Petition Letter
My name is Trevor Nanton, my student number is 10110218 and I am appealing to drop Econ 250 (Fall 2014) as well as POLS 243 (Fall 2014).
During the first semester of 2014 I began dealing with extenuating circumstances that severely affected my mental state. These events began around the end of October 2014 and continued past the date of the final exams of first semester. During this time, I had gone to consult a local doctor from the CDK Family Medicine and Walk-In Clinic, who after hearing my situation had prescribed me Anti-Depressant medication and also gave me a three week exemption from all academic evaluation, as well as an exemption from any academic evaluation done in the week prior to my visit. Following these weeks my condition hadn't improved, in light of this my parents decided it was best to bring me home from Kingston for a week. After returning to Kingston I went to the FCMHAS (Frontenac Community Mental Health & Addiction Services) and consulted their in house teams as well as their in house psychiatrist. After meeting with the psychiatrist he had decided it was best for me to return home for the remainder of the term. He had also prescribed me a new medication which he told me was meant to help with psychosis as well as anxiety. His team then got in touch with Disability Services at Queens and had worked with them and me on deferring my first semester exams.
During the period when these events were occurring, I found it extremely difficult to focus on my academics. When I tried to study alone outside of my lectures, I would start breaking down. When I attended lectures during this period, I found myself having to leave because I just couldn't handle the thoughts going through my head. When I was at this point, these sort of break downs weren't limited to my academics, rather the breakdowns would occur whenever I was left alone with myself or with my thoughts.
During the initial three week exemption I had missed mid term evaluations and assignments in Econ 250, as well as a Major Paper that was due for my POLS 243 class. I had full intention of making up for them once I got better, I had also missed numerous lectures during this period. After the three week exemption my parents had gotten frightened and worried and brought me home for a week. After spending a week back home, I returned to Kingston for two and a half days. In this time I consulted the psychiatrist at FCMHAS and he had contacted my parents recommending to them that I return home till at least the beginning of second term, when he would re-evaluate me (I have this evaluation booked for the 29th of January 2015). His office began working with Disability Services to defer my final exams and I have been in contact with them since (My latest meeting was January 13th).
Since being sent home at the end of last year, I have worked to make numerous positive changes for my life as a whole. I have cut ties with the people who were contributing to my mental state, I've moved out of my previous house in Kingston as my roommate situation was also a very negative factor which contributed to my mental state. I have been visiting FCMHAS on a more consistent basis for check ups, and I've made a lot of great new friends since returning to Kingston by joining school clubs (ex. Swing Dancing). Overall, things have really started to turn around for me in my life, they aren't perfect, but everything is improving greatly since I've started changing things.
Should my appeal be granted, I would very much like to keep improving and continuing on this course. This semester has only just started, but already I have been more focused and dedicated to my courses than I have been throughout all of my university experience thus far. I will definitely re-take ECON 250. Ideally I will be able to do so over the spring semester this year, but if not I would take it first semester next year and get ahead on my courses in the following spring. Regardless, I will definitely be taking spring courses in the next couple of years.
I will continue to visit FCMHAS throughout the rest of this year just to ensure that I don¿¿t slip back into where I was before. Though I do have full confidence that I won¿¿t. I have made numerous improvements to my life and my academic habits since last semester ended and I plan to continue doing so. As I stated above, even though this semester has just started I already feel far more focused and dedicated to my academics. I am honestly excited. Though I am appealing to drop Econ 250 and POLS 243, I will definitely be making up for those credits in the coming months.
Please Note: Additional Documentation will be submitted January 30th
During the first semester of 2014 I began dealing with extenuating circumstances that severely affected my mental state. These events began around the end of October 2014 and continued past the date of the final exams of first semester. During this time, I had gone to consult a local doctor from the CDK Family Medicine and Walk-In Clinic, who after hearing my situation had prescribed me Anti-Depressant medication and also gave me a three week exemption from all academic evaluation, as well as an exemption from any academic evaluation done in the week prior to my visit. Following these weeks my condition hadn't improved, in light of this my parents decided it was best to bring me home from Kingston for a week. After returning to Kingston I went to the FCMHAS (Frontenac Community Mental Health & Addiction Services) and consulted their in house teams as well as their in house psychiatrist. After meeting with the psychiatrist he had decided it was best for me to return home for the remainder of the term. He had also prescribed me a new medication which he told me was meant to help with psychosis as well as anxiety. His team then got in touch with Disability Services at Queens and had worked with them and me on deferring my first semester exams.
During the period when these events were occurring, I found it extremely difficult to focus on my academics. When I tried to study alone outside of my lectures, I would start breaking down. When I attended lectures during this period, I found myself having to leave because I just couldn't handle the thoughts going through my head. When I was at this point, these sort of break downs weren't limited to my academics, rather the breakdowns would occur whenever I was left alone with myself or with my thoughts.
During the initial three week exemption I had missed mid term evaluations and assignments in Econ 250, as well as a Major Paper that was due for my POLS 243 class. I had full intention of making up for them once I got better, I had also missed numerous lectures during this period. After the three week exemption my parents had gotten frightened and worried and brought me home for a week. After spending a week back home, I returned to Kingston for two and a half days. In this time I consulted the psychiatrist at FCMHAS and he had contacted my parents recommending to them that I return home till at least the beginning of second term, when he would re-evaluate me (I have this evaluation booked for the 29th of January 2015). His office began working with Disability Services to defer my final exams and I have been in contact with them since (My latest meeting was January 13th).
Since being sent home at the end of last year, I have worked to make numerous positive changes for my life as a whole. I have cut ties with the people who were contributing to my mental state, I've moved out of my previous house in Kingston as my roommate situation was also a very negative factor which contributed to my mental state. I have been visiting FCMHAS on a more consistent basis for check ups, and I've made a lot of great new friends since returning to Kingston by joining school clubs (ex. Swing Dancing). Overall, things have really started to turn around for me in my life, they aren't perfect, but everything is improving greatly since I've started changing things.
Should my appeal be granted, I would very much like to keep improving and continuing on this course. This semester has only just started, but already I have been more focused and dedicated to my courses than I have been throughout all of my university experience thus far. I will definitely re-take ECON 250. Ideally I will be able to do so over the spring semester this year, but if not I would take it first semester next year and get ahead on my courses in the following spring. Regardless, I will definitely be taking spring courses in the next couple of years.
I will continue to visit FCMHAS throughout the rest of this year just to ensure that I don¿¿t slip back into where I was before. Though I do have full confidence that I won¿¿t. I have made numerous improvements to my life and my academic habits since last semester ended and I plan to continue doing so. As I stated above, even though this semester has just started I already feel far more focused and dedicated to my academics. I am honestly excited. Though I am appealing to drop Econ 250 and POLS 243, I will definitely be making up for those credits in the coming months.
Please Note: Additional Documentation will be submitted January 30th