Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Emily Laidlaw
10148968
14el@queensu.ca

Friday April 15th, 2016

Dr. Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen¿¿s University

Dear Dr. Bénard,

I am writing to request to appeal to drop LING 320, which I took in the winter semester of 2016. LING 320 is the course code for Phonology, which is a required course for my minor. I am a second year student studying Political Science as my major with a Linguistics minor.
The circumstances that led to my subsequent failure of the class began realistically during the fall semester but reached its climax directly after returning from Reading Week. My best friend and housemate suffers from multiple mental illnesses, ranging from depression, to PTSD, to bipolar manic depression. These illnesses effect not only her but also those around her, being her best friend these effects transfer greatly I find. When I say best friend this is not a normal friendship as others may define one to be, ours transcends beyond a regular friendship. I am not saying this to sound melodramatic, but simply stating it as a fact, if there is such a thing as soul mates for friends, that is what we would be. My best friend, who I shall call Sarah for these purposes, has been struggling with the repercussions and aftereffects that come with her illnesses herself. Sarah can become extremely anxious over these events and how her own mental state effects others, if she was fully aware of how much it has effected me she would be devastated.
Sarah will have good and bad days but after Reading Week there was an event that triggered a downward spiral for her that she hasn¿¿t been able to escape yet. Due to this I spent the majority of my time sitting with her to keep her calm as well as taking her to the hospital to be checked out. Sarah is receiving psychiatric help in her hometown but has not found the proper authorities in Kingston. The backlash of these events lasted for weeks, with very rough periods. It was at this time that my work in Phonology began to suffer greatly, with lesser effects being seen rippling across to my other courses. I began to miss classes and falling behind on the material. At the beginning I attempted to try to keep up by studying on my own but I found it too difficult to manage and juggle by myself. Not being particularly talented in linguistics to begin with, I found it to be an upward battle to attempt assignments without formal instruction. At this point one might ask me why I chose to continue with the subject, my answer is simple, I love it. I find myself extremely drawn to the topic and fascinated by the opportunity it presents and the expanding of my knowledge of language.
My work in Phonology suffered over all my other politics courses due to the very nature of the course and my own aptitudes. With taking multiple politics courses you find that the material is repeated and reinforced throughout all of the courses, making it easier to understand and grasp. Phonology was my outlier this term, being the sole linguistics course I had taken, as it had been a year since my first and last technical linguistics course one I was already rusty. Linguistics is not a discipline one can easily fake their way through; it requires vast attention to detail and understanding of the concepts. These are concepts that are not taught in any other class and are, in a way, like nothing you¿¿ve ever studied before. It is due to this and my less than stellar expertise that Phonology began to fall behind all my other courses.
My plan going forward to rectify this lapse is to retake LING 320 again either in my third or fourth year to still meet the requirements of my degree. I have also enlisted the aid of Queen¿¿s Counselling Services to help me with my situation. It is my greatest hope that both Sarah and I improve so these circumstances do not repeat themselves.

Sincerely,



Emily Laidlaw