentally and physically. My future plans would allow me to perform at the level I know that I can and would put me in a position to succeed and achieve my academic goals.
Thank you for your time,
Brett Snowden