Petition Letter
To whom it may concern:
My name is Sydney Wong and I just finished my 3rd/4th year of studies here at Queen's University. Through my University studies I have struggled with health issues that have severely affected my academics. Although I have followed my health-care professionals instructions and furthermore have adjusted my course schedule as necessary but taking summer school classes, my health problems continue to be episodic unfortunately making it difficult to know when it will reoccur. While first (Fall Semester) of this year was great, I was involved in extra curricular activities in the Queen's community and outside of it. Moreover, my grades were vastly improving and I finished the Fall Semester with around a 3.4 term GPA. I was extremely proud as I took a full course load and achieved a good GPA. Because of this outcome, I decided that I would be able to do another full course load for the Winter semester. Although at first it was going quite well, unfortunately my health problems resurfaced causing me to miss class and shifts at my part-time job, sleep for the majority of the day and struggle with being around anyone who wasn't immediate family. Seeing the negative effects of what was occurring, I saw my health care professional and adjusted my medication along with taking some time off my part time job to regroup and salvage the rest of the semester. While at first, I was regaining confidence in my studies, some courses I was not able to catch up with. The deadline to drop courses had already passed at this point so I decided to try my best as I did not want to apply to appeal the courses like I have in the past. I was able to salvage about half of my courses however the other two were not successful. This is due to the participation required and the timeline of assignments due unfortunately were around the time my health problems worsened, meaning I missed deadlines and participation marks. I understand why one might question why I did not drop the courses prior to the drop date, however prior to it I was doing well in my courses, hence why I did not drop the courses. While I understand that the deadlines are in place for a reason, I do believe if my health problem did not resurface that I would have passed the courses. Both RELS 236 and RELS 218 are courses I took in the past (and passed) and I was attempting to retake them to improve my overall GPA as my academics are incredibly important to me. Although I was successful in retaking a course in the fall semester (RELS 354) unfortunately my health problems got in the way of me achieving the same success in the Winter semester. I weighed the options of extending the courses into the spring semester (IP) if I got the Professors' permission, however I already planned to take new courses for the Spring semester to make up for the courses I have dropped in the past. I also weighed the option of not working for the summer and just focusing on school, however I support myself financially along with helping my younger brother so not working unfortunately is not an option. If one looks at my transcript there is an improvement from year to year and I hope I get to continue this improvement. With two fails on my transcript, I believe my GPA will decrease greatly. Furthermore, as these courses are only available every other year, I will not be able to salvage my GPA by retaking them again. This would mean my GPA would remain low with little chance that I could improve it. In conclusion, while I know I have applied for appeals in the past, I ask that this one be granted as I believe having 2 fails on my transcript does not reflect my true commitment to academics. To make sure this situation does not occur again, I have adjusted my medication and also am taking some summer courses to keep me on a schedule that would help me be successful academically. Lastly, I have also decided to not partake in as many extra curricular activities next year so that I can focus fully on my school work and still work my part-time job which is necessary for me to be able to come to school. Although the past years have been up and down I truly believe that I have been improving and hope to be able to continue this improvement. Thank you for taking the time to read my appeal and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Sydney Wong
My name is Sydney Wong and I just finished my 3rd/4th year of studies here at Queen's University. Through my University studies I have struggled with health issues that have severely affected my academics. Although I have followed my health-care professionals instructions and furthermore have adjusted my course schedule as necessary but taking summer school classes, my health problems continue to be episodic unfortunately making it difficult to know when it will reoccur. While first (Fall Semester) of this year was great, I was involved in extra curricular activities in the Queen's community and outside of it. Moreover, my grades were vastly improving and I finished the Fall Semester with around a 3.4 term GPA. I was extremely proud as I took a full course load and achieved a good GPA. Because of this outcome, I decided that I would be able to do another full course load for the Winter semester. Although at first it was going quite well, unfortunately my health problems resurfaced causing me to miss class and shifts at my part-time job, sleep for the majority of the day and struggle with being around anyone who wasn't immediate family. Seeing the negative effects of what was occurring, I saw my health care professional and adjusted my medication along with taking some time off my part time job to regroup and salvage the rest of the semester. While at first, I was regaining confidence in my studies, some courses I was not able to catch up with. The deadline to drop courses had already passed at this point so I decided to try my best as I did not want to apply to appeal the courses like I have in the past. I was able to salvage about half of my courses however the other two were not successful. This is due to the participation required and the timeline of assignments due unfortunately were around the time my health problems worsened, meaning I missed deadlines and participation marks. I understand why one might question why I did not drop the courses prior to the drop date, however prior to it I was doing well in my courses, hence why I did not drop the courses. While I understand that the deadlines are in place for a reason, I do believe if my health problem did not resurface that I would have passed the courses. Both RELS 236 and RELS 218 are courses I took in the past (and passed) and I was attempting to retake them to improve my overall GPA as my academics are incredibly important to me. Although I was successful in retaking a course in the fall semester (RELS 354) unfortunately my health problems got in the way of me achieving the same success in the Winter semester. I weighed the options of extending the courses into the spring semester (IP) if I got the Professors' permission, however I already planned to take new courses for the Spring semester to make up for the courses I have dropped in the past. I also weighed the option of not working for the summer and just focusing on school, however I support myself financially along with helping my younger brother so not working unfortunately is not an option. If one looks at my transcript there is an improvement from year to year and I hope I get to continue this improvement. With two fails on my transcript, I believe my GPA will decrease greatly. Furthermore, as these courses are only available every other year, I will not be able to salvage my GPA by retaking them again. This would mean my GPA would remain low with little chance that I could improve it. In conclusion, while I know I have applied for appeals in the past, I ask that this one be granted as I believe having 2 fails on my transcript does not reflect my true commitment to academics. To make sure this situation does not occur again, I have adjusted my medication and also am taking some summer courses to keep me on a schedule that would help me be successful academically. Lastly, I have also decided to not partake in as many extra curricular activities next year so that I can focus fully on my school work and still work my part-time job which is necessary for me to be able to come to school. Although the past years have been up and down I truly believe that I have been improving and hope to be able to continue this improvement. Thank you for taking the time to read my appeal and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Sydney Wong