Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: The Request

1. I am appealing the Faculty's decision that I am required to withdraw from Queen's University for one year.
2. I am requesting that failures received dating back to Fall 2011 be dropped from my academic transcript.

Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances

Extenuating circumstances affected my academic performance. In the spring of 2011, before I began my studies at Queen's my best friend, Kyle Kinsella -- a Queen's University student himself -- took his own life. The loss of my closest friend affected me deeply as we had been friends from childhood straight through high school. In the fall after his death, I began my studies at Queen's University in General Sciences. Along with the new challenges that each first year student experiences such as living in residence, being completely independent and having a greater academic workload, I thought about Kyle nearly constantly. I felt overwhelmed and confused and was disappointed in myself because everyone except me seemed to be figuring out how to deal with life at university. Nearly every night I experienced trouble sleeping, and during the days, I felt lethargic and unmotivated. In my classes, I felt like a statistic, a number among a class of four hundred. Marks seemed trivial in relation to my outlook on the fragility of life. I had been an excellent student in high school and I felt ashamed about receiving poor marks on quizzes, midterms, and disclosed them to no one. In fact, at the end of first year I had told nobody about my marks, or the dark feelings that I was experiencing, not even my family, although they asked repeatedly how I was feeling. In a brief meeting at the end of the first year, I met with an academic counselor who advised me to repeat my first year to raise my average and prepare me better for the future but my wellbeing was never discussed.

The next year, I lived in a student house in Kingston, but did not have the heart to re-enroll in classes at Queen's. I began to question my mental state. That year was my darkest hour. I lied to my friends and family that I was in second year Chemistry and spent all hours of the day alone, shut away.

In third year, unaccustomed to not being a student, I re-enrolled in first-year general sciences, recommitting myself to school; however I was too ashamed about my past to tell anyone and continued to isolate myself. I lied that I was a third year Chemistry student while I attended first year courses, but failed to seek help from professors or other students because I was too proud to admit that I was repeating first year courses. At home, I kept the truth from my housemates, never opening textbooks around them, always wary about being found out in conversation. I continued to sleep poorly, and upon waking up each day, my first thought was about how I was going to cover that day's lies. Some of my marks were pretty good, but when I did receive poor marks, I stopped submitting assignments altogether because I felt that I was doing poorly even though I never had the courage to actually check my marks online. I gave up when I felt that I would not reach the probationary requirements of a 1.6 GPA.

For three years I could never reveal the truth -- my parents found out when they called the Arts and Science Registrar's Office. In the fallout, though my family was devastated, they were supportive and I was relieved that I no longer needed to lie. I had pushed loved ones away for three years in an effort to conceal the truth. I am seeking help from psychologist Dr. Carney who is helping me with the bereavement of Kyle and the aftermath. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I am trying to move forward in a more positive direction.

Future Plan

I now feel that I have greater clarity about the last three years which involved a downward spiral starting with the passing of Kyle. Both Dr. Carney and I feel that I am ready to start academic studies in the Fall 2014 semester. This summer I have the good fortune to work for a research and development centre which has strongly influenced the direction I wish to take. For the first time, I feel passionate about the work I do, and understand the relevance of university studies in my path to fulfillment in life. I feel valued by my peers, many of whom have doctorates in their area of study. After this work experience, I would like to study engineering and transfer into the first year of the Faculty of Applied Science.

In order to ensure greater success, I need to commit to the courses more fully by developing a solid academic plan. I will meet regularly with a counselor in the Learning Strategies centre to develop time management and study techniques. I will also attend all tutorials, proactively form study groups with fellow classmates and meet with professors for clarification. I continue to meet with Dr. Carney.

I would be happy to meet with a member(s) of the appeal team to express my eagerness to start afresh in a discipline I'm excited about. I am familiar with the challenges in engineering studies as my father graduated from Queen's Engineering and my brother is in his second year of Queen's Engineering. All in all, my greatest hope is that Queen's will give me a second chance to realize my full potential.