Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,


I am appealing to add the online courses GPHY 101 and HLTH 101 (Winter, 2020). I would like to start off by thanking you for taking your time to read and consider my appeal letter. As a first year student the transition from high school to university has been quite the unexpected journey. Being a student who used to be very strong in both my academics and extracurriculars, seeing myself perform like I have, has been very hard on me. Moving away from my family and friends, and coming to a new city that is far from home has not been easy.

At the start of the Fall 2019 semester, I was trying very hard to stay on top of my schoolwork. Although, I thought I could keep that up for the rest of the semester, which seemed to not be the case. I started to experience severe mental health issues, which stunted me as a student, friend and daughter. I stopped talking to my friends, stopped calling home, and started to isolate myself with everyone around me. I stopped going to class and handing in assignments, because I was not motivated to do anything of the sort. The start of the new chapter here at Queen¿¿s that was supposed to be the most exciting time of my life, soon turned into a dark, miserable time. I¿¿ve experienced mental health related issues my entire life, but had people who I knew to always support me through it. When I faced them here all alone, I felt as if I did not have that, and did not know how to tackle my problems. I stopped handing in my assignments during the middle of the semester, which was around week six, because I physically was not able to get myself to do anything.

GPHY 101 and HLTH 101 were two courses that were supposed to be my elective courses, but due to my lack of motivation, it was much harder than I had originally expected. Since the bulk of the assignments that counted towards your final mark were after week six, I started to perform terribly in these two classes. The reason why I did alright in my other courses was because I actually had a few peers in those classes that I could talk to, and do work with, but even in those courses I believe I could have done better. I had never felt this defeated in my life with anything. I did not even bother to check my grades over the winter break, because I did not want to bring myself down again with how my life was at that point.

I came back to school this semester giving myself a new start, to a new year. I have gotten myself some personal tutors to help make sure I stay on track with my courses. Also, I have been taking advantage of the academic resources that are available on campus that I did not know existed last semester. In addition, I am also actively seeking professional help, in the form of some therapy to help my mental health problems. Once I had viewed my grades from last semester at the start of the Winter 2020 semester, I was shocked with myself. Looking at how terrible my grades were in these two classes, started to have an effect on my mental health once again. I could not think of anything else, but how badly my mental health had gotten in the way of school. Being shocked and confused, I had so many questions about how I could fix my grades.

I took the initiative in figuring out how I could fix these grades. It took quite a while for me to meet with a PASS advisor, and then an Academic Counsellor, who informed me that I could retake a course and only the improved mark would count towards my GPA. If I had known this earlier I would have made sure I added both of these courses before the last day to add courses, instead of taking some of the courses I am taking now. I have done a great job this semester in trying to stay on top of all my academics. I am currently doing well in my classes, but will choose to drop some if this appeal is approved. In addition, I have started planning out everyday using a calendar I purchased at the Campus Bookstore, to ensure I stay on top of all my courses. I have also started to meditate to help calm myself every morning, and not get overwhelmed with all the changes I am experiencing here at Queen¿¿s.

My goal for writing this appeal is just to give myself a second chance that I think I deserve in order to fix my grades. I really want this opportunity to fix my grades before going into second year, so I can have a fresh start next year and not be stressed over my grades. If this appeal is approved, I have a plan set in place to finish all pending assignments as soon as I am able to enroll. I have already finished my major assignments and work for my other courses during reading week, so I have as much time as possible to work on the assignments for these two courses. I can assure you that I am taking steps to fix my life as a student, and I will be proactively seeking help when needed. I just want a second chance to fix my grades, and I think I deserve that being a first year student.




Sincerely,


Kanza Kibria