Petition Letter
I am appealing to drop BIOL 102 (Fall, 2014). I failed this course and did not drop it before the academic deadline. This was because I am afflicted currently, as I was last semester, with computer addiction. The site http://www.intervention.com provides a self diagnosis questionnaire on computer/internet addiction, developed by James Fearing, Ph. D., at the National Counseling Center in Minneapolis, MN. This questionnaire is available here http://www.intervention.com/defns.html. Based on the questionnaire, three or more symptoms conclude the demonstration of a pattern of behavior which would suggest that you are addicted to your computer and/or the activities on it. In my self-diagnosis, I show 7 symptoms. They include: loss of control when trying to minimize amount of time on the computer, being dishonest about the amount of time spent on the computer or about the activities participated in on the computer, negative consequences as a direct result of time spent on the computer, mixed feelings of euphoria and guilt due to inordinate amount of time spent on the computer, feelings of anxiety when someone or something interrupts plans to use the computer, preoccupation with computer activities when I'm not using the computer, and using time on the computer to become externally focused outside myself to avoid facing what is happening in my life. I suspect that my illness began sometime in Grade 9 as I had a new laptop and was unhappy at school. At university it started becoming a problem in mid-October of 2014 and got much worse. In October, I spent time on the computer instead of doing some of my work, and didn't complete online quizzes. I didn't drop my course because I still believed I could do well and I didn't want to abandon my plan of being a Life Sciences student. The period that was most detrimental to my grades, health, and social life was in late November and early December. During that time I did very little academic work and did not consider the consequences. I consoled myself for doing poorly on quizzes and assignments with more time on the computer. Due to my addiction, I spent increasing amounts of time in my room on my computer for leisure, causing me to become very antisocial. It caused me to skip lectures, meetings for clubs, showers and meals. In the latter part of the semester, I spent whole days, and nights, in my room, causing severe lack of sleep. I also stopped answering my parents' phone calls for about 4 days because I didn't want to talk to them about my situation. Starting from around early November, I stopped going to the BIOL 102 lab sessions. When exam time came around, I did almost no studying for my courses, and for my math exam I didn't sleep the night before, or even study.
Since my last semester I have dropped all my courses and will go to my parents' home in Malaysia to work for one or two years and receive professional help for this disability. I intend to return to university after that, probably to Queen's.
Since my last semester I have dropped all my courses and will go to my parents' home in Malaysia to work for one or two years and receive professional help for this disability. I intend to return to university after that, probably to Queen's.