Petition Letter
Hello,
To whom it may concern.
My name is Diadie Traore, and I am a fourth-year student.
In the summer of 2023, I took Law 201/701, as I was incorrectly told I needed to take this course to stay on track and graduate in the spring of 2024.
During the course, I was not in the correct mental frame of mind for several personal reasons.
I was dealing with severe family issues regarding the health of my grandmother and other relatives as well. The issues had begun before my return home from my winter semester exchange; however, they worsened when I arrived home in the summer. I came home earlier than expected as I needed to go home due to these problems. These problems got significantly worse quickly, and all happened one after the other. Throughout the summer and my time taking the course, there were consistently new problems occurring in my life that were affecting my mental and emotional health.
While taking LAW201/701, I found it challenging to manage the course and actively study for the major assessments in the course, such as the Fact Patterns and the Exam. I was able to manage the quizzes as they were weekly, so I had less to study, and I was able to receive support in understanding more of the minor details. However, I found the Fact Patterns, which were worth a large percentage of the course, to be challenging to manage, and with everything going on, anytime I approached the Fact Pattern quizzes, I was always unable to prepare myself successfully and found them very overwhelming.
My extenuating circumstances were prohibiting my academic success as I was emotionally and mentally exhausted and stressed from all of the events going on in my life. My family still observes our Malian traditions and cultural values, so being a male and the oldest child in my household, I held a lot of responsibility in helping support my family during this time. For example, this included frequent hospital visits for my grandmother while taking care of my six-year-old sister and making sure my other brother and sister were ok. At this time, I was still going to work and needed to save money to pay for my fall semester at Queen’s.
Further, because of this, I was never in the right frame of mind to be successful in the course; however, I kept trying to pass, at least as I was told it was a mandatory requirement for my major plan. I have since found out this was inaccurate, and had I known this earlier in the summer, I would not have taken the course. In addition, I was also dealing with my exchange credits as there were and continue to be several ongoing issues. As a result of these factors, I performed horribly in the course and could not even finish my exam.
Throughout the semester, I tried to mitigate these issues by contacting other classmates; however, this didn’t work. I also tried contacting other supportive people, such as my former tutor. This aided me a little bit as for some of the weekly quizzes, speaking to them helped me understand the coursework better. However, this was unsustainable for the whole semester as they were always very busy due to other commitments.
I also took another course in the summer, Ancient Humour. I did much better in this course as I knew other people also taking it, which helped me and kept me up to date regarding necessary coursework and submissions. This made a big difference and helped me achieve a better mark overall.
As I look to the future and what I hope to do after completing my undergraduate degree, I can't help but notice the significant decrease in my cumulative grade due to a failing grade in the course.
I did not feel comfortable including every detail in my previous application as the situation was and still is very personal. However, I feel I was not in the correct mental and emotional state to have done well in the summer course, and its drastic impact on my grade is very troubling. I do not believe that the failing mark I received and my current cumulative grade, which has dropped significantly as a result of this course, correctly reflect my academic ability and dedication.
Thank you for your time.
Best,
Diadie
To whom it may concern.
My name is Diadie Traore, and I am a fourth-year student.
In the summer of 2023, I took Law 201/701, as I was incorrectly told I needed to take this course to stay on track and graduate in the spring of 2024.
During the course, I was not in the correct mental frame of mind for several personal reasons.
I was dealing with severe family issues regarding the health of my grandmother and other relatives as well. The issues had begun before my return home from my winter semester exchange; however, they worsened when I arrived home in the summer. I came home earlier than expected as I needed to go home due to these problems. These problems got significantly worse quickly, and all happened one after the other. Throughout the summer and my time taking the course, there were consistently new problems occurring in my life that were affecting my mental and emotional health.
While taking LAW201/701, I found it challenging to manage the course and actively study for the major assessments in the course, such as the Fact Patterns and the Exam. I was able to manage the quizzes as they were weekly, so I had less to study, and I was able to receive support in understanding more of the minor details. However, I found the Fact Patterns, which were worth a large percentage of the course, to be challenging to manage, and with everything going on, anytime I approached the Fact Pattern quizzes, I was always unable to prepare myself successfully and found them very overwhelming.
My extenuating circumstances were prohibiting my academic success as I was emotionally and mentally exhausted and stressed from all of the events going on in my life. My family still observes our Malian traditions and cultural values, so being a male and the oldest child in my household, I held a lot of responsibility in helping support my family during this time. For example, this included frequent hospital visits for my grandmother while taking care of my six-year-old sister and making sure my other brother and sister were ok. At this time, I was still going to work and needed to save money to pay for my fall semester at Queen’s.
Further, because of this, I was never in the right frame of mind to be successful in the course; however, I kept trying to pass, at least as I was told it was a mandatory requirement for my major plan. I have since found out this was inaccurate, and had I known this earlier in the summer, I would not have taken the course. In addition, I was also dealing with my exchange credits as there were and continue to be several ongoing issues. As a result of these factors, I performed horribly in the course and could not even finish my exam.
Throughout the semester, I tried to mitigate these issues by contacting other classmates; however, this didn’t work. I also tried contacting other supportive people, such as my former tutor. This aided me a little bit as for some of the weekly quizzes, speaking to them helped me understand the coursework better. However, this was unsustainable for the whole semester as they were always very busy due to other commitments.
I also took another course in the summer, Ancient Humour. I did much better in this course as I knew other people also taking it, which helped me and kept me up to date regarding necessary coursework and submissions. This made a big difference and helped me achieve a better mark overall.
As I look to the future and what I hope to do after completing my undergraduate degree, I can't help but notice the significant decrease in my cumulative grade due to a failing grade in the course.
I did not feel comfortable including every detail in my previous application as the situation was and still is very personal. However, I feel I was not in the correct mental and emotional state to have done well in the summer course, and its drastic impact on my grade is very troubling. I do not believe that the failing mark I received and my current cumulative grade, which has dropped significantly as a result of this course, correctly reflect my academic ability and dedication.
Thank you for your time.
Best,
Diadie