Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: August 20, 2020

To The Associate Dean,

I am making an appeal to have my ENGL 100 (2019-2020), as well as my SOCY 122 (2019-2020), marks removed from my academic transcript, due to extenuating circumstances that were unforeseen and did not allow for me to complete the courses at the best of my abilities.

At the end of December 2019, the suicide of a close friend and an ongoing medical situation with my older sister began taking all of my focus. January 2020 when I returned from the holidays to Residence I was in no proper mental capacity to be living on my own nor continuing my classes at a level that would lead to success. By February 2020 my condition had worsened and was not able to leave my room to attend classes or eat. When COVID ¿¿ 19 came to the university in March 2020 and I moved home the situation did not improve until I sought help by a professional physiatrist. This continuous struggle did not allow for me to consider or even know about the Pass/Fail option that had been made available at the time. I have struggled with mental health problems from a young age and have always been under the care of a professional until I started at Queens as I was between doctors. Since May 2020 I have been undergoing counseling and have been prescribed a new medication to restore me to my previous state of mental well-being. I would like to remove these courses in specific due to the fact that they were full-year courses and due to the reasons stated above I was unable to perform for the second half of the courses.

I plan on continuing with my counseling and taking the prescribed medications throughout the rest of my time at Queens University. I have made great efforts and have been able to establish a greater support network both at home and at school. If I see that things are no longer going well academically I will not wait before getting assistance and making a plan before it is too late to come back from. In the future, I want to utilize the support systems put in place by Queens University and get more involved in academic support programs. I hope to be able to retake these courses this coming term or throughout the next summer. This will allow me to get back on track with my degree within the four years I have remaining.

Thank you or your consideration.

Bridget Peters