Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Yann Ky (20021348) and I am writing this letter by the recommendation of my academic counselors and professors from my final semester at Queen's University. This appeal letter is regarding ENIN 100, 200, 204, 240. The request is being submitted past the deadline as I was attempting to figure out a way for me to complete the courses and sadly was told by my professors that the best they could do for me is to support my appeal letter. I have excluded Ancient Humour as the professor allowed me to complete outstanding assignments in January which resulted in a grade of A- in the course.

My final semester at Queen's was plagued with various problems that affected my ability to fulfill my academic requirements. Covid 19 affected my family to a high degree, with my mother not working and my father being locked out of the country in Ghana the pandemic caused serious financial issues. I was required to help support my family in Ottawa through work and making constant trips to Ottawa to tend to my twin sisters who are in Elementary school. That alone took crucial time away from my academics. Furthermore, the stress it placed on me caused multiple panic attacks and depression. I spoke to student wellness on multiple occasions to seek counseling and to help gain extensions on assignments but those proved to be futile as I was simply not able to manage full-time construction work in Kingston, weekly visits to my family in Ottawa, and academics.

I was also a member of the Queen's varsity football team and had high hopes of making it to the CFL/NFL upon completing my 5th year of football but saw that opportunity stripped away from the virus as we did not have a season. These conditions made for a high-stress environment that was greatly enhanced by the lockdown. My academic advisor suggested that my best course of action was to appeal for a late drop for the courses to avoid the drop in GPA and urged me to re-apply for the May, June period to complete my courses and finish my honors degree. I have completed my core requirements and only need 4 more courses to complete, however having these 4 classes as Fs would make it incredibly difficult to attain the required GPA for my honors degree.

I hope my case is compelling enough to warrant an appeal. Thank you for your consideration and I hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,
Yann