Petition Letter
Dear Arts and Sciences Faculty,
I hope you are doing well. My name is Jennifer Chew and I am a current third-year Art History student studying at Queen??s on-campus this Fall 2021 term. I am writing to drop the course, ARTH 292: Architecture from 1900 to Present taught by Professor Katherine Romba after the academic course drop deadline. There has been an extenuating circumstance that has affected my studies for this course.
My family has been going through some problems and I have had to mediate some situations via the phone where fights have gone extreme. This started when I came back for reading week but the extenuating circumstances became larger after I returned back to Queen??s after Thanksgiving on October 18th, 2021. This extenuating circumstance is ongoing. These verbal fights include shouting and throwing insults at each other. As the only child in my family, I have had a lot of these family problems burdened onto my back. This semester, I have had to deal with more frequent phone calls from my family, being the mediator of the situation. These phone calls range from family and financial problems to smaller actions like not throwing the trash in the right bin. Due to this, I have fallen behind in my school courses and learning content as a whole. I also balance my job as a residence don and other extracurriculars, so this circumstance happening at home has been challenging to say the least.
Although the family phone calls have lessened due to exams coming up, I am still catching up on assignments and my job duties which I am slowly working towards this semester. Since Prof. Romba uses the hybrid method, with Monday lectures being via Zoom and Wednesday classes are in-person, this has made accessing lectures easier for me to attend. I thought I would be able to complete this class which is why I continued to be enrolled in the class past the deadline. However, this is no longer the case.
I have talked to my professor about extending the deadline for my midterm essay which was granted. However, I was unable to finish this midterm essay due to this extenuating circumstance and catching up on other assignments for other classes. These circumstances have negatively impacted my performance in the course ARTH 292. Since I was unable to submit the essay by the extended deadline, that would be an automatic 30% deduction off my final grade. There is also a final take-home assignment worth 30% of my final grade which is due week 12. However, I will not be able to complete the assignment deadline due to my other school deadlines. Due to being behind in other classes with the extenuating circumstance, I had to sacrifice my performance in this class in order to complete the other enrolled classes. The other classes I am enrolled in do not have assignments that have larger grade values. Rather, the assignments are broken up into smaller mark breakdowns and more spread out throughout the term. This makes it more manageable to finish the smaller assignments rather than the three big assignments with a higher grade value.
The steps I have taken to improve my mental health include contacting the phone helplines, Empower Me and Kids Help Phone. I have contacted Student Wellness Services and will consult counselling when needed. Having chatted to Sunday Kayaras, a Student Wellness Services health-care professional, she has granted me a letter to drop ARTH 292 past the academic drop deadline. The Verification of Confidential Extenuating Circumstance is attached, verifying my circumstance temporarily limits my ability to meet academic deadlines. I have sought advice from an Academic Advisor in my home faculty, Arts and Sciences prior to writing this appeal letter.
My future plan includes continuing to seek counselling via Empower Me and Kids Help Phone as I have found those resources helpful. This term, I am taking a reduced course load so I can ease myself back from school. During the winter break, I hope to prepare for my winter classes and ensure my family situation back home will improve. During the winter break, I will be heading back home so I will be able to deal with their problems in person, which will make communication easier. As this was a temporary extenuating circumstance, I know that I will be able to bounce back from Fall 2021 into the Winter 2022 term. Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
Jennifer Chew
I hope you are doing well. My name is Jennifer Chew and I am a current third-year Art History student studying at Queen??s on-campus this Fall 2021 term. I am writing to drop the course, ARTH 292: Architecture from 1900 to Present taught by Professor Katherine Romba after the academic course drop deadline. There has been an extenuating circumstance that has affected my studies for this course.
My family has been going through some problems and I have had to mediate some situations via the phone where fights have gone extreme. This started when I came back for reading week but the extenuating circumstances became larger after I returned back to Queen??s after Thanksgiving on October 18th, 2021. This extenuating circumstance is ongoing. These verbal fights include shouting and throwing insults at each other. As the only child in my family, I have had a lot of these family problems burdened onto my back. This semester, I have had to deal with more frequent phone calls from my family, being the mediator of the situation. These phone calls range from family and financial problems to smaller actions like not throwing the trash in the right bin. Due to this, I have fallen behind in my school courses and learning content as a whole. I also balance my job as a residence don and other extracurriculars, so this circumstance happening at home has been challenging to say the least.
Although the family phone calls have lessened due to exams coming up, I am still catching up on assignments and my job duties which I am slowly working towards this semester. Since Prof. Romba uses the hybrid method, with Monday lectures being via Zoom and Wednesday classes are in-person, this has made accessing lectures easier for me to attend. I thought I would be able to complete this class which is why I continued to be enrolled in the class past the deadline. However, this is no longer the case.
I have talked to my professor about extending the deadline for my midterm essay which was granted. However, I was unable to finish this midterm essay due to this extenuating circumstance and catching up on other assignments for other classes. These circumstances have negatively impacted my performance in the course ARTH 292. Since I was unable to submit the essay by the extended deadline, that would be an automatic 30% deduction off my final grade. There is also a final take-home assignment worth 30% of my final grade which is due week 12. However, I will not be able to complete the assignment deadline due to my other school deadlines. Due to being behind in other classes with the extenuating circumstance, I had to sacrifice my performance in this class in order to complete the other enrolled classes. The other classes I am enrolled in do not have assignments that have larger grade values. Rather, the assignments are broken up into smaller mark breakdowns and more spread out throughout the term. This makes it more manageable to finish the smaller assignments rather than the three big assignments with a higher grade value.
The steps I have taken to improve my mental health include contacting the phone helplines, Empower Me and Kids Help Phone. I have contacted Student Wellness Services and will consult counselling when needed. Having chatted to Sunday Kayaras, a Student Wellness Services health-care professional, she has granted me a letter to drop ARTH 292 past the academic drop deadline. The Verification of Confidential Extenuating Circumstance is attached, verifying my circumstance temporarily limits my ability to meet academic deadlines. I have sought advice from an Academic Advisor in my home faculty, Arts and Sciences prior to writing this appeal letter.
My future plan includes continuing to seek counselling via Empower Me and Kids Help Phone as I have found those resources helpful. This term, I am taking a reduced course load so I can ease myself back from school. During the winter break, I hope to prepare for my winter classes and ensure my family situation back home will improve. During the winter break, I will be heading back home so I will be able to deal with their problems in person, which will make communication easier. As this was a temporary extenuating circumstance, I know that I will be able to bounce back from Fall 2021 into the Winter 2022 term. Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
Jennifer Chew