Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Greetings Dr. Stephenson,

I am writing to you to ask that you consider my CR request for the PHIL 157 course due to the extenuating circumstances of personal events in my life surrounding my 2024 winter term. 

After the successful completion of my fall term at Queen’s in 2023, I flew back to British Columbia to visit my family. During that time I learned that the already strained relationship between my divorced biological parents, Klaus and Cora, had substantially worsened in part due to financial issues. After the winter term began and I returned to Kingston to resume studies at Queens I became aware of the fact my biological father was suing my mother, Cora. During the summers, I worked to support myself and my studies with some aid from both my mother’s income and my father’s child support. The lawsuit threatens my financial ability to continue my studies as Klaus seeks to revoke all contributions to my studies including the child support that has been integral in paying my tuition to ensure my continued studies at Queen’s. These circumstances heavily impacted my mental and emotional health due to countless years of conflict with Klaus that have led to me cutting contact almost entirely in the past years. The continuous lawsuit not only impacts me but my brother’s future and mental state as well— whom I unquestionably care for deeply.

These combined factors have led me to struggle to achieve as high as I hoped in my PHIL 157 class despite continued efforts and studying as proven by the Quizzes which nearly without exception score above 80%. However, the aforementioned events in my personal life have resulted in a serious mental strain that has directly impacted my capability in written assignments resulting in a C in both, impacting 45% of my final grade in the course. 

Because of the circumstances described I am requesting credit standing for PHIL 157. I am currently applying for an upper-year transfer to the Queens Computing Department to pursue a software design specialization. Having recently discovered a genuine passion for coding in my studies at Queen’s I hope that my grades can be representative my the effort I have put forward throughout the year.

Thank you for your consideration,
Martin Allerdissen