Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Sir/Madam:



My name is Robert Lenz Gil and I am a second year Philosophy student. I am writing this letter of appeal to respectfully request that I am given credit standing on the course BIOL 202 and have the course POLS 242 dropped. I faced extenuating circumstances, I consider myself fully accountable for my shortcomings and thus I hope I can be given the opportunity to overcome the consequences of my actions with regards to my extenuating circumstances through these appeals. I expect this letter to bring to your notice the difficulties that I have encountered and how this appeal can help me revert their impact. The issues discussed are now resolved and I am eager to improve my academic standing, which is why I consider this appeal should be granted.

During my second year at Queen¿¿s, I dealt with escalating levels of anxiety that only worsened throughout the year. In addition I was adapting to the challenges of living alone and coping with a recent death. I acknowledged the mental state I was in but I did not consider it to be of much effect in my academic performance; I thought that as long as I worked and kept myself occupied I would not be affected by stress. I was mistaken, I gradually lost the motivation to study and my class attendance dropped substantially. General distress also affected my diet and aggravated bad habits, which also affected my physical health and energy levels. I realized the further decline in my performance and resorted to extensions with assignments and exams, but I was unable to make the best of these.

Due to worsening physical health, I booked an appointment at LaSalle where the doctor redirected me to KGH to discard the possibility of a serious health condition. Fortunately, there was no health condition that required hospitalization, however this brief visit caused me to miss an exam. I felt the need to recover from this year and decided to take the summer time as an opportunity to gain a better perspective on my university goals as well as the obstacles that I must overcome in order to succeed at Queen¿¿s. I took the time to discuss problems and solutions with family, fellow students, an academic advisor as well as practicing introspection. These discussions provided information on what problems I have been through that have negatively impacted my grades and how I can solve them and raise my grades.

I had found anxiety to be a bigger problem than I originally had acknowledged it to be, and I gained an improved sense of self awareness through this experience. I no longer find anxiety the struggle it used to be in my life. At the same time, I do not take my health for granted and have developed contact with professionals and enough self awareness to identify the negative patterns that have affected my academic performance in the past.

Please find attached the documentation that states my reasons for missing the final exam for POLS 242 and provides evidence of my extenuating circumstances. If there is any other information needed, I will send it as soon as possible