Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

New Information: To Whom It May Concern:


I am writing this letter to appeal for a Credit Standing for PHIL 204, SOCY 200, and SOCY 275 (Fall, 2018). I am currently a fourth-year Sociology major who is trying to obtain all of the necessary credits needed for my degree, while completing them on time. As it is mandatory to achieve a certain GPA in order to be accepted to the 400-level seminars, I am appealing the poor grades which I achieved as a result of extenuating circumstances.

During my second year at Queen¿¿s, in fall semester of 2018, I endured an unforeseeable situation. I was living in an apartment with a friend who I had known for many years at the time. Shortly into the semester our friendship went downhill, and my living situation became very toxic. As I had already signed a year-long lease, I was forced to stay living in the apartment with her until April of 2019. During this time, I felt unsafe going home at night, and was not comfortable being home when she was, leading me to travel to my parents¿¿ home two hours away in Ajax once a week. As a result of this, I missed many classes and became less and less involved in my studies. The horrible living conditions caused me to struggle with mental health issues, impacting my ability to perform in school the way I know I can. There was one class, SOCY 226, which I managed to salvage and higher grade than the rest. I believe I was unable to balance the workload at the time, making the rest of my grades drop. While I understand my academic grades are completely my responsibility, I did not foresee these circumstances occurring. At the time of which this occurred, I was not in the right headspace to explore my options as I had convinced myself it was too late, and the damage was already done. As my time at Queen¿¿s grew, I become aware of the option to appeal grades, but was under the impression I could only do so shortly after the grades were received. I own up to my ignorance as I should have done everything I could to deal with these matters sooner. Truthfully, I have not had an easy transition to my undergraduate studies. Although I¿¿m sure many can say the same, my time at Queen¿¿s has been nothing short of a challenge. While I have dealt with many situations which I wish I didn¿¿t, I am trying my best to move forward and do what I can to start fresh. It would mean everything to me to graduate on time so I can continue with my endeavors. In order to do so, gaining entry into SOCY 400-level seminars is necessary and obtaining a promising GPA is necessary.

I believe I am currently doing the best that I ever have in all my years at Queen¿¿s. The circumstances which led to the falling of my grades in Fall 2018 have been resolved and are no longer affecting my ability to succeed as a student. While I wish I had known about my options earlier, I am staying hopeful that it is not to late. Simply put, I do not want grades which I received during a very challenging, hard time in my life, to reflect on the type of student I am and can be. In writing this, I hope to be given a second chance at my studies and apologize for not acting on this sooner.

Sincerely,

Michela Di Salvo