Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean:

I am appealing to drop the grades from my official transcript for the following courses: CHEM 222. I would also like to appeal for a CR standing for the following courses: BIOL 335, BIOL 360, BIOL 343, and BCHM 218.

Last September, I was coming in strong in my third year. I took two summer courses and got very good grades on both of them and that boosted my confidence for the up coming year. Like previous years, I have been taking summer courses and staying in Kingston for the summer months and have enjoyed it. Once my third year started, things were going well and I had a strong start, but around the month of November I had a severe relapse regarding my major depressive disorder. This school year ended up being one of the hardest years of my life due to this relapse and has caused me to do poorly in school as it affected my mood, mental and physical health. The relapse affected my sleep as I had only a few hours (4 ¿¿ 5 hours a night) and I began to have this overwhelming feeling of sadness each day which lead me to cry uncontrollably at times. The severity of the relapse got to the point where suicide became an option and Dr. McNevin and I even considered hospitalization as an option. Throughout the months of November to February, I worked extensively with Dr. McNevin to try and lessen the severity of my mental state and it seems to be working as of now. I am still seeing Dr. McNevin on a weekly bases and have been on additional new medication to help keep my mood up, as of now, I am doing a lot better than I was at the start of November. This relapse has crippled my mental and physical health in ways that I would have never imaged. I did my best to try and reduce the stress and strain on myself by dropping a course in the winter semester and it did help to a certain extent, but in the end I truly tried my best to survive the semester as I was recovering with the help of Dr. McNevin.

If this appeal is approved, I plan on taking a fifth year to try and help my academics. I have also been seeing Spring Forsberg-Lewis, the academic advisor and I plan on working with her for the remainder of my years here at Queen¿¿s along with Dr. McNevin and other campus resources. I have been taking summer courses every year since my first year here at Queen¿¿s and this action seems promising, so I am going to continue this for the following years to come. I am still optimistic about pursuing a career in Dentistry and I know that Queen¿¿s University can help me achieve my goals. I have learned a great deal about myself throughout the years here at Queen¿¿s and hope that I can continue learning as this school can help me work through my depression.

Sincerely,
Sunny Lee
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