Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Academic Appeal Letter ¿¿ Aryaman Sharma (20171240)

To Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

My first year, along with the majority of my classmates, was filled with a whirlwind of confusion, uncertainty, and a level of independence I did not have a full grasp over. More than that, it was filled with an incredible amount of joy and valuable lessons that I will take forth with me for the rest of my life. After believing that I could power through everything and still maintain my marks, social life and other aspects of my growth, I was faced with some consequential news that made me realize that I, too, like everyone else, needs help at some point or another. For reasons I will outline in the following letter, as well as some guidance from academic advisors, I am applying for a credit standing in courses ANAT100 and BIOL102 that I had taken in my first semester at Queen¿¿s.

On October 20, 2019, my family lost one of its most important members. An uncle to me and my brother, the youngest brother to my mom and aunt, a son to my grandma, and a father to my cousins. At only the age of 46, he suffered a devastating heart attack that left our family in shambles, still trying to piece everything back to this day. Needless to say, I left Queen¿¿s on homecoming weekend to be with my family. At this time, the future was very foggy, and I, along with my cousin who attends another university, were left confused on what we would have to do for school as midterms and course work was starting to pile up during this time. I submitted for an academic accommodation for 7 days, providing the necessary documentation. During this time, I missed two midterms, several labs, extracurricular meetings, and all my classes. Since I submitted the accommodation very early as to not cause any confusion between my professors, my family still had no idea how to move forward with our lives. I ended up overstaying, which caused my course progress to suffer even more. At this point, I had emailed all my professors to try and get an understanding of where I can catch up and what options there would be for me to make up any missed course work. After receiving emails directing me to other instructors, or no response at all, I felt as if I had no choice but to put my head down and just get caught up as best as possible. It was only recently, when I had gotten denied from my original Plan Selection (Life Sciences) and seen that my cGPA was 0.02 points away from being able to apply to other plans (e.g BCHM requires 2.50 I have a 2.48), I emailed Dr. Jill Atkinson who put me in contact with an academic advisor who aided me by providing me with some options of how I can move forward.

For these reasons, I am applying for credit standing in the courses of ANAT100 and BIOL102, which are both 3.0 unit courses that I took during the fall semester of the 2019-2020 year. If this appeal is passed and my cGPA gets raised, I hope to get in contact with the BCHM department and ask if they may have any spots available. I have felt extremely ¿stuck¿¿ this past summer as it seems that my academic plan is falling apart and I am submitting this appeal not in hopes to only raise my cGPA or apply to other plans, but rather find some answers and pursue all options that have been made available to me. I thank you for reading this and I sincerely look forward to hearing back from you.

Cheers & Stay Safe,
Aryaman Sharma