Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dr. Johanne Benard
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen's University

Dear Dr. Benard,

Please accept this letter as an appeal to my current academic standing following my 2016-2017 year at Queen's University. As you are aware, my final GPA was below 0.7, which is the minimum requirement. Although I am aware that this grade is not a mark to be proud of, there are extenuating circumstances that explain my academic assessment by Queen's Faculty of Arts & Science. I would like you to consider the following extenuating circumstances and compassionately consider my request to appeal my 2016-2017 year and have the requirement to withdraw waived.


At the beginning of the year, I was enjoying my studies and had an ideal routine that I followed. I was taking an array of courses and feeling good about learning. At the end of the first term, I was relatively successful in my full year courses. I was passing with Bs and Cs in all my courses and those mark do appear on my SOLUS profile. In fact, I did pass my only credit course in first term. Following the end of the first term, I began to see a drop in motivation and overall mood. As I got further into the New Year, I starting feeling depressed and highly anxious. 3 years ago, I was diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety. It has been a challenging journey for me and has continued to be a time of growing self-awareness. In retrospect and with consultation, I have started to see a repeated pattern of anxiety and depression, at it's worst in the end of the winter and early spring. And it is at this point this year (around reading week) that I had a significant change in mood and mental health. In February, I began to lose motivation although I was still going to class and completing my work. Around March, I really began to fall off emotionally. I communicated very little to my friends, my family, or my teachers. In the end, I failed most of my courses, essentially throwing away all my hard work from the previous semester. For example, my MUSC 255 course, I stopped going to class and did no work. My mark dramatically fell. My father urged me to withdraw from the course and yet I could not even motivate myself to do that. I simply let it fall. In retrospect, it is hard to understand my lack of rationality. I could have easily withdrawn from the course and focused on others. My anxiety was so high that I only withdrew to my bedroom. I did not tell anyone and I did not seek any help.


Coming into the year I felt very confident in my abilities to succeed at Queen's. I told myself that I would be able to defeat my problems on my own and believed it would be possible through good habits and hard work. After talking with family and physicians I have since realized that problems like this are not meant to be solved alone and that getting help is wise. I regret that I did not fully take advantage of the supports that are available at Queen's. I do, however, believe that Queen's is a special place and it is a place that I want to continue to be a part of.


Since I have returned to my home in Toronto, I have seen my family doctor and been given great advice moving forward. I have been referred to a psychiatrist at CAMH. This is part of a program at Sunnybrook Hospital, which navigates the mental health system to provide families with the support that they need.
In hopes to be have good mental health along with academic success I have laid out the following plan:
-Continue with my therapists regularly
-Retake one of my failed courses (Retaking DEVS 100 which may actually raise my GPA above 0.7)
-Connect with health services at Queen's in early September to gain added support.


I feel that I have a reasonable personal plan and this is important for me to insure my future success at Queen's. And to this end, I am appealing to you on compassionate grounds to waive my requirement to withdraw and allow me to return to Queen's for the 2017-2018 year. I have attached medical documentation from my family doctor. I have confidence in my academic abilities when my health is in order. I was intending to attach a scan of my SOLUS records from midterm to show my success, however the SOLUS system is being upgraded at the time of this letter. I encourage you to access those records if you wish. It is important to me to get back on track and continue as a student at Queen's. I feel that I have put in place a process to be successful. I respectfully request your kind consideration of my appeal.

Sincerely,


Isaac Jackson Howlett
Student 10152683
14ijh@queensu.ca
52 Morna Avenue
M1E 2B1