Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am writing to appeal my academic dismissal from Queen??s University. I was not surprised, but very upset to receive a letter earlier this year informing me of my dismissal. I'm writing to you with the hope to be reinstated for the available upcoming semester. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to explain my circumstances.

I admit I had a very difficult time studying throughout the course of my academic career here at Queen??s, and my grades suffered as a result. I don't mean to make excuses for my poor academic performance, but I would like to explain the circumstances. My father suffered a heart attack during the summer of 2019, just weeks before I was leaving to the Bader program (BISC) in the UK. This event took a toll on my mental the entirety of my stay away from home as I was unable to care for him. After March 2020, when the COVID-19 Pandemic began, our family??s restaurant business took a massive toll and I began working there as a full time employee due to a mass shortage of labour. I found little to no time to work on assignments after my working hours, but I admit I should have shown more diligence towards my studies. In March of 2021, my father once again suffered another heart attack and went through a quadruple bypass, putting stress on myself and all members of our family. As my parents are divorced it makes it hard to facilitate certain things like visits, especially during COVID. My mother also became ill with hyperthyroidism during this time, so my sister and I began caring for our parents respectively. I foolishly began drinking to cope with this new stress I was undergoing and fell into a depressive state, but kept it to myself. In hindsight, I should have reached out to a counsellor about this. Additionally, the course load was much too great for the situation I was in at the time, and I should have been more aware of this but I wanted to graduate on time along with my fellow peers. I have not gone through anything like this in my life and it has taught me many lessons for the future.

I love Queen??s University, and it would mean very much to me to graduate with a degree from this school. If I am reinstated, I will pour all my focus into my schoolwork and manage my time more wisely. I have begun reaching out to others for help with my mental health and have personally been feeling better. I have been following an organized and structured regimen to get back on course and set myself better for my future. Fortunately, my father is recovering and being taken care of, so I should not need to travel home nearly as often. For my previous year I lightened my course load due to the circumstances I found myself in, but it was to no avail. However, this coming semester I am distraction free and will go above and beyond with my studies. Also, I will regularly meet my advisors and follow their advice about communicating better with my professors from now on, instead of ignoring my duties as I have in the past. This year taught me how to be a better person and led to more personal growth than I could imagine.

I hope you understand that the GPA that led to my requirement to withdrawal does not indicate that I am a bad student. I hope you will give me a second chance as I now know this is the direction I want to go in. Thank you for your time, attention, and considering this appeal.

Sincerely,

William Wang ST20186457