Petition Letter
Tuesday, August 20th, 2019
Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
I am appealing to drop CHEM 112 from the fall 2018/winter 2019 terms past the deadline, due to unforeseen circumstances regarding my family.
In December 2017 we found out my father had a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and throughout 2018 he was treating the cancer with chemo and eventually surgery. He had a hard time, and this combined with his age and over ten stents in his heart took a huge toll on him physically. I was spending a lot of time with my family, not only for comfort but for necessity as I have a sister in grade school who I am sometimes responsible for when my father is indisposed and needs my mother for assistance. When he underwent surgery last August, we were confident he would improve, and it was decided that I had the time I would need to be able to commit to commuting to Kingston to complete CHEM 112. I live in Toronto full time and have been able to handle my course load as it has been entirely online except for this single course. Everything was going well in the fall, but complications in the end of that term required me to spend more time in Toronto. On top of his physical health, he was facing mental health issues that required he be supervised, and he felt most comfortable with me taking on that roll as I have bipolar disorder and so have dealt with similar issues. It made it increasingly more difficult to manage leaving home for the commute in the winter term, and my ability to complete the course work suffered. I missed many lectures and multiple tutorials, which left me at a disadvantage for the final exam. I ended up postponing my final exam, hoping to catch up for the work that I missed over the summer. I have not been able to fully grasp the course materials trying to learn them on my own and believe I missed too much of the course to succeed. My other courses were not affected because they were online, and I was able to schedule my course work around the time when my family needed me.
I have been taking courses to improve my GPA and meet the requirements for an online BSc at Queen¿¿s, because my own mental health issues had staggering effects on my GPA from my first degree. If I am able to drop CHEM 112, I plan to take an equivalent course in my home city where I do not have to worry about taking time away when my family needs me. My father had a heart attack a couple weeks ago so I know returning to Kingston to retake the course may not be the best option, in case his health declines further. I then hope to complete my last credit, CHEM 281, online with Queen¿¿s next summer to meet the requirements for the BSc program. After that, I intend to apply to the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine for September 2020 and would like to be able to show them how far I have come from the days when I was untreated. I do not believe my standing in CHEM 112 would be an accurate representation of that.
I appreciate your time and consideration and am willing to provide any more information you may need.
Sincerely,
Kayla Arviv
Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
I am appealing to drop CHEM 112 from the fall 2018/winter 2019 terms past the deadline, due to unforeseen circumstances regarding my family.
In December 2017 we found out my father had a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, and throughout 2018 he was treating the cancer with chemo and eventually surgery. He had a hard time, and this combined with his age and over ten stents in his heart took a huge toll on him physically. I was spending a lot of time with my family, not only for comfort but for necessity as I have a sister in grade school who I am sometimes responsible for when my father is indisposed and needs my mother for assistance. When he underwent surgery last August, we were confident he would improve, and it was decided that I had the time I would need to be able to commit to commuting to Kingston to complete CHEM 112. I live in Toronto full time and have been able to handle my course load as it has been entirely online except for this single course. Everything was going well in the fall, but complications in the end of that term required me to spend more time in Toronto. On top of his physical health, he was facing mental health issues that required he be supervised, and he felt most comfortable with me taking on that roll as I have bipolar disorder and so have dealt with similar issues. It made it increasingly more difficult to manage leaving home for the commute in the winter term, and my ability to complete the course work suffered. I missed many lectures and multiple tutorials, which left me at a disadvantage for the final exam. I ended up postponing my final exam, hoping to catch up for the work that I missed over the summer. I have not been able to fully grasp the course materials trying to learn them on my own and believe I missed too much of the course to succeed. My other courses were not affected because they were online, and I was able to schedule my course work around the time when my family needed me.
I have been taking courses to improve my GPA and meet the requirements for an online BSc at Queen¿¿s, because my own mental health issues had staggering effects on my GPA from my first degree. If I am able to drop CHEM 112, I plan to take an equivalent course in my home city where I do not have to worry about taking time away when my family needs me. My father had a heart attack a couple weeks ago so I know returning to Kingston to retake the course may not be the best option, in case his health declines further. I then hope to complete my last credit, CHEM 281, online with Queen¿¿s next summer to meet the requirements for the BSc program. After that, I intend to apply to the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine for September 2020 and would like to be able to show them how far I have come from the days when I was untreated. I do not believe my standing in CHEM 112 would be an accurate representation of that.
I appreciate your time and consideration and am willing to provide any more information you may need.
Sincerely,
Kayla Arviv