Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean,
My name is Rylander Van Wyk, and I am a third-year student at Queen¿¿s University, currently studying a Bachelor of Arts (General) in Philosophy (PHIL-G-BA). In my first year, I experienced a severe mental health crisis that significantly impacted my performance. Now that I am receiving treatment and accessing academic support, I wish to overcome this setback in order to pursue an exceptional academic career at Queen¿¿s. For this reason, I am appealing for a late- drop of MATH 121 (2018-2019), and for credit standing in PSYC 100 (2018-2019) and
PHYS 104 (2018-2019).
Going into university, I had high expectations, as I was a very strong student throughout high school. I maintained excellent grades, regularly achieved honour-roll, and graduated with honours in addition to receiving the Ontario Scholar Award. However, when university began, I experienced great difficulty grasping course material in PHYS 104 and MATH 121. By the 4th week of classes, I began receiving poor grades, and I was struggling to keep pace with readings and assessments. I became distressed, and decided to devote more time to my work. I was performing relatively well in ENGL 100 and PHIL 115, as language and literature had always been a strong-suit of mine, though I was still unsuccessful in MATH 121 and PHYS 104. Soon, my grades in PSYC 100 also started to fall. My academic career up until this point had been quite successful, and suddenly, I was barely able to maintain passing grades. Since my peers seemed not to be experiencing nearly the amount of difficulty that I was, I thought the problem was mine alone. So again, I pushed myself to study harder. This resulted in not only social isolation, but even further struggle and frustration, as I was spending nearly all of my time working, yet my grades did not improve. I became extremely anxious and dejected both towards my work and towards myself. This anxiety and dejection lead to a sense of hopelessness and shame; I did not want to tell my parents, I didn¿¿t know how to seek help, and the idea of doing so made me feel even more anxious. I felt I could not share. I began suffering panic attacks, assignments became highly intimidating, and I could not focus on my work due to constant anxiety. I was completely overwhelmed, and it became nearly impossible to think clearly. Despite this, I tried to persevere, prioritizing ENGL 100 and PHIL 115 while trying to maintain a passing grade in MATH 121, PHYS 104 and PSYC 100. I hadn¿¿t considered dropping a course, as I had never before received a failing grade. I expected to do well so long as I put in the effort. By the time it was clear that I may fail some courses, the course-drop deadline had long passed. This led to me failing MATH 121. I scored a D in PHYS 104 and a D+ in PSYC 100, while managing a B- in both PHIL 115 and ENGL 100. Only then did I realize that I had lost 25 lbs due to stress, and my inability to eat. Upon completion of my first year, I was notified that I was on ¿¿academic probation.¿ I changed programs from BSCH to a BA in Philosophy.
In my second year (2019-2020), I was facing the emotional and psychological repercussions of the events taking place in my first year, as well as the added (and rather enormous) pressure of being on academic probation. This further hindered my abilities, adding to my anxiety and disarray. Around January-February of 2020, I recognized that I was in turmoil. I could no longer hide it from my parents. I decided that upon completion of the winter term, I would defer from Queen¿¿s for one year, and seek help. I finished my second year, passing all of my courses. I was then notified that I had been removed from academic probation as my GPA was now sufficient.
These achievements helped me to regain some confidence. I contacted a psychologist to identify and treat my mental health issues. As I received help and began to break through the restraints of my emotions, I sought advice about my education from Academic Support Services and began searching to see what could be done about my disastrous first year.
I have learned much from this experience. I have become familiar with academic support services available to me. I am continuing psychological treatment as I proceed, so that anxiety and depression do not interfere with my education again. I have learned to follow my strengths and accept my limitations. I believe that my skills will prove to be a great addition to Queen¿¿s, and that I am a good investment. Specifically, I have a great passion for philosophy. In fact, I was invited to attend a meeting about the Master¿¿s program by Head Philosophy, who stated in the invitation that my name had come up as a ¿¿talented student who should certainly be encouraged to consider graduate work in our department.¿ I plan to major in Philosophy, and I aim to pursue a Master¿¿s degree. I am appealing for a late-drop of MATH 121, and for credit standing in PSYC 100 and PHYS 104 in the hope that the crisis I experienced in first year will not prevent me from achieving this goal. I have made changes necessary for my success, and I am confident that I will be much better prepared to continue my education once I return.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,
Rylander Van Wyk