Petition Letter
Greetings Dr. Atkinson,
I am appealing the Faculty??s decision to place me on academic probation as well as the gradings of NG and F in PHIL111 and PSYC100, in the 2019-2020 academic year. Specifically, I was looking to overturn the grading of NG in PHIL111A and PSYC100A, and the grading of F in PHIL111B and PSYC100B, into DR or another grade notation that does not grant a credit and has minimal effect on academic standing.
I realize this is rather belated, and perhaps unfeasible, but I hope the explanation of my extenuating circumstances will suffice, and aren??t too in depth. The fall of 2019 was my first year at Queens, and my second year of university (I transferred from UofT). My plan was to take Philosophy, Psychology, and Computing classes with the hope of transferring from the major of Philosophy to Cognitive Science. This was contingent on myself finding a job to support paying for the courses, and that my mental health (which was why I left (UofT) stayed stable, or got better. Unfortunately I could not find work and was having difficulty managing my OCD and anxiety. I dropped computing, and kept PHIL111 and PSYC100, with the hope I could tough it out, find work, and take a third course second semester. However things did not improve in my personal life, as I did not have the money for therapy, and was isolated due to being a commuting student (living with parents to save money). To make matters worse I suffered a light concussion in late November of 2019. I asked to get my exams deferred, and to my recollection, they were set to be done in January. It seemed luck wasn??t on my side that winter, as in early January 2020 I was involved in a single car collision where I struck a large deer one night and totalled my vehicle. Miraculously I wasn??t harmed, if not a little shaken up. In an unrelated event later that month I was very ill for close to a week. At this point I did not have any way to get to campus, had very little money, was quite behind in my courses, and had virtually no support network. My OCD and anxiety worsened, and I became quite depressed. I honestly do not recall what I did that winter besides look for work, and do my best to manage my OCD and depressive symptoms. That spring COVID hit, adding to the isolation and worsening the aforementioned symptoms. I do not wish to go into great detail here, but many of the symptoms were quite severe. I hope the documentation that will be provided will attest to this. In the interest of providing a good case here, I will say the anxiety made attending classes difficult, where as the OCD made concentrating next to impossible. During this period of time, roughly November 2019 onward, school was the last thing on my mind, and I did not care enough about anything to proceed with the appeals I am partaking in now. I did not know of the date for appealing, and the process for it all seemed very complex, especially when I did not feel like I would be returning to Queens anytime soonAs for why I am appealing now. Over the course of the pandemic I had great deal of time to work on my health, both mentally and physically, and have reached a point where I am confident that I can attend and complete classes once more. This past summer I have made particular strides in managing my OCD and anxiety, and I am no longer depressed. It took my until the end of August (2021) to find a job which I believe will be flexible enough to work with school. It was close to the end of August when I decided that enough of a healthy foundation had been laid that I could return to school.
In the past month I have laid out a few plans pertaining to various areas of life that would allow for a successful return. I have outlined a course plan, with the courses I??ll take this year, balanced alongside extracurriculars such as clubs and exercise, and times I could work in between (due to work I would take 3 courses each term, Fall/Winter/Summer). I followed the degree map for Philosophy and wrote down a general course plan for the years to follow, as well as one for Computing should I decide to switch. I made a budget, and a schedule for a normal week which includes ample study time. All things considered, this should provide a balanced, successful school year, accounting for work, study, and life.
I hope this all makes sense, but if something is confusing and you need something clarified, I would be more than willing to explain further.
Thanks,
Caleb Asselstine
I am appealing the Faculty??s decision to place me on academic probation as well as the gradings of NG and F in PHIL111 and PSYC100, in the 2019-2020 academic year. Specifically, I was looking to overturn the grading of NG in PHIL111A and PSYC100A, and the grading of F in PHIL111B and PSYC100B, into DR or another grade notation that does not grant a credit and has minimal effect on academic standing.
I realize this is rather belated, and perhaps unfeasible, but I hope the explanation of my extenuating circumstances will suffice, and aren??t too in depth. The fall of 2019 was my first year at Queens, and my second year of university (I transferred from UofT). My plan was to take Philosophy, Psychology, and Computing classes with the hope of transferring from the major of Philosophy to Cognitive Science. This was contingent on myself finding a job to support paying for the courses, and that my mental health (which was why I left (UofT) stayed stable, or got better. Unfortunately I could not find work and was having difficulty managing my OCD and anxiety. I dropped computing, and kept PHIL111 and PSYC100, with the hope I could tough it out, find work, and take a third course second semester. However things did not improve in my personal life, as I did not have the money for therapy, and was isolated due to being a commuting student (living with parents to save money). To make matters worse I suffered a light concussion in late November of 2019. I asked to get my exams deferred, and to my recollection, they were set to be done in January. It seemed luck wasn??t on my side that winter, as in early January 2020 I was involved in a single car collision where I struck a large deer one night and totalled my vehicle. Miraculously I wasn??t harmed, if not a little shaken up. In an unrelated event later that month I was very ill for close to a week. At this point I did not have any way to get to campus, had very little money, was quite behind in my courses, and had virtually no support network. My OCD and anxiety worsened, and I became quite depressed. I honestly do not recall what I did that winter besides look for work, and do my best to manage my OCD and depressive symptoms. That spring COVID hit, adding to the isolation and worsening the aforementioned symptoms. I do not wish to go into great detail here, but many of the symptoms were quite severe. I hope the documentation that will be provided will attest to this. In the interest of providing a good case here, I will say the anxiety made attending classes difficult, where as the OCD made concentrating next to impossible. During this period of time, roughly November 2019 onward, school was the last thing on my mind, and I did not care enough about anything to proceed with the appeals I am partaking in now. I did not know of the date for appealing, and the process for it all seemed very complex, especially when I did not feel like I would be returning to Queens anytime soonAs for why I am appealing now. Over the course of the pandemic I had great deal of time to work on my health, both mentally and physically, and have reached a point where I am confident that I can attend and complete classes once more. This past summer I have made particular strides in managing my OCD and anxiety, and I am no longer depressed. It took my until the end of August (2021) to find a job which I believe will be flexible enough to work with school. It was close to the end of August when I decided that enough of a healthy foundation had been laid that I could return to school.
In the past month I have laid out a few plans pertaining to various areas of life that would allow for a successful return. I have outlined a course plan, with the courses I??ll take this year, balanced alongside extracurriculars such as clubs and exercise, and times I could work in between (due to work I would take 3 courses each term, Fall/Winter/Summer). I followed the degree map for Philosophy and wrote down a general course plan for the years to follow, as well as one for Computing should I decide to switch. I made a budget, and a schedule for a normal week which includes ample study time. All things considered, this should provide a balanced, successful school year, accounting for work, study, and life.
I hope this all makes sense, but if something is confusing and you need something clarified, I would be more than willing to explain further.
Thanks,
Caleb Asselstine