Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Ryann Leahy, I am going into my third year at Queen's and I am appealing the faculty's decision that I must withdrawal for one year but more specifically, the 21 day deadline. After I completed my exams last year, I realized that my grades were poor, however, I did not foresee a request to withdrawal as I only failed one course (Creative Writing). It has been brought to my attention that the course I had failed brought down my GPA considerably; enough to cause reason for withdrawal. This was an online class and though I did exceptional in the exercises, there was a technological error with my final submission and it was therefore not graded. After my final exams in May 2016 I immediately started working at a farm, a physical job that took up a lot of my time and energy. I found myself falling into a mild state of depression, as I was unmotivated to do anything and I was tired most, if not all the time. This lasted for about a month. My job affected my physical state but also my mental state as well. I was not only drained physically but I was mentally exhausted. This caused a blurry distracted state of mind and I did not think I had any reason to check my Queen's email, for I was not taking any summer courses. I therefore missed the email regarding the request to withdrawal. If I had known earlier, I would have written an appeal regarding it, but I discovered the request much later when I attempted to enrol in classes and noticed the hold. Creative writing is my passion; it was a course I greatly enjoyed. If I was given a second chance I would be honoured to take the course again. It was my first online course and I was confused about some of the instructions and that is why my grade was so poor. I thank you for your time and consideration. I promise I will be more organized and will pay greater attention to detail in the winter term. Now that I am back at school, I am not working and therefore will not be distracted by a job and all my focus will be on my studies. I am not going back to the farm, for it caused me much grief. If you could give my one chance, I will prove that I am a worthy and motivated student who deserves to be here.

All the best,

Ryann