Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of the Arts and Sciences,
My name is Sarah Slim and I am currently a third year Biochemistry student here at Queen's University. I am writing a letter of appeal regarding my first year of where I took MATH 121; Differential and Integral Calculus, and second year course CHEM 211; Main Group Chemistry. I am asking if it would be possible to drop the grade and instead receive a Credit standing instead.
The reason I am asking is due to issues regarding my mental health. Throughout first and the beginning of second year, I found it increasingly difficult to focus on my studies and physical health due to anxiety. Unfortunately I did not realize how bad it had gotten until the second semester of first year when friends were concerned about my state of being. While I did go to counselling services and more here at Queen's, my overwhelming inability to even write an in-class quiz prevented me from being able to perform at my best. With my mental health deteriorating, my physical health did as well. I was beginning to be unable to sleep, eat or even get out of bed at times. Instead, I experienced anxiety, panic attacks, and at times, depression due to my inability to cope with the stress. My grades dropped rapidly and I felt like there was nothing else I would be able to do about it. I endured as much as I could while trying to keep myself from failing, which fortunately, I only managed to do.
Second year I went off medication abruptly causing a relapse of my mental health and many bad habits. The only course I was able to fully keep up with was BIOL 205 as many of the work and examinations were online and therefore in a more manageable environment. CHEM 211 on the other hand presented more difficult due to the style of the course being in the mornings and in-class. Getting up in the mornings seemed nearly impossible at the time, and therefore keeping up with the missed classes, mental health and the workload seemed to eventually take over and I found myself letting go more and more often. Therefore, while I am unhappy with the overall grades received by many of my first and second year courses, my MATH 121 and CHEM 211 grades were the courses that reflected the worst of my capabilities.
Currently, I am starting to maintain higher than average grades due to my endurance and determination to get better. I am now on medication and have been taking care of my physical and mental health so I would not fall back into old habits. I now know how to prevent myself from succumbing to anxiety and depression. I am now able to organize and complete my tasks with little to no anxiety and of course, be able to write exams without having a panic attack before and after. So far, second semester of second year and third year have been going extremely well and I plan to continue down this path. However, this is me at my all, not who I was during first year. I would this appeal to mediate the full effects of my first year marks while leaving the rest to me because I am determined on working hard to make sure that I reach my goals but also be healthy and happy with myself in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter,
Sarah Slim
10099643