Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Letter: To Appeal Committee,

My parents and I have been in touch with Dr. Jill Atkinson about my situation. She suggested I appeal to the second level of the Board of Studies with further information and documentation.

I would like to start off by saying this past year has been a whole new learning experience in itself. During my third year at Queen??s University I went through many ups and down in my personal and academic life, that ultimately left me with a tremendous amount of difficult situations. To say the least, I struggled a lot. Towards the end of my second year (March/April 2020) the world was hit with Covid-19, changing our normal everyday lives into a new reality of isolation, new routines and online learning. Fast forward to Fall 2020 and we had just begun our first semester of online school. I have taken courses online, but was not ready for the challenge of maintaining 5 classes online, while trying to cope with new struggles in my mental health. I understand that Covid-19 affected people in many different ways, but my experience changed my life drastically from where I was in the beginning 2020 to today.

My third year at Queen??s was not normal, and I know neither was anyone else??s. It started with an adjustment to online and independent learning. As the semester went on, the weight of five full course loads being completed online basically caused me to fail and my life started going downhill. I struggled to focus, stay on track, organized, and work at my computer for 10 consecutive hours a day. Personally, I am a hands on, visual learner. I complete my work more productively in class instead of my shared living space. This form of learning lead me to fall behind and become more careless with the effort and time I was putting into my work. As the semester was slowly coming to a close, I realized the mental state I was in wasn??t healthy, and the work I was completing was not as good as I am capable of. I fell into a big hole my Fall semester but persevered through Winter 2021, where I saw significant changes in my personal and academic lifestyle.

I would really like to return to Queen??s now as a part-time student to ensure maximum focus on the courses I am interested in taking, and ones that will be helpful in life. I also plan on taking advantage of the resources Queen??s offers to students who are struggling both mentally and academically. I have always been one to keep my questions, comments, concerns and feelings to myself, but I hope I can gain more confidence and courage to use these resources more frequently. In the upcoming weeks, I am also being assessed by a psychologist and will have ongoing discussions with my doctor about my mental health and learning struggles.

I want to say thank you for giving me this second opportunity to appeal as the Covid-19 Pandemic was so unexpected and left me and many others with more problems we never imagined.

Please find attached letters from Dr. Blew and my parents.

Thank you again for your time and consideration.

- Sarah Currie
20120387