Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am writing to appeal to drop Astronomy 101 for Fall Term 2020 past the academic deadline. I am requesting this due to personal circumstances having impacted my academic performance.
I am a first year Arts & Science student and am participating in my courses online. I was living in France for part of the first term. I had some challenges attending both remotely and with a significant time zone change but, at the start of the term, I was pleased with my ability to manage the situation.

On September 20th, I was exposed to Covid 19. As a result, I was required to self-isolate for two weeks. I was in France by myself. My isolation meant that my roommate moved out and did not return. I was away from family and friends. I became very stressed and suffered from anxiety. I lost a significant amount of weight and sleep. During this time, I fell behind in my courses.

Unfortunately, a similar incident occurred again on October 17th putting me in isolation again until cleared with a Covid test.

I was largely able to make up my work in my other classes but could not catch up in Astronomy. As much as I tried to catch up and make up the work, this only added to my anxiety. I worked through the holiday break in an attempt to get caught up in the course. However, the time that I missed could not be recovered and my results did not reflect the work I am capable of producing.

At the time that this was happening, I did not realize the impact that anxiety was having. Not being at Queen's, I also did not know how to reach out to anyone to discuss my situation. I now realize how serious my stress level was and will seek assistance if I ever find myself in a similar situation again. Having recognized the impact that anxiety had in the Fall Term, I am also taking steps to relieve my anxiety and stress through an eating and exercise plan.

I trust that you will see fit to permit me to drop Astronomy 101 from my academic record.

Sincerely,

Rory Huycke