Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Office of the Associate Dean,
Faculty of Arts and Science, Queen¿¿s University
APPEAL LETTER
To whom it may concern,
I am appealing the grade standing in several courses taken during my time at Queen¿¿s from Fall 2012 ¿¿ Winter 2016 due to extenuating circumstances. I recognize that I am appealing outside of the required time period but due my ongoing depression I simply wasn¿¿t capable of doing so until now.
PSYC 100 B Winter 2013, PSYC 100 Summer 2013, MATH 126B Winter 2014, ECON 222 Fall 2015, ECON 231 Fall 2015 POLS 110B Winter 2013 SOCY 122B Winter 2013, ECON 239 Fall 2013
My hope is that you will empathize with my situation and change the status of my courses taken at Queen¿¿s. The purpose of this request is so that I can have a GPA standing that will allow for enrollment at another institution close to my home as a mature student and move on with my academic career.
I started Queen¿¿s in the Fall 2012 with great expectations and a feeling of pride. My father is an alumnus and my great, great grandfather was Chancellor and has the engineering building named after him. As a honours student in the IB program from Upper Canada College I had lots of friends, extracurricular activities including varsity sports, Head of House, Board of Stewards and charity work. UCC had extremely demanding expectations and even stricter boundaries. The constant communication between the students, and the school ensured students did not deviate from their path of learning. Since grade 5, I was used to having an advisor meet with me each week as part of the program; having these safety nets kept me on track.
I no longer had anyone keeping me on track. I became depressed. I began to miss more and more classes, I wasn¿¿t sleeping, I wasn¿¿t eating, and I wasn¿¿t doing any of the sports that I loved. My life started to spiral. I felt alienated from my friends and family, the work load picked up and I retreated. I had an IEP that allowed me accommodations because of my anxiety and I was too embarrassed to utilize it. I should have reached out for help instead I shut down. When I tried to reach out to my parents over December exams their assurance and trust in me only made me feel worse because I knew that even though they were trying to comfort me I had let them down and wasted their time, money and trust.
Thinking if I could only make it through the year, next year would be different. To appease my mother I retook PSYC 100 while working but couldn¿¿t handle the stress. In August 2013 just prior to returning to Queen¿¿s I was part of a boating accident; the Sea Doo I was supposed to be on explode and my cousin was sent 15 feet into the air and almost died. This had a profound effect on me and I should have sought help to get me through it. I was not able to speak about the incident till my visit home at Thanksgiving. I tried taking a reduced workload when I returned to Queen¿¿s for my second year (2013/14), but continued to have difficulty maintaining focus.
I saw my doctor (Dr. Zoudis) and started seeing a psychologist (Dr. Whyne Berman) when I got home. I managed to secure a job at RBC Capital Markets and was going to appeal my requirement for withdraw for a year with the support of the psychologist but in the end I didn¿¿t think I was ready. Instead I worked for my mother¿¿s company, ate better and stayed physically active.
When I returned in Fall 2015 all my friends had moved on, I left my support and girlfriend at home. I became more and more depressed. In October my father lost his job of 24 years and that put a tremendous strain on my home situation. I couldn¿¿t deal with the guilt for wasting their money.
Despite best efforts to get back on track, it became apparent that I could not continue my studies at Queen¿¿s. In January 2016, my mental and physical health had diminished measurably and noticeably. I concluded that it would be best if I were at home and under the care and supervision of my parents. I started seeing a Behavioural therapist, Dr. Joel Simms. His cognitive behavioural techniques help me get through dark days and help with my depression.
I greatly respect the academic integrity of Queen¿¿s and am saddened that it does not seem possible that I will be a graduate from this University.
I feel am ready to continue my studies I am enrolling in continuing studies at Ryerson and want to start full time in September so I can live at home. My hope is that you will sympathize with my circumstances and provide the necessary amendments to the grades on my transcript so that I can move forward with my academic career as a mature student
Sincerely,
Cole Fleming 10064690