Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: February 20, 2015
Dear Associate Dean (Studies), Dr. J. Hugh Horton,

I would like to request extension of incomplete grades in PSYC 100 and BIOL 103, as well as credit standing in CHEM 281 due to extenuating circumstances that prevented me from completing the work on time and receiving a sufficient mark in those courses.
I'm currently in my second year here at Queen's University, working on my Bachelor of Science Honours degree. At the end of my first year I have deferred four of my exams due to being diagnosed with clinical depression in April 2014. My plan was to write the remaining exams at the end of the summer of 2014, however, I had great difficulty coming to terms with my mental illness and was only able to write two out of four examinations I had left to write. I've been doing everything in my power to recover, including medication, counselling and exercising, however it was to no avail, I still have difficulty focusing and actually remembering. I was supposed to complete the remaining two exams for courses PSYC 100 and BIOL 103 in September 2014 but I didn't feel prepared to do so. I was overwhelmed with the amount of information I had to review and it became hard to concentrate on my readings and practicing for the examinations. I had new courses to focus on that made me feel like I didn't have the ability to do well on the exams I still had left to write. I have contacted my professors to see if it was possible to defer my exams to a later date, and they agreed to the extension as they believe it will give me more time to improve my mental health and help me to succeed academically. Depression affected how I handled first semester coursework and responsibilities that came with it, leading to me being stressed and frequently feeling like I had no chance in succeeding physically, mentally and academically. My depression prevented me from applying myself to my utmost potential this past semester and once again made me lose my concentration no matter how hard I tried to study. Regular stress and constant fear of not doing well prevented me from being successful in some of my courses and from receiving a sufficient grade in CHEM 281 as I was dealing with consequences of my mental illness. I believe that granting my request improve my academic standing and reduce the stress associated with the examinations, helping my recovery from clinical depression. I, therefore, implore you to grant my appeal as there were extenuating circumstances beyond my control in form of a mental illness that debilitated my academic performance and have prevented me from succeeding and as I've finally started to take baby steps on the road back to recovery and I'm doing everything in my power to keep myself on track and remain positive throughout this entire situation. I greatly appreciate everything that's been done for me so far and for you taking time out of your day to hear me out.

Thank you very much. With regards,
Yekaterina Kaplya