Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am interested in making an appeal for three of my courses during the Winter 2014 term. Unfortunately this occurred during the Fall 2013 semester as well because of personal issues in my home as there was a death of a close friend of mine which caused troubles with one of my courses.
During the Winter 2014 semester I was enrolled in five courses, three of which were very challenging for me. GPHY 102 Earth Systems Science, GPHY 247 Qualitative Methods and GPHY 339 Medical and Health Geography. I do not particularly succeed in the physical geography portion of this degree which is why I am interested in making an appeal.
I was experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety particularly when it came to the studies of these three courses. They intimidated me and I knew I was not going to succeed with my grades. I looked for extra help in all three but found it to cause me more anxiety and depression. I also was experiencing extreme financial issues which forced me into getting a part time job which made academics that much more challenging on top of the problems with my health.
I have looked into seeing my family doctor in regards to my mental health as I have struggled these past two years at Queen¿¿s which is clear if you were to look at my overall grades. My marks have been dropping as I continue with my degree. First year my academics were adequate and as I continue, my schooling results show a drastic decline. I was uncomfortable seeing a doctor about such concerns which is why I have waited until I returned home to see my family physician. I have an appointment to discuss mental health June 2nd and I could provide supplementary documents for this appeal at a later date if necessary.
I have changed my degree plan from the Honours program to just the three year Bachelor of Arts degree to compensate for my loss of credits. I will be retaking GPHY 102 this coming year and I plan to take a lighter course load in order to put more time and energy into this particular course. I am also looking into taking courses with Athabasca University as I can transfer some equivalent courses back to Queen¿¿s which I believe will decrease my anxiety about some of the more challenging courses. I am hoping to find some help with my family physician about mental health as it truly does concern me and it is clearly effecting my academics. I aim to succeed during my time here at Queen¿¿s and it would be extremely helpful to me if my failures GPHY 102, GPHY 247, and GPHY 339 were removed.

Please contact me for additional documents as I can get them shortly.

Thank you so much,

Best,
Lindsay Morris 10012073
0lmm12@queensu.ca
289-244-1222