Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dean of the Arts and Science Faculty of Queen's University,


This letter I'm writing to you is to appeal to drop my failed courses PHARM100, PYSC100, HIST106, COGS100, PYSC271, LAW201 that's resulted in my academic probation. It comes to me as not shocking news knowing how I've been this past year. In hopes of bettering my future courses and be relieved from academic probation, I'm sincerely and whole heartily writing this letter. Before giving my explanation, I want to say how appreciative I am of this opportunity given to me to make up for all my fallacy.

Last September 2020; I started off the year excited and thrilled to begin my first school year at the university I've been wanting to go to my whole life. Unfortunately, I speak for many students that remote learning during a pandemic is not facile. Having to sit in front of your computer screen for ongoing hours after finishing one class after the other was absolutely brutal and for me especially it hit home. I am a very social person, I love making bonds, getting to know people, having face to face interactions with my peers and teachers is really important to me so the fact during that entire school year I didn't get to do any of that was a major change for myself. As time went on after my first semester around December 2020, I began to decline. I started not catching up to date in my schoolwork and because of this reason it resulted in my academic grades starting to lower. Second semester came along, and the situation only worsened because I was aware of my work ethic not abiding to my course's expectations, but yet I thought it's okay because I'll just do better. I thought I could manage two jobs at once, my schooling, my family problems and my mental health all together but instead it led me to feel so drained, empty, and sad. Every. Single. Day I logged into my OnQ, I knew I was about to log into all my missing assignments and due dates, every day it just became worst and worst to the point I was even scared to log into my school seeing all my failed responsibilities as a student. I felt like a disappointment I'll be honest; I didn't want my parents and family to view me as one either so for the longest time I kept quiet and went on with my problems silently with no one to talk to. My complications included being diagnosed with severe depression, this issue led me to lose lots of close friends because I started distancing myself from everyone, it made me lose sense of who I was and what my purpose was in this life, as well as it caused me to do poorly in school by not having the energy, the motivation, and the drive to continue because in my negative mind I just thought what's the point anymore if I'm already doing this bad?. After witnessing how I did in my second semester, I took three courses online during the summer to make up for the ones I didn't succeed in winter simply because I really wanted to bring my GPA higher, however I was only setting myself up for further failure. I was severely stressed about my future at this point because I kept thinking what I'm going to do with my life, and how I'm going to get back on my feet by getting better grades, at the time I had the right mind to want to better myself academically, but I was missing the motivation to actually perform good in school. My father has had vitiligo for 30 years in his life, a genetic skin disease that lacks melanin in areas of your body and has no cure. This summer I discovered I to have some on my skin and it slowly is starting to spread, although this disease isn't bad for your health, it changes your appearance. It made me have low self-esteem and I started getting even more stressed but this time instead because of how I look. Currently I am still learning on how I can manage this physical change in me as I'm not used to seeing myself like this. All these issues of me being diagnosed with depression and vitiligo in the last year have been the most burdensome to me and you really must be in my shoes to fully comprehend the depth of my situation because I can only give you the jest by explaining in this letter. The reason why I never dropped the courses from the start was because I thought I could manage working seven days a week on both jobs and taking three courses after I worked wouldn't be as difficult, however once I started testing that out I was just so burned out from work and life that school was the last thing I wanted to do. Lastly, I just want to add that both my parents work incredibly hard every day to give me an education. We immigrated from Honduras to Canada when I was six years old and ever since than my family hustled their way up to help me be where I am today. It hurts my soul seeing how I've managed to fail as many classes as I did. My mother suffers from ongoing chronic depression herself and for that reason I chose to tell her school is doing me well every time she would check up on me. My mother is sometimes a lot to deal with and her environment can be challenging for me which makes it difficult to come out with my own problems since she's got her own, that being said all my mother's medical advisors know that I'm her biggest supporter when it comes to helping her out mentally and translating words from Spanish to English, but she is the reason why I was inspired to get into psychology in the first place. I want to reinstate that my ongoing mental and physical problems were genuinely out of my control because if I could describe it, it was a feeling of total apathy to everything in my life it wasn't just my school it was to my loved ones, my jobs, and the general duties and responsibility I held. Because of everything happening to me in addition of not doing well in school I can fully hold to say that the year 2020 and the school year of 2021 has been the most difficult times I've ever had to experience to this day. I am currently in the process of getting treatment with the right medication and counselling, I can proudly say that I look at everything in more of a positive manner and I want to better myself.

I am so thankful being given this opportunity to express my reasoning's for my lack of work ethics, I've recognized the mental state I was in was not a good one to live with and I now realize that there are greater consequences to that. I want to add that I am a good student; the grades I got my first school year does not reflect nor define the student I am but instead just expresses a time of weakness in my life, I know so because I worked so hard to get into Queen's and have accomplished so many things to be proud of and I'm going to prove myself wrong with this past year and no longer repeat anything like that for future reference because I never want to be as stressed as I was. I've decided to quit my jobs over the summer and solely focus on my academics whilst I'm enrolled in them, do things I enjoy to heal from any hardship's life throws at me, research all the resources that Queen's University offers to find aid, and most importantly reach out for help when I need it and know that it's okay to be feeling depressed and its okay to ask for help. I know I have so much potential in me to do great things in life because I have high dreams and high expectations for myself to make me and my family proud, I view this entire school year as a learning experience to never commit something like this in school again and with any major responsibility I take on my back because there will always be consequences for my actions. All I ask if for you to consider my appeal for dropping my failed courses and give me a fresh opportunity to start with a better attitude and prosper especially now that school will be offered in person which I am so content for. I'll prove a spiking difference, I give you my word.


Thank You,

Karleen Espinal



P.S, attached are the following documents of diligence to state that I've been in fact seeing medical treatment for my depression and mental health matters.