Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

My name is Qingyun Li (student number 10182813), and I would like to appeal to drop CLST 103 (Winter, 2017).

I know it sounds very strange for a second-year student to drop a first-year course, but I do feel the current situation is beyond my control, so I could not continue it. The first reason to drop this course is that my family issue severely influenced my mood. My parents got divorced in February last year, and I have been meeting with the mental health counselor since then. It was until last semester I finally felt that I could move on without troubled by my family, and I stopped seeing my counselor. But I just found out that my father refused to pay my living expenses at Queens, and he is already married again. The fact that my father abandoned my mother and I hurt too much, and I started to fall into the depression status which I thought I already got over.

Besides the family issues, I feel this course is very challenging that I expected. Despite the English bias of an international student, I also find its very hard for me to follow the course because it contains a lot of Latin words. I know if I work harder, I could at least pass this course. However, my family issue troubles me a lot recently, and I missed the last test (20 of final grade)before the final exam because I was fighting with my father that morning. Since I did not do very well in the previous test, I feel it is better for me to drop the course this semester. Otherwise, I will fail it.

Dropping this course is not because I want to escape from the difficulty. On the contrary, I will retake this course next year because I am in Classic Study minor and I love this part of history. I would take CLST 102 in the Fall semester, and I would be more prepared to do better in CLST 103. In this case, my GPA will not be influenced, and I can still accomplish my study.

Also, I will go back to China in the summer, so I would talk to my parents and let them know that their problems have negative influences on me. I suppose that we have a lot of misunderstandings is mainly because we have been apart for a long time, and we need a chance to sit down and say what is in our mind. I understand that they will never get back together, so I will try my best not to let them affect me again.

Sincerely,
Qingyun Li