Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

My name is Jordyn MacMurray and I am a third year Queen’s University student currently on exchange at the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. This petition letter is being written to request permission to withdraw from a course past the official date for dropping a course.

The course that I am requesting to drop is one that I am currently enrolled in at the University of Glasgow, Maths 2A: Multivariable Calculus. This course was evaluated by Peter Taylor, undergraduate chair of the mathematics and statistics department at Queen’s University back in April of 2024 and was deemed transferable back to Queen’s University as a Math 221 (3UNS) equivalent.

I arrived in Glasgow to begin my exchange on September 15, 2024, and since then have been experiencing an extremely overwhelming mixture of difficulties that have greatly hindered my ability to continue with this course. I have been struggling with severe homesickness, feelings of loneliness, isolation, and depression. Coming to Glasgow completely alone and without any connections, I was so excited to have the same exchange experience that I kept hearing others share, filled with amazing new friendships and eye-opening moments. To my severe disappointment, I have been unsuccessful in making any meaningful connections here and feel a constant sense of complete loneliness and sadness. These feelings became so severe that my mom took time off of work and booked a flight to Glasgow and came for one week from October 18-25 to provide me with the emotional support and feeling of connection that I have been lacking since September. Having the opportunity to spend that week with my mom and having her support in-person was extremely comforting, leading me to believe that I could push through my mental suffering and successfully complete this course. Unfortunately, these optimistic feelings only lasted for a few days after she left and my mental health then began to deteriorate much, much further. Being over 5000 km away from home and from my support system has affected me in a way that was impossible for me to foresee. I have severely struggled to concentrate or actively participate in this course. I take my education very seriously and believe that this is reflected in my transcript and could be vouched for by anyone who knows me well.

To make these challenges worse, the emphasis placed on independent learning here has been an extreme struggle for me. Despite repeated attempts, attending non-mandatory tutorials, and extra help, I have fallen far behind in this course, and the absence of structured help that I’m used to has just made me feel more confused and anxious. This math class has been a constant and overwhelming source of anxiety and I feel completely unable to effectively prepare for the final exam.

I have always held myself to extremely high standards academically, and so dropping a course was not even an option I considered for myself. I simply held onto hope that with time, I would adapt to these difficulties and find a way to deal with them. My family and friends reassured me that these feelings of deep loneliness and sadness were to be expected and were simply temporary. Along with these thoughts as well as the fact that my mom’s visit gave me hope that my mental health would improve for a few days after, I did not request to drop this course by the deadline. I was determined not to “fail” and to have the exchange experience that I expected going into it. Over time, however, my mental health has only been getting worse. I feel completely unable to meet the demands of this course and feel that dropping it is essential for my mental well-being.

The Cognitive Therapy Center that I attended for therapy sessions over the course of the 2024 summer was unable to continue sessions with me while I am abroad as their policy does not allow them to do visits with patients out of the province.

Thank you very much for your time and for considering my petition. Please let me know if there is more information that I can provide you with.