Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Johanne Benard,
I am appealing the 0 I received on a quiz that was worth 10 of my final grade in the class POLS 348 Middle Eastern Politics taught by Professor Haklai. The quiz was open from April 3rd to April 7th . I was not able to take the quiz in the allotted time due to mental health struggles, but feel as though I would perform well on the quiz if given the opportunity based on my previous completed course work for the term.
There were several ongoing extenuating circumstances beyond my control that caused me severe mental distress throughout the week, which led to me not completing the quiz in the allotted time. First, I was diagnosed with clinical depression, as well as obsessive-compulsive personality disorder at the end of last semester; these mental illnesses can severely affect my academic performance through increasing my anxiety levels, which causes a decrease in my executive functioning. I have been on both anti-psychotics and anti-depressives throughout the term to manage these illnesses. However, on April 2nd I was made aware that the incoming AMS Assembly voted in a Speaker who had made victim blaming remarks in the past. Sexual violence has had made a very negative impact on my life and those around me, and is likely a contributing factor as to why I have the mental illnesses that I do. Therefore, I was concerned about that someone with these victim-blaming believes was going to have a role mediating conversations on campus, and I experienced high levels of anxiety because of this. On April 4th, I was made aware that the emergency caucus that was to be held was going to be cancelled; this severely impacted my mental health, as I interpreted that the AMS did not want to listen to the voices of survivors in an institutional capacity. I felt like the incoming executive did not want this campus to be an open or welcoming environment to survivors. Due to my mental illnesses, I did not have the mental capacity to effectively deal with how this decision affected me; thus, I did not attend class on April 5th and did not receive a reminder about the quiz. Following this event, my severe anxiety only increased and I had a major depressive episode where I did not sleep or eat for extended periods of time (sometimes over 24 hours) during the rest of the week. I was made aware on April 6th that the Social Issues Commissioner, as well as the Speaker, were resigning from their positions. As I work with the Social Issues Commission and know the Commissioner personally I took this decision also impacted my mental health during the final times when the quiz was available. The severe anxiety and depression I suffered through during this week effected my academic performance as I experienced a lack of sleep and nutrition throughout the week that meant that my executive functioning was diminished; therefore, I had extreme difficulty remembering dates during the week, forgot to take my anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, and did not attend most of my courses. I was not able to remember to take the quiz in the allotted time, and therefore received a 0 on the quiz. When I discussed this issue with my professor, he was very understanding of how my mental illnesses effected my performance but said that he could not make an exception for me as this would be unfair to other students in the class.
In the future, I plan to reach out to emergency counselling services (either through Queen¿¿s resources or through Kingston Mental Health and Addiction Services) so that I can receive counselling during periods when my mental illnesses become untenable. I plan to register with Student Wellness Services and the Accessibility Office, so that accommodations can be made for me in the future regarding my mental health; this preventative measure will allow for me to not make appeals in the future in the case that my mental health causes me to miss an assignment. I have already an appointment with my psychiatrist so that he can fill out the necessary forms.
Best regards,
Alex Lloyd 10146367
I am appealing the 0 I received on a quiz that was worth 10 of my final grade in the class POLS 348 Middle Eastern Politics taught by Professor Haklai. The quiz was open from April 3rd to April 7th . I was not able to take the quiz in the allotted time due to mental health struggles, but feel as though I would perform well on the quiz if given the opportunity based on my previous completed course work for the term.
There were several ongoing extenuating circumstances beyond my control that caused me severe mental distress throughout the week, which led to me not completing the quiz in the allotted time. First, I was diagnosed with clinical depression, as well as obsessive-compulsive personality disorder at the end of last semester; these mental illnesses can severely affect my academic performance through increasing my anxiety levels, which causes a decrease in my executive functioning. I have been on both anti-psychotics and anti-depressives throughout the term to manage these illnesses. However, on April 2nd I was made aware that the incoming AMS Assembly voted in a Speaker who had made victim blaming remarks in the past. Sexual violence has had made a very negative impact on my life and those around me, and is likely a contributing factor as to why I have the mental illnesses that I do. Therefore, I was concerned about that someone with these victim-blaming believes was going to have a role mediating conversations on campus, and I experienced high levels of anxiety because of this. On April 4th, I was made aware that the emergency caucus that was to be held was going to be cancelled; this severely impacted my mental health, as I interpreted that the AMS did not want to listen to the voices of survivors in an institutional capacity. I felt like the incoming executive did not want this campus to be an open or welcoming environment to survivors. Due to my mental illnesses, I did not have the mental capacity to effectively deal with how this decision affected me; thus, I did not attend class on April 5th and did not receive a reminder about the quiz. Following this event, my severe anxiety only increased and I had a major depressive episode where I did not sleep or eat for extended periods of time (sometimes over 24 hours) during the rest of the week. I was made aware on April 6th that the Social Issues Commissioner, as well as the Speaker, were resigning from their positions. As I work with the Social Issues Commission and know the Commissioner personally I took this decision also impacted my mental health during the final times when the quiz was available. The severe anxiety and depression I suffered through during this week effected my academic performance as I experienced a lack of sleep and nutrition throughout the week that meant that my executive functioning was diminished; therefore, I had extreme difficulty remembering dates during the week, forgot to take my anti-depressants and anti-psychotics, and did not attend most of my courses. I was not able to remember to take the quiz in the allotted time, and therefore received a 0 on the quiz. When I discussed this issue with my professor, he was very understanding of how my mental illnesses effected my performance but said that he could not make an exception for me as this would be unfair to other students in the class.
In the future, I plan to reach out to emergency counselling services (either through Queen¿¿s resources or through Kingston Mental Health and Addiction Services) so that I can receive counselling during periods when my mental illnesses become untenable. I plan to register with Student Wellness Services and the Accessibility Office, so that accommodations can be made for me in the future regarding my mental health; this preventative measure will allow for me to not make appeals in the future in the case that my mental health causes me to miss an assignment. I have already an appointment with my psychiatrist so that he can fill out the necessary forms.
Best regards,
Alex Lloyd 10146367