Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My hope is that this letter will adequately illustrate the circumstances which have led to my decision to make an academic appeal to request that the following courses be dropped: Winter 2015: ARTH 215, HIST 250B, HIST 315B, Summer 2015: FILM 260, HIST 207, HIST 272, Fall 2015: CLST 102, HIST 245, HIST 255 and Summer 2016 HIST 260.

The past three years have been undoubtedly the most difficult period of my life. Although I used to have a very pessimistic view on this incredibly challenging time period while studying at Queen's, I have come to realize that, as a result of all the personal challenges that I have overcome during these recent years, I have become a stronger person. My situation began in the fall of 2013, when my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Thankfully however, in December that year he had a successful medical operation to remove the tumor. As a result of this difficult period however, my marks at Queen's deteriorated because of my inability to focus my attention on my studies, and I also began to finding it increasingly difficult to maintain friendships with many of the people I had previously met at Queen's. Unfortunately, at this point I was unwilling to seek aid from Queen's, naively believing that I could solve all of these issues on my own. Finally, at the beginning of the summer of 2014, I met several times with a counselor at Queen's named Mary who confirmed that what I was dealing with was depression. After our appointments, I agreed to her suggestion to sign up for peer tutoring for the next fall semester for additional assistance. At this point I made an academic appeal to have the courses dropped (Fall 2013: ARTH 212, ARTH 214, ARTH 215 and Winter 2014: HIST 312B), as I was convinced that I was taking the necessary steps to deal with this issue. Unfortunately I had not anticipated the type of reaction that my parents would have as they came to be aware of the fact that my marks over the previous two semesters had suffered. Their condemning response to my situation resulted in the beginning of a significant deterioration of my relationship with my parents, and culminated in the influence of my depression growing ever more serious and my development of a growing dependence on marijuana. From the fall semester of 2014, until the fall semester of 2015, I became heavily dependent on the drug, resulting in a continued deterioration in my mental and physical health, ever-increasing distance with my social contacts at Queen's and with my parents back home, and finally the continued decline of my academic standing at university. None of these issues were aided by the fact that, for financial reasons, up until the beginning of this summer, I have been living in Kingston with my older brother, who has been, and continues to, struggle with significant, debilitating personal problems of his own. It was not until near the end of the fall semester (2015), that I was finally able to overcome the destructive dependence on marijuana that I had developed, and, for this achievement, I give all the credit to the help of the incredible young woman who I am still lucky enough to be in a relationship with to this day.

Since the end of the fall semester of 2015, I have begun to achieve better academic results at Queen's, I have been reconnecting with many of the friends that I have lost over the past several years and am currently in the process of mending my relationship with my parents. During this recent time period, I have learned that when personal obstacles present themselves, I must rely on the support of my friends, family and many of the incredibly understanding members of the Queen's administration to overcome challenges like these, instead of trying to shoulder all of the weight myself. I have also come to the realization that it is perfectly acceptable to take the necessary time to focus my attention on overcoming personal issues like these. It is for this reason that, when I was very recently informed that my parents have agreed to begin a separation, that I realized that I should be focusing my attention on this new personal development, rather than struggling and failing to focus my complete attention on the courses that I am taking this summer semester. I think that it would be very healthy for me to be able to focus my attention on supporting my parents during this difficult time in their lives. I will in all likelihood be taking further time away from Queen's this coming fall as well, but before making a definitive decision in that regard, I will be seeking additional guidance from the Academic Advisors at Queen's, during the remainder of this summer. I have been informed during an appointment with an academic advisor that, upon my return to Queen's I will have to complete two semesters as a full-time student in order to finish my degree. No matter what decision is made regarding my academic appeal, I will continue to regard this difficult time period of my life as being extremely constructive for my character. I am also completely aware that no matter what decision is made, these academic failures will always be a part of me, and will continue to serve as an important life lesson for me in the future.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Brigham McKerron