Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,

I am petitioning today to waive my withdrawal from Queen’s for one year. Over my three years at Queen’s, I have greatly struggled to succeed in all aspects of my life, and it has reflected in my academic records. There are many factors attributing to why I have not been able to function at this institution at the same level as most students who typically graduate from their undergrad degree in four years.
The most recent issue I would like to bring up is my mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the lives of millions, and I consider myself one of them. I know this is often said in vain, but I know that the conditions of life in our society have hurt me greatly and taken a severe toll on my development and progression. Since I graduated high school in the summer of 2020, I began my career at Queen’s completely online and shut off from the world. I did not get accepted to live in residence, so I lived off campus with students I hardly even knew. It was in this first year I started to develop a substance abuse addiction. Being influenced by people who grew up in a different lifestyle than myself, I was encouraged to lead an unhealthy lifestyle of using marijuana multiples times a day and getting no physical exercise at all. Being in this living space, I never grasped the responsibility and dedication needed to do well in university classes. I did not begin to follow study habits that are essential for further years as well as not being able to engage in positive social relationships. From all the damage of locking myself inside of the off-campus house I started to deal with depression and anxiety. These conditions have carried on throughout life with me and have consistently affected how I react and deal with all situations whether it be academic, social, and physical. Ever since these issues arose, I have tried consulting with well-being counselors but have not been able to follow through with them.
Beginning my second year, I thought I might be able to push past the struggles from the year before due to the return of in person classes. However, after only three weeks of classes I reverted to using every day and enclosed myself from friends and family, spending most of my time hidden in my room. After that term I had dropped into academic probation since I had not attended any of my classes and failed all my courses that semester. This made me decide I needed to take some time off school and deal with my issues. Over that period of time, I was able to tackle my mental health and I was able to find a full time job for the winter and spring months that kept me occupied and productive. Over that summer, I worked as a director at Camp Hurontario where I had positive social and leadership experiences that prepared me for a successful return to studies.
In the fall of 2023, I had a good start by attending all my classes and spending time at the library working on assignments and covering class material. This resulted in very positive marks in each class and I finished with a term GPA of 3.5.
Once it came to starting the second semester, the brutal Kingston winter started to get to me. After about three weeks I had ceased attending all my classes other than one I took great interest in. For most of January and February I spent my days engaging in unhealthy habits, most notably drinking on average four or five nights a week, most of them on my own. Obviously, this led to a resurfacing of my depression, which had me spending all my time in my house without getting any exercise or positive social interaction. With a few weeks left before the end of the term, given my academic standing I knew that if I failed my courses, I would be in trouble, so I requested a petition to drop the two of three classes I was taking. All I needed to complete for the petition to be approved was to see a specialist through the student well being service, but my carelessness of responsibility led to me ignoring that I needed help, and I never went through with completing the petition. Due to this thoughtless mistake, I failed two of my three remaining classes and put myself into academic probation once again, thus the school’s decision of asking me to take a year off. Although I had given up on those two courses, I finished the remaining course with an A+.
Since my return home in the end of April, I was determined to come out of the depressive state by getting a job that has allowed me to make a positive contribution to the organization and enabled me to take on and complete my responsibilities. At the end of this month, I will be returning to the camp as a senior director where I was offered a wider range of responsibilities than is typical for the role.
I am now seriously asking you to reconsider your decision. I know I have made many mistakes and wrong decisions, which have led to my academic failure, but I just need one more chance to prove to Queen’s and to myself that I can push past all of these problems and get back on track with completing a bachelor’s degree. I have come up with an academic plan so I will be ready to thrive in the fall and am willing to meet with a counselor regularly so I can stay on top of my mental health. I hope you understand my situation and allow me to return this fall.

Sincerely,

Alan Rogers

P.S

I do not have any supporting documentation as this has been a personal matter because I did not seek any supportive counseling.