Petition Letter
I am appealing to get a credit standing on my transcript for my PSYC 355 and PSYC 370 courses in the winter of 2015.
I am appealing this due to an extenuating physical illness that was out of my control that directly affected my academic performance in the Winter of 2015. This physical illness began at the beginning of March and continued throughout the end of the semester. After dozens of doctors and specialists appointments throughout the summer a diagnosis was made. My peripheral nerves are misfiring causing a sensation over my entire body that there are bugs crawling under my skin. This diagnosis was only made in late August. Once these sensations began I saw many doctors in Kingston at the La Salle clinic, CDK walk in clinic and the KGH hospital. Most of the doctors just brushed it off as an allergic reaction to some type of laundry detergent or seasonal allergy but after trying countless medications and the symptoms remaining the same for month after month it became apparent that this was not the case. These symptoms caused me to feel extremely uncomfortable, anxious and irritable for 24 hours a day. I had an extremely difficult time sleeping and concentrating on school work and even focusing in class seemed like an unbearable task. I was also trying many different medications that would make me feel extremely drowsy throughout the day which added to more difficulty with day-to-day school work. I found it very difficult to sit down and focus for the final exams and final major projects for these courses because of the discomfort I felt and also overwhelming feeling of anxiety and panic that they would never go away. I also spent a lot of my time during final exams going to different doctors and clinics and trying to get second, third, fourth, etc. opinions for what was going on because I felt like my symptoms, because they aren¿¿t visible to the human eye, weren¿¿t being taken seriously. After getting a MRI, countless blood tests and consulting with a neurologist and dermatologist over the summer my diagnosis was made however this condition is still somewhat a mystery to doctors and I have been trying different medications to see what will work with my body to help alleviate these symptoms. It is impacting my academics much less because I now know what I am dealing with and with the newest medication I am taking the symptoms are starting to subside.
I did get my Psychology 355 exam deferred to September 2016 however at that time the medication that I was taking did not help the symptoms and I was still experiencing the same difficulties with focus, concentration and anxiety. My grades on my final projects in that class also greatly suffered due to this physical condition.
My future plan is to continue taking the newest medication that I am on and to also continue seeing the counsellor at student wellness services to help me cope with the anxiety associated with this physical symptom until it is alleviated all together. Last semester I only took four courses to help with this and this semester I am taking a much lighter course load compared to the Winter 2015 semester.
I am also requesting to waive the 21-day deadline for this academic appeal. At the time when my grades were first assigned to me I felt extremely hopeless, depressed, and had invasive thoughts of suicide and wasn¿¿t sure if I would even return to Queen¿¿s to finish my degree. Because the symptoms persisted for so long after the final marks were given I wasn¿¿t sure if it would be helpful because I was still experiencing so much discomfort, anxiety and stress that attempting to get the credit standing with these courses seemed useless because I felt like I would never be able to finish my degree or pursue further education in general. Now that I am on a new medication that has alleviated some of my symptoms I am ready to get my academic career back on track and look towards my future.
I truly believe that if I did not begin to experience this physical condition, with unknown onset, I would have received much higher grades in these courses as I performed very poorly on both of the final exams and final research proposal in Psychology 355 due to my inability to focus, sleep, and my high levels of anxiety during this period of time.
I am appealing this due to an extenuating physical illness that was out of my control that directly affected my academic performance in the Winter of 2015. This physical illness began at the beginning of March and continued throughout the end of the semester. After dozens of doctors and specialists appointments throughout the summer a diagnosis was made. My peripheral nerves are misfiring causing a sensation over my entire body that there are bugs crawling under my skin. This diagnosis was only made in late August. Once these sensations began I saw many doctors in Kingston at the La Salle clinic, CDK walk in clinic and the KGH hospital. Most of the doctors just brushed it off as an allergic reaction to some type of laundry detergent or seasonal allergy but after trying countless medications and the symptoms remaining the same for month after month it became apparent that this was not the case. These symptoms caused me to feel extremely uncomfortable, anxious and irritable for 24 hours a day. I had an extremely difficult time sleeping and concentrating on school work and even focusing in class seemed like an unbearable task. I was also trying many different medications that would make me feel extremely drowsy throughout the day which added to more difficulty with day-to-day school work. I found it very difficult to sit down and focus for the final exams and final major projects for these courses because of the discomfort I felt and also overwhelming feeling of anxiety and panic that they would never go away. I also spent a lot of my time during final exams going to different doctors and clinics and trying to get second, third, fourth, etc. opinions for what was going on because I felt like my symptoms, because they aren¿¿t visible to the human eye, weren¿¿t being taken seriously. After getting a MRI, countless blood tests and consulting with a neurologist and dermatologist over the summer my diagnosis was made however this condition is still somewhat a mystery to doctors and I have been trying different medications to see what will work with my body to help alleviate these symptoms. It is impacting my academics much less because I now know what I am dealing with and with the newest medication I am taking the symptoms are starting to subside.
I did get my Psychology 355 exam deferred to September 2016 however at that time the medication that I was taking did not help the symptoms and I was still experiencing the same difficulties with focus, concentration and anxiety. My grades on my final projects in that class also greatly suffered due to this physical condition.
My future plan is to continue taking the newest medication that I am on and to also continue seeing the counsellor at student wellness services to help me cope with the anxiety associated with this physical symptom until it is alleviated all together. Last semester I only took four courses to help with this and this semester I am taking a much lighter course load compared to the Winter 2015 semester.
I am also requesting to waive the 21-day deadline for this academic appeal. At the time when my grades were first assigned to me I felt extremely hopeless, depressed, and had invasive thoughts of suicide and wasn¿¿t sure if I would even return to Queen¿¿s to finish my degree. Because the symptoms persisted for so long after the final marks were given I wasn¿¿t sure if it would be helpful because I was still experiencing so much discomfort, anxiety and stress that attempting to get the credit standing with these courses seemed useless because I felt like I would never be able to finish my degree or pursue further education in general. Now that I am on a new medication that has alleviated some of my symptoms I am ready to get my academic career back on track and look towards my future.
I truly believe that if I did not begin to experience this physical condition, with unknown onset, I would have received much higher grades in these courses as I performed very poorly on both of the final exams and final research proposal in Psychology 355 due to my inability to focus, sleep, and my high levels of anxiety during this period of time.