Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean Dr. J. Hugh Horton,

I am as appealing to the faculty¿¿s decision that I must withdraw for a year, due to my current GPA.I believe these appeals should be meet due to the extenuating circumstances I have been faced with during my studies at Queens.
The first circumstance that has greatly affected my academics at Queens was the passing of my grandmother on October 22st 2013. I have always been very close to my family and had never experienced anyone close to me dying. Because of this event I became very depressed and unfocused during my first set of university midterms. After this experience I became very introverted and in a state of depression that effected my focus on my academics. Becoming so introverted I distanced myself from things I really enjoyed as a student and person. I am a person who enjoys to play many sports (badminton, football, volleyball) join clubs (Interact club President and Reach Trivia club) and be active within my school or university. Being able to be part of a club or active within the school has always motivated me to perform better in my academics because it makes studying more enjoyable and makes me want to succeed. As I didn¿¿t engage myself in activates such as these, I felt distant from the university and did not enjoy what I was doing in turn effected my passion for academics. With these events happening in my first year my academic performance was greatly affected and because of this my mental health was effected that carried into this year.
At the start of this year I switched from a Bachelors of Arts (planning to become a psychologist) to a Bachelors of Science (to become a Biologist). This transition was very challenging my courses being PHYS 117, CALC 122, CHEM 112, BIO 102, and BIO 201. Never taking a calculus high school course or a grade 12 chemistry I was behind the class and the material was difficult to understand. During midterms I became depressed again as it was October and reminded me of my grandmother¿¿s passing, on top of the stress from exams. Being depressed and stressed going into my midterms, I could not remember anything from the days I studied and because of this did poorly. Doing so poorly on the midterms put me into a greater state of depression where I pushed away family and friends, and stayed completely to myself. This pattern of depression sustained into the rest of the semester, until I would stop going to classes and not complete homework assignments. When winter exam time approached, my girlfriend of three years and I broke up. This event made me completely lose focus on my studies, I would spent a lot of time at the library trying to study but I could not maintain any information being so depressed. Over the winter break I spent time with family and talked to them about my depression and what I had been going through. Finding out I had failed all of my exams except BIO 201, I convinced myself I had to get better and with support from my family I came back with more confidence.
In the second semester I meet with the guidance counsellor to work on my current situation to figure out how I could do better in the year. To make my course load easier I dropped calculus, and because I failed BIO 102 I could not continue with 103 or 202. I also took GEO 102 to help boost my GPA so I could try and fix my previous extenuating circumstances. I also decided to seek help from other sources from around the school, and I talked with former Queens Principal Dr. William Leggett. The discussion I had with him gave me confidence about my situation and future. From this point forward I finished the year in a much better mental state. Soon as April exams were over I meet with a guidance counsellor again to decide how to move forward into the next year.

I am currently retaking BIO 102 this summer in the hopes that I can come back next fall and continue with Biology. Having been faced with extenuating circumstances that effected my academic performance the past two years I please ask my withdrawal for the following be reconsidered. I am a student who is motivated to do the best I can and, I now know I have resources to help when if I get depressed. Please consider this appeal as I know I can make a difference as a person and student at Queens and optimistic about coming back to Queens in the following year.




Thank you
Douglas Hill
10058302