Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Dr Naaman,

I hope you have had a good summer,

I really appreciate you granting my first appeal; I write this letter to you with the hope of being able to repeal the current requirement to withdraw for 1 year that pertains to my studies at Queens.

I hope you don’t mind that I will be repeating a significant portion of my first appeal letter, as I laid out my reasoning for this appeal to begin with, but I do intend to make a few amendments, to give you a better understanding of my current position.

As I recalled previously, when I went through one of these appeals a couple of years ago, I remember being informed that if a student can show that they are on the right trajectory, they might get their requirement to withdraw waived. I believe that I am on that right trajectory. Whilst I haven’t yet fully sorted myself out, I have been far more involved in my classes this last year, and whilst I have not passed every class, it is a huge step up from the year before; for those that I didn’t pass, I was close to doing so. That step up will only be improved on in this next academic year.

As far as an academic plan goes, I have a few steps that I am going to take. First of all, I have occasionally been seeing a counsellor through Queens wellness, and I intend to start seeing that counsellor on a much more regular basis in order to help keep myself on track. I also intend to retake a portion of the courses that I previously failed in order to turn my GPA around. If I am able to have this hold removed, I am also going to meet/talk to an academic advisor to completely plan out my courses until I graduate so that I can see a realistic timeframe and can see the objectives that I am working towards. Furthermore, I have a job lined up for September in Kingston which will make my days far more regimented- I have always been someone that thrives when I am forced to be busy. Less so when I find I have too much time on my hands, as I have had (by my own doing) throughout my time at Queens so far. Finally, I have moved house over the summer, and my new housemates are much more work-oriented than my previous housemates were. I really think that this influence will go far. I have found real motivation to be at university in the form of a job offer once I graduate. Where before I was at Queens because university felt like what I should be doing, I now have a tangible, legitimate opportunity for work in a field that I really enjoy once I graduate. It is for this reason that I will be at college/university this year, as the offer is solely contingent on a degree, no matter where from. As previously stated: I really don’t want or mean to make that sound ungrateful for the opportunities Queens has provided me, or to sound at all flippant towards the outcome of this appeal: I would like nothing more than to see my degree through at Queens. But I refuse to spend the next year working a job that my heart isn’t in, when I could spend that year somewhere else getting a year closer to finishing my degree to then be able to start doing what it is that I plan to be doing long term. That is also why I will be changing my degree plan to a plan without honours, so that I am able to finish earlier than I would otherwise. Once more, I cannot stress how much I would like to see my degree through at Queens.

As I mentioned before, I appreciate that this is an unorthodox appeal, as it doesn’t come with any documentation, but if it would be helpful, I would absolutely be open to a conversation over teams or zoom or something to provide any details you would like.

I greatly appreciate your time in reading this,

Jack Hodgins