Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I began my fall semester (2021) to the best start. After spending a whole year at home, I came back to Kingston prepared to come back to campus after a long time away. The start of the semester was very smooth, and I believe I was doing really well. I was attending my lectures, going to any group meetings, getting involved on campus, and I even began working with the AMS.

However, mid October, I received extremely devastating news regarding a family issue that completely caught me off guard. Although it is not required for me to explain very specifically what happened, I would like to share this information so that your team completely understands what I was going through.

Basically, I received news that my parents were getting a divorce, after such a long and healthy marriage, and what seemed to be a very good relationship between my parents, I was not at all expecting this news. This news was extremely difficult for me to cope with. I had no idea what to say, what to do, or how to react, I simply got really emotional as this isn??t good news to hear whatsoever. In addition to this, as an international student, I was away from home when I learned about this, and that made the whole thing even worse. I was not home to be there with my parents, and it was honestly killing me.

As a result of this, my academics took a toll, my social life disappeared, I stopped going to the gym, I was having a really hard time sleeping and I was staying up very late talking to my mom because she was in a completely different time zone. All of this together had a serious impact on my academics. For the whole month of November, I was detached from my academic work and could only focus on what was happening with my parents. Because of this, I was not at all in the right mindset to study or focus on my studies, which is why I reached out to QSAS and began getting help as well as accommodations to assist me with my needs (I still have some outstanding work that I am submitting this week from last semester). After getting assistance and trying to get back on track with my academics, I felt as though I was making some progress. However, when the final exams came around, with the very cold weather and the constant overthinking, my situation got even worse and I was not at all at my best. This resulted in me not doing too well on the final exam for ECON 351 (which is the course I am hoping to get a CR for). I had been doing relatively well prior to getting this news, and was really confident that I would do well. However, sometimes, circumstances arise and you can??t control them. Because of this, I was not able to study effectively, I was not able to get the best rest prior to my exam, I had very little motivation to do any of my work because my head was somewhere else all the time. Sadly, as a result of this, I performed poorly in the class, getting a D as my final grade.

This is why I am submitting this academic appeal, because generally speaking, I have been a high achiever at Queen??s, I have been getting A??s and B??s for most of my time here. The D I achieved in Econ 351 has really affected my GPA and I really do believe I would have achieved higher had I been in a better place. I am asking for your consideration to grant me a Credit Standing in ECON 351, which will mean that my GPA will not be affected by the D I received last semester.

I have also been constantly talking to a mental health counselor who is helping me with my condition, and I have also learned the importance of communicating with my instructors ahead of time, especially when I need additional support and consideration. I have been applying this to my coursework for the winter semester, and although I am still not fully back on track, I am making progress.

I would like to take the time to thank you for your consideration. I only hope you grant me this request, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.