Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Ryan Hood (10179247)
272 University Ave. K7L3P9
May 31, 2017

Dr. Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Admission & Recruitment) and Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen¿¿s University
Kingston, Ontario

Dear Dr. Bénard,

My name is Ryan Hood and I am a third-year student at Queen¿¿s. I am writing this letter to appeal a late drop of three separate course: ECON250 (Fall 2016), ECON212 (Winter 2017), and ECON222 (winter 2017).

I am requesting this appeal because of an event that took place over the Victoria Day weekend in 2016. This date is significant because it represents the first and only time I have ever had trouble with the law. Although to many this may have seemed like a petty, or insignificant instance, it had a major impact on me psychologically and on my family, relationally.

For those that know me, this event seemed extremely uncharacteristic. The ensuing situation took a major toll on my family, especially my mother who was deeply concerned and stressed until the entire issue was resolved. In turn, I felt an extremely large burden and remorsefulness for what I had done. The amount of worry and stress that I felt resulting from this incident was tremendous. This became a major distraction at school, specifically at the beginning of my second year (Fall 2016). My grades took a major dive and I only ended up completing 3.0 units, scoring a mere 0.50 GPA. This is drastically different from my first year where I had 5 courses per semester, and scored a reasonable GPA of 1.96. Following the resolution of this situation in October of 2016, my focus on school began to get slightly better. However, I still was not able to perform at my highest levels and ended up failing to complete two core courses of my program. I have no doubt that this drop in grades was strongly impacted by the event that took place.

Until recently, I was unaware that an appeal of this type was eligible for consideration. It was a short while ago that I was told, and recommended by an academic advisor to appeal the grades due to my situation. Currently, my position is much better than it previously was. I have switched programs from Applied Economics to Philosophy and plan to have a fresh start. In the linked documentation, you will see certifications from programs and emails with my lawyer based on some of the incidents described. Although the issue was formally resolved, it was much harder to come to terms with in my mind. I have now fully accepted what happened as a reality, and fully take responsibility for my actions. I have a strong belief that, moving forward I can reach academic success unmatched by anything I have accomplished before, and that nothing like this will ever happen again. Thank you for your carful consideration of this request.

Yours Faithfully,
Ryan Hood