Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern;

This was never a position I would have thought to find myself in every in my university experience, due to my high school record with academics. I also never believed that I would have as many health and personal difficulties impacting my studies. Because of this, I am seeking, preemptively, to appeal the decision requiring me to withdraw for a one-year period.

First, as documented last year upon appealing a decision to allow me to participate in Orientation Week as a Gael, I have had several medical issues that impacted my studies. Because of this, my grades were poor and my foundation was shaky. This shaky foundation was even more evident this year, with several poor marks in chemistry based classes. These medical issues have placed me into a situation beyond my control, in that I couldn't successfully complete the courses that I wanted to take, in order to become a Biochemistry student. With that in mind, I wish to inform you of my desire to fully pursue an arts degree, as I have found success in that area. This shaky foundation has led to failures in my chemistry based courses, because I conceptually was already behind, in addition to the circumstances detailed below. However, for classes in which I wasn¿¿t conceptually weak, such as with History and Psychology this past year, I was able to do moderately well, despite my struggles.

Medically, I also found a tumor on December 8, and received diagnosis and treatment during both the fall examination period, as well as the Winter semester. I believe that this created a significant amount of stress, and coupled with the following circumstance, created a situation in which I could not succeed.

To note further, two deaths in my family in the middle of both semesters also caused quite drastic setbacks. My grandfather passed away in late October, and my aunt was pronounced brain dead in early March. Should their charts or documentation supporting that be required, I can contact their funeral homes and obtain their death certificates. These personal events were quite shaking and tragic, however, I was not permitted by my parents to drop my classes in either semester, or to delay my exams. Thus, I achieved quite unsatisfactory results in those classes in which I was already struggling. I tried to deal with these as best as I could, however, with the previous rocky foundation for chemistry, I failed to deal with these successfully.

These extenuating circumstances, I believe, have led to the poor results in my courses and ultimately, don¿¿t reflect on the student I hope to be. That being said, I believe that I can work incredibly hard to prove to you that I deserve to be a Gael, and that I want to remain apart of this community.

I had hoped for so much better for myself, and I can understand that I have disappointed my faculty and myself. This is why I ask for an appeal today. I know that punishment of being forced to withdraw for a year will not allow me to get back on track from these personal circumstances, and would throw an even larger wrench into my life. I believe that I can recover from these circumstances in my health and personal loses, provided that I am given the opportunity by you to continue as a student with Queen¿¿s University in the following year.

As a final thought, I wish to repeat my earlier statement, in that for classes with which my foundations weren¿¿t rocky, I was able to succeed in spite of these setbacks. I hope this shows you that I can achieve satisfactory grades despite my challenges, given the opportunity to do so.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Kadie Freeman