Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Faculty of Arts and Science,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to formally request permission to drop my 2024 Winter Semester courses: EMPR 200, SOCY 227, and SOCY 276. Over the course of my third year studies, I have been struggling with serious mental health issues and personal stressors with my symptoms worsening during the beginning of 2024. In light of these factors, my academic performance has been negatively affected.

Despite my significant efforts, these challenges have taken a great toll on my well-being making it extremely difficult to meet the academic requirements of the semester. At this time, I am required to withdraw from my studies for a year. Dropping these courses will offer an opportunity for reconsideration of my academic status and potentially reverse my requirement to withdraw due to academic probation. Additionally, this would help maintain my eligibility for my student financial assistance and bursaries essential for covering my tuition.

I have been actively working to improve my mental health by attending regular therapy sessions offered by the university’s Student Wellness program. These sessions have played a pivotal role in helping to manage my stress, developing healthy coping mechanisms with my life struggles, regaining emotional stability, and addressing underlying problems that have hindered my mental health and education. Although my journey to becoming a healthy version of myself is ongoing, my progress has been made possible by this continuous assistance. I am determined to reach full recovery and become the best version of myself. With ongoing therapy, I am confident that I will be able to return to my studies with renewed strength, focus and preparation more than ever before.

In addition to the courses mentioned above, I am also requesting to drop courses ENGL 215 and HIST 260 from the 2024 Summer term for reasons affiliated with my physical health. During the 2024 summer, I decided to enroll in summer classes in hopes of improving my cumulative GPA. However, during enrollment of these courses, I fell critically ill with a fever and viral infection that required three different instances of hospitalization. This illness left me exhausted and in pain beyond measure, hampering my ability to complete and meet the deadlines of course assessments as well as meeting my ultimate goal of improving my GPA. With my health deteriorating during this time, I was instructed by my physician to prioritize full rest. I still made an extensive effort to complete my schoolwork but was unable to with how poor my condition was.

I remain fully committed to completing my degree and have created a thorough plan to ensure this is possible. This strategy calls for taking fewer classes to avoid burnout and provide sufficient attention to my personal health. I will also be seeking academic counseling for assistance in managing my workload. Finally, I will continue to receive frequent mental health assistance through therapy counseling from the university. As witnessed in my academic records from the 2024 Fall semester, I passed every course taken demonstrating my capability to persevere academically through difficult circumstances.

With my current improvement in physical health, support systems from family, friends, and university counseling, as well as my refurbished confidence to do better, I know that I will be able to achieve academic success and completion of my degree. I sincerely hope that my request to drop these courses will be considered as this will bring me a tremendous step closer to achieving my goals. I am determined to continue my studies here at Queens with a greater mindset and look forward to your decision.

Thank you for your time, understanding, and consideration.

Warmest regards,
Precious Ifearulundu