Academic Plan
Academic Plan
I have devised an academic plan to help me achieve success should my appeal be granted. The preamble to my academic plan is as follows: with the help of the medical practitioners I am seeing now, and the support of my family, I feel that I am in a position to achieve better academic results in 2014/2015. I am going to improve, resolve and manage my personal challenges to the point that they will not have negative effect on my future academic studies. I am committed to and will continue weekly therapy sessions with a therapist and/or psychologist and continue daily medication prescribed by my doctor presently and during the school year. I have also applied to join the Queen¿¿s University Disabilities Services and will utilize their services and support to assist me in my education. I intend to continue to see my professors frequently, to obtain tutors and utilize the Learning Strategies program at Queen¿¿s. And most importantly, I intend to communicate more honestly and frequently with my family so my behavioral well-being can be more fairly understood by them.
Academically, I intend to take a lighter course load in 2014/2015 comprising of 3 or 4 courses per term, as this is more appropriate given my circumstances, and will provide me with measured opportunity to reset my study habits and related grades, and integrate those results with my ongoing medical counselling. My intention is to eventually ramp my course load up to normal levels with personal academic improvement.
For the past several weeks I have been consulting with Queen¿¿s academic counsellors and Dr. Lind, the chair of Undergraduate Studies in order to assist me in this academic plan. After much self-reflection, I have made what I think is a reasonable decision to try a different program more suited to my established skills, namely a variety of music courses (theory, history, performance etc). Should my academic performance improve significantly, and there was professional merit, I am considering a transfer to the Faculty of Music at a later time evident through my communications with Dr. Lind.
This decision is in keeping with my high school music specialization and my Royal Conservatory of Music achievements, both of which had real bearing on my successful Spring 2013 audition and acceptance into Queen¿¿s University School of Music. There is a long back story on why I accepted the Arts and Science entrance offer rather than the Faculty of Music, and why I then pursued a heavy course load in the sciences. That decision can be boiled down to an unreasonable desire for financial gain upon graduation coupled with a desire to please my extended family. I realize now that I am more musically and artistically inclined, and that those decisions were inherently unrealistic, resulted in a false start that I would like to put behind me. I am currently finishing up a Summer School music course at Queen¿¿s which I am doing very well.
I understand that for many appeals such as this the most logical academic plan would be to repeat the failed courses in order to improve my GPA. But that is premised on a desire to continue in the same or similar field of study which in my case is no longer the case. With the turmoil of the past year so clearly before me now, I honestly feel that my studies in music are a much better academic fit for me emotionally and intellectually.
I trust that the information herein is substantive and convincing enough for you to grant these two appeals so that I may return to Queen¿¿s in September. I believe I am motivated to overcome these setbacks and participate actively and successfully in the Queen¿¿s experience.
Sincerely,
Jesse Venturo
Student Number 1010001
214 Saint Francis Avenue
Woodbridge, Ontario L4H 3E7
I have devised an academic plan to help me achieve success should my appeal be granted. The preamble to my academic plan is as follows: with the help of the medical practitioners I am seeing now, and the support of my family, I feel that I am in a position to achieve better academic results in 2014/2015. I am going to improve, resolve and manage my personal challenges to the point that they will not have negative effect on my future academic studies. I am committed to and will continue weekly therapy sessions with a therapist and/or psychologist and continue daily medication prescribed by my doctor presently and during the school year. I have also applied to join the Queen¿¿s University Disabilities Services and will utilize their services and support to assist me in my education. I intend to continue to see my professors frequently, to obtain tutors and utilize the Learning Strategies program at Queen¿¿s. And most importantly, I intend to communicate more honestly and frequently with my family so my behavioral well-being can be more fairly understood by them.
Academically, I intend to take a lighter course load in 2014/2015 comprising of 3 or 4 courses per term, as this is more appropriate given my circumstances, and will provide me with measured opportunity to reset my study habits and related grades, and integrate those results with my ongoing medical counselling. My intention is to eventually ramp my course load up to normal levels with personal academic improvement.
For the past several weeks I have been consulting with Queen¿¿s academic counsellors and Dr. Lind, the chair of Undergraduate Studies in order to assist me in this academic plan. After much self-reflection, I have made what I think is a reasonable decision to try a different program more suited to my established skills, namely a variety of music courses (theory, history, performance etc). Should my academic performance improve significantly, and there was professional merit, I am considering a transfer to the Faculty of Music at a later time evident through my communications with Dr. Lind.
This decision is in keeping with my high school music specialization and my Royal Conservatory of Music achievements, both of which had real bearing on my successful Spring 2013 audition and acceptance into Queen¿¿s University School of Music. There is a long back story on why I accepted the Arts and Science entrance offer rather than the Faculty of Music, and why I then pursued a heavy course load in the sciences. That decision can be boiled down to an unreasonable desire for financial gain upon graduation coupled with a desire to please my extended family. I realize now that I am more musically and artistically inclined, and that those decisions were inherently unrealistic, resulted in a false start that I would like to put behind me. I am currently finishing up a Summer School music course at Queen¿¿s which I am doing very well.
I understand that for many appeals such as this the most logical academic plan would be to repeat the failed courses in order to improve my GPA. But that is premised on a desire to continue in the same or similar field of study which in my case is no longer the case. With the turmoil of the past year so clearly before me now, I honestly feel that my studies in music are a much better academic fit for me emotionally and intellectually.
I trust that the information herein is substantive and convincing enough for you to grant these two appeals so that I may return to Queen¿¿s in September. I believe I am motivated to overcome these setbacks and participate actively and successfully in the Queen¿¿s experience.
Sincerely,
Jesse Venturo
Student Number 1010001
214 Saint Francis Avenue
Woodbridge, Ontario L4H 3E7