Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing this letter to appeal to drop LING 100. The extenuating circumstances that lead to my decision to do so are as follows.

I began university this year with no financial support from my family, as I am estranged from my parents, and have been since April 2020, months before I accepted my offer to Queens in June 2020. I had been working two part-time jobs at the time to pay my rent and support myself independently, as well as save for university. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I lost employment at both of my jobs from March 2020 through late June and early July 2020 (as one job reopened a few weeks following the other.) When I began back to work in June and July, I worked full-time hours until the school year started in an attempt to make up for my lost income due to the COVID-19 closures. I was able to accumulate some savings during that period, which have lasted me very well up until a few weeks ago, approximately mid-October.

As a result of being short on income, I have resumed working full-time hours to support myself once again. Because of this, I fell slightly behind in my studies. In most of my classes, I was able to catch up accordingly, but I have found it incredibly challenging to do so in LING 100, as it is a course that I was already finding myself having to spend extra time on prior to resuming working full-time. At this point in time, I feel as though the limited time that I have when I am not working that I dedicate to catch up in LING 100, I sacrifice in other courses.

My academics are a priority to me, but my basic need for financial stability to support myself and my wellbeing must come first. This stressful situation of balancing the workload of full-time hours and a university course load while being low on funds and with no familial support has also taken a toll on my mental health.

Therefore, I feel as though dropping this course is the best way to ensure success in my other academics here at Queens, as well as in my personal life given these extenuating circumstances.
I am also currently taking the necessary steps to help relieve these circumstances. I have reached out to a support system who is helping me in the process of finding a professional who can help with my mental health, and I have applied to OSAP and am currently waiting for my documents to be processed so I will hopefully be able to receive financial aid.

Kind Regards,
Faith Green