Petition Letter
To the Associate Deans, and whom this may concern:
My name is Aimee Kennedy and I am a fourth-year student at Queens University studying Global Development Studies. I am writing to respectfully request consideration of appeal to late drop my RELS 131 ¿¿ World Religions course, as well as request Credit Standing (CR) and/or Pass (P) options for my Winter term courses DEVS 354 ¿¿ Urbanization in the South, DEVS 300 ¿¿ Cross-Cultural Research Method, and my Summer term course, ARTH 120 ¿¿ Art in the West from Antiquity to Modernity.
Throughout my time at Queens, I have faced several challenges in achieving my own goals for success as a student. However, over the last few weeks aspects of my life have improved significantly to allow me to position myself to become a successful student here at Queens University.
There were three major issues that impacted my ability to be successful here at Queens, which have been especially challenging over this past summer. First being my inability to maintain focus, an issue that is heightened by my learning disability (auditory working memory). Second, my struggles with anxiety have been prominent for years, however this summer was an exceptionally difficult time considering the pandemic. I was finally prescribed medication to regulate this issue, however, my assessment and medication did not come until it was too late to drop summer courses or see improvement in my academic abilities. Lastly, with the outbreak of covid 19 placing me in complete isolation, there was no place for me to work quietly, making the previously stated issues especially difficult to manage.
The initial adjustment to working from home as a result of the pandemic was an especially difficult transition for me; this was the at the peak of exam season, while I was writing my final essays worth a large percentage of my marks for DEVS 300 and DEVS 354. I had to pack up my things and fly back to Vancouver because of the pandemic, where there was no space for me to work without disruption. On top of having to leave so abruptly, conflicts with my housemates in Kingston forced me to move out of our shared apartment, with only two days to do so in the middle of a pandemic. The pandemic has clearly presented economic struggles, so potentially having to pay two sets of rent added pressure to not only my life, but my family¿¿s as well.
Due to this added stress, both of my essays went poorly, resulting in my final grades to be significantly affected. I was just happy I was able to secure the credits for DEVS 300 and DEVS 354, and by the end was exhausted and unable to comprehend that the P option for the winter term would have assisted in leaving my GPA unharmed.
As the summer progressed my anxiety worsened with the isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic, plus the added stress of my mother working in healthcare. I decided to pick up two summer courses, ARTH 120, and RELS 131 in hopes that my mental health would improve, and I could push through my anxiety to complete these courses. However, my anxiety and focus worsened to the point where completing simple tasks like emails became a challenge. I went to seek help from my physician nearing the end of my summer courses, and finally saw improvement with newly prescribed medication. Unfortunately, by this time it was too late to drop, or academically recover in my RELS 131 course, resulting in me failing the course. I managed to do well enough in the last assignment for my ARTH course to just scrape by, however I could have done much better hadn¿¿t it been for these extenuating circumstances.
I have already seen significant improvement in aspects of my life as well as my ability to perform academically thanks to my newly prescribed medication. I have been in contact with my professors for upcoming courses and have moved back to Kingston where I¿¿ve created a quiet place to study, as well as reduced the anxiety of living with a parent who works on the frontlines.
Should my appeal be granted, I am confident I will achieve academic success with personal adjustments, proper time management, medication prescribed by my physician and a quiet space for me to study.
Attached to this document verifying my extenuating circumstances:
-Note from Physician documenting my medical condition
-A copy of my psychoeducational assessment reports
My name is Aimee Kennedy and I am a fourth-year student at Queens University studying Global Development Studies. I am writing to respectfully request consideration of appeal to late drop my RELS 131 ¿¿ World Religions course, as well as request Credit Standing (CR) and/or Pass (P) options for my Winter term courses DEVS 354 ¿¿ Urbanization in the South, DEVS 300 ¿¿ Cross-Cultural Research Method, and my Summer term course, ARTH 120 ¿¿ Art in the West from Antiquity to Modernity.
Throughout my time at Queens, I have faced several challenges in achieving my own goals for success as a student. However, over the last few weeks aspects of my life have improved significantly to allow me to position myself to become a successful student here at Queens University.
There were three major issues that impacted my ability to be successful here at Queens, which have been especially challenging over this past summer. First being my inability to maintain focus, an issue that is heightened by my learning disability (auditory working memory). Second, my struggles with anxiety have been prominent for years, however this summer was an exceptionally difficult time considering the pandemic. I was finally prescribed medication to regulate this issue, however, my assessment and medication did not come until it was too late to drop summer courses or see improvement in my academic abilities. Lastly, with the outbreak of covid 19 placing me in complete isolation, there was no place for me to work quietly, making the previously stated issues especially difficult to manage.
The initial adjustment to working from home as a result of the pandemic was an especially difficult transition for me; this was the at the peak of exam season, while I was writing my final essays worth a large percentage of my marks for DEVS 300 and DEVS 354. I had to pack up my things and fly back to Vancouver because of the pandemic, where there was no space for me to work without disruption. On top of having to leave so abruptly, conflicts with my housemates in Kingston forced me to move out of our shared apartment, with only two days to do so in the middle of a pandemic. The pandemic has clearly presented economic struggles, so potentially having to pay two sets of rent added pressure to not only my life, but my family¿¿s as well.
Due to this added stress, both of my essays went poorly, resulting in my final grades to be significantly affected. I was just happy I was able to secure the credits for DEVS 300 and DEVS 354, and by the end was exhausted and unable to comprehend that the P option for the winter term would have assisted in leaving my GPA unharmed.
As the summer progressed my anxiety worsened with the isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic, plus the added stress of my mother working in healthcare. I decided to pick up two summer courses, ARTH 120, and RELS 131 in hopes that my mental health would improve, and I could push through my anxiety to complete these courses. However, my anxiety and focus worsened to the point where completing simple tasks like emails became a challenge. I went to seek help from my physician nearing the end of my summer courses, and finally saw improvement with newly prescribed medication. Unfortunately, by this time it was too late to drop, or academically recover in my RELS 131 course, resulting in me failing the course. I managed to do well enough in the last assignment for my ARTH course to just scrape by, however I could have done much better hadn¿¿t it been for these extenuating circumstances.
I have already seen significant improvement in aspects of my life as well as my ability to perform academically thanks to my newly prescribed medication. I have been in contact with my professors for upcoming courses and have moved back to Kingston where I¿¿ve created a quiet place to study, as well as reduced the anxiety of living with a parent who works on the frontlines.
Should my appeal be granted, I am confident I will achieve academic success with personal adjustments, proper time management, medication prescribed by my physician and a quiet space for me to study.
Attached to this document verifying my extenuating circumstances:
-Note from Physician documenting my medical condition
-A copy of my psychoeducational assessment reports