Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Petitions Committee members:

I am requesting to withdraw from MAPP 395 after the deadline date. I took this as a seventh course this semester. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to secure a placement to meet the requirements of this internship course. I communicated with the Kingston Film Festival about the anticipated internship position, on several occasions. Ultimately, they were unable to give me a position, and in the interim, the drop date for MAPP 395 passed. I have never taken six courses in my time at Queens, let alone seven. When I enrolled in this course I did not anticipate the immense stress that it would cause.

I wanted to make myself employable by choosing an internship course to obtain hands-on experience. When the Kingston Film Festival opportunity was lost, I was in the midst of completing assignments for the rest of my six classes. I became extremely overwhelmed which affected my mental health in a negative way. I tried to obtain other internships but was ultimately left without a position, and therefore unable to fulfill the course requirements.

I emailed the course professor to explain my predicament, which caused additional confusion. I was never added to the onQ, so he could not understand how I was even in the course as I had not submitted an application. I am still not on the onQ, so was mistakenly under the impression that I was not technically enrolled in the course.

This semester, I have a heavy course load and attend classes every day - most days from 8:30/9:30 a.m., to 4:30/5:30 p.m. I am a member of four extracurricular clubs and two intramural sports teams. I have admittedly taken on a lot but wanted to be able to demonstrate that I am a well-rounded individual on my resume, and to future employers. Despite these responsibilities, I did my utmost to obtain an internship, which has caused a tremendous amount of pressure, directly impacting my mental wellness. Unfortunately, there is no reason to take this course if I cannot secure an internship. I do not believe that I can take this course without negatively affecting the rest of my grades, as well as my psychological well-being. Withdrawing from this class will allow me to concentrate my efforts on the rest of my busy schedule, and better my mental health and academic performance as a whole.

I am an extremely responsible student, and this situation has caused me a great deal of worry and anxiety, as I am afraid of how it will impact me academically. I have worked very hard over the past 3 years. I made the Dean's list and achieved a 3.9 GPA last semester, which I am striving to maintain. Being withdrawn from MAPP 395 will allow me to graduate with integrity.

Finally, I have been extremely ill this week and will be missing all of my scheduled classes, causing me to ask for two extensions on assignments. I believe the high level of stress I have been facing has affected me physically as well. Ultimately, I have been unable to keep up with the demands of seven courses, which has become overwhelming and affected my physical and mental well-being.

Please consider my request to withdraw from MAPP 395. Thank you for your consideration.

Best,
Julia Dasilva-Lee