Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Monday, August 6, 2018
Doctor Johanne Bérnard
Duncan McArthur Hall
511 Union Street, Queen's University
Kingston ON K7M5R7

Dear Dr. Johanne Bérnard;

I am appealing my request for acceptance into Environmental Science being denied by the department. This decision was made in May 2018 during the period in which you can submit major-change requests on SOLUS.
I have been struggling with both anxiety and severe depression for quite some time now. This likely manifested itself back in high school but unfortunately went undiagnosed until halfway through second year of university. What some may have mistaken for the normal growing pains of transitioning out of high school and away from my parents and home town into university, were much more significant than even I or my friends and family could realize. This lack of knowledge about what was the true reason for my struggles made finding specific avenues for improvement very difficult and left me with a sense of inadequacy and hopelessness. This proceeded to affect my work on quizzes, exams, papers and projects due to the immense pressure I felt making me succumb to hopelessness. Thus, my grades and further my overall GPA were reflective of my situation during this time. However, in spite of these drawbacks I was still able to improve my overall GPA over 3 years to above 1.9, the minimum GPA to be considered for acceptance into the Environmental Science program after first-year. The redoubling of my academic efforts and ongoing strides towards better time-management, self-care, and commitment to my school has given me this achievement in the face of the many setbacks I have faced over my time at Queen¿¿s.
With this appeal I am asking for the university¿¿s acknowledgement and faith in my improvement both as a student and a person. The chance to participate in and graduate from this major is one of the main reasons I chose to come to Queen¿¿s in the first place. I have taken many steps to help me with the problems I stated above, such as consulting with my full-time physician and the on-campus clinic at La Salle to receive treatment in order to ensure my time as a student at Queen¿¿s is as meaningful as possible. I am receiving treatment such as medication and Counseling as well before returning to queens to ensure my success as a student of Environmental Science. These steps and the continuing support of my family and friends are going to help me prove that even with some disadvantages, I am a fully capable student who can improve and achieve just as well as anyone who could have made it into the program when I couldn¿¿t. To reiterate, I don¿¿t want to be handed my degree, but I wish to be afforded the opportunity to prove I can do it myself. I wish to see that my efforts towards self-improvement and building up my academics these past three years weren¿¿t a waste. I don¿¿t want any special treatment or any special consideration outside of being admitted to the program now that I have gone above and beyond the threshold for consideration. I want a chance to show that I have and will continue to succeed.

I must also note that I could not meet the 21-day appeal deadline of this decision because of scheduling difficulties faced in trying to get the necessary paperwork and doctor¿¿s notes for this appeal. I was only able to get an appointment recently because of my physician going out of town but felt that this was worth the wait in order to lend my appeal and my mental health condition as much validity and corroboration as possible. I am also giving the university my express permission to access any files necessary from La Salle¿¿s Clinic or La Salle¿¿s records to corroborate anything I have said so far on this subject.

Thank you for your consideration,

Liam Shaw
416-720-2445 or 14ls50@queensu.ca
27 Edgewood Crescent
Toronto, Ontario
M4W 3A8