Petition Letter
To whom it may concern (Associate Dean of Studies),
I am appealing to drop ASTR 101 (Fall, 2021). This past semester and the few preceding it have been very difficult. Although the university did a great job with transitioning to online, I found myself struggling a lot with online classes. I understand that the surfacing of COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic has been difficult for everyone to adjust to. I feel that my academic ability and the healthy habits I had worked to build were significantly impacted as a result of the pandemic. During the pandemic I found myself reverting to the poor mental state similar to that which I had experienced in my first year at Queen's. I truly believe that I am a determined individual and can find my way out of any struggle or issue, but there have been times when this belief has been muddled. This previous semester, namely Fall 2021, is an example of that. I started the semester following my routine, eating healthy, frequently exercising, and keeping up with my courses. Following the first 7 weeks of the semester (including reading break), I had gotten sick and began my self-isolation. It was very challenging to not be able to exercise or leave my room. Exercising, eating healthy, and interacting with others were my biggest contributors to maintaining a strong and healthy mental state, from my second undergraduate year and onwards. My ability to perform much of my daily routine was taken away during the pandemic and further when I fell ill following the reading break. At this point, I found myself falling down a mental spiral of doubt and negativity, and felt the return of old, poor habits. I began feeling depressed and unmotivated at a level that I had not felt since my first year of university. Despite my illness, I managed to continue some of my coursework during this time, but I am not proud of the result for any of the deliverables following this point in time (when I fell ill), from week seven onwards. My mental battle continued for the rest of the semester. It was not until the middle of the winter break when I was able to put a lot of time and energy to win this battle and re-develop my healthy habits and routine which I had worked so hard to develop and follow when I had gone through similar struggles previously. I am doing much better now and able to write honestly about what I was going through in the Fall of 2021. I am not happy with the result of most of my courses from this past semester because I know I was capable of doing much better had I been mentally healthy. ASTR 101 was a significantly difficult course to get through while being in the state I was in since I had never seen any of this material before taking the course. I was learning a lot and doing very well in the course until shortly after I fell ill and my structured routine had lost its form. The final exam was a particularly difficult decision for me, I did not feel mentally well or strong enough to write it on the original date it was set. As a result, I decided to take the deferral option that was presented to all students. Shortly after I had returned home and readjusted to living with my family, I began writing in a journal with advice from a therapist. This was a very helpful experience for me and I am continuing this procedure to this date. Whenever I feel old habits are getting the better of me or I am losing myself, I pick up my journal and start writing any thoughts that I am having openly, and honestly. As a result, I was able to shed off unhealthy habits once again and re-develop the habits which contribute to me remaining healthy, both mentally and physically. In reference to ASTR 101, I took the course because it covered some topics that I was interested in and curious to learn more about. This course required a passing grade in the final to be eligible to pass the course. Preparation for the final exam was very difficult due to my incapacity at the time. The deferred exam was still very difficult to prepare for because I was recovering and trying to improve my mental health. I did not want to defer the exam further because it had already been deferred (for many students) and I wanted to start fresh and focus on the ongoing semester. Seeing a failing grade on my transcript for the first time since my first year of university is weighing heavily on me. It is something that I am truly upset about and have a desire to fix. I believe that if I were given another opportunity under different circumstances (such as now), I would be able to pass the exam, and as such pass the course with flying colors. I truly think that the current semester thus far has been my best (from a mental and academic standpoint) during the entirety of my time at Queen's. Unfortunately, I am not able to retake the course because the deadline for adding courses has passed. The fact that I want to do well academically and continue to improve myself on a daily basis has been the only thing that has kept me going through all my struggles. That fact has been in the back of my mind throughout, and now it is at the forefront. Given the circumstances, I feel that I should be given the chance to challenge (and retake) the exam or be permitted to withdraw (late drop) from the course. It is not a course that I need to graduate from my program, but I would be willing to retake the exam to not only prove that I have learned in this course, but prove to myself that I can do it. I know that I will persevere given the opportunity and come out of this situation as a better individual.
I have been working hard at my current courses as well as maintaining a healthy routine and mindset. I've been wanting to write this letter since early January but have been increasingly busy with my current academic schedule, a side business I recently adopted, as well as getting healthier and developing new habits. Additionally, I wanted to speak to an academic advisor to confirm the correct appeal procedure as well as discuss other possible options, among other things (i.e., graduation, etc.). I managed to secure an appointment with an academic advisor in mid-February. After a discussion with the advisor, I was led to believe that appealing the course for a late drop is the only viable option. Although there have been many internal struggles during my time at Queen's, I know it is a learning experience and I can confidently say that I have learned a lot. I finally feel that I am in a great state to transition into my career and professional journey. I hope it is evident from this letter that I have been working hard to improve myself following this past semester. If I am allowed to take a re-take a new exam for the course, I know that I will persevere. However, as previously mentioned, based on my discussions with the advisor, I believe dropping the course is my only option and I would be happy with this outcome because I feel the grade that I received is undeserving given the circumstances. Thank you.
Raghav Taneja (Student No. 20058783)
Note: I would like to briefly discuss the grading schemes of my other courses and my results. I took four courses in the Fall 2021 semester, namely CISC 422, CISC 327, CISC 455, and ASTR 101. I was able to achieve an A- and an A in CISC 422 and CISC 327, respectively. These courses had deliverables throughout the semester and I managed to get decent grades. I did have some previous knowledge in these classes which allowed me to understand most of the course content, despite the strain of my mental health at the time. Since these two courses were spread evenly throughout the semester, my results did not take much of a toll, but undoubtedly the resulting grades were lower than what I could have achieved if I were healthy. In regards to CISC 455, there was a course project with a weight of fifty percent. Similar to the exam for ASTR 101, this course project did not go very well for me as a result of my mental state during the latter half of the semester. I believe that my results for all these four courses would have been higher in the case that I had been mentally healthy throughout the entire semester. Lastly, I would like to apologize for the length of this letter, I did not realize it should have been 800 words. I also feel that all the information is relevant and was unsure what to remove.
I am appealing to drop ASTR 101 (Fall, 2021). This past semester and the few preceding it have been very difficult. Although the university did a great job with transitioning to online, I found myself struggling a lot with online classes. I understand that the surfacing of COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic has been difficult for everyone to adjust to. I feel that my academic ability and the healthy habits I had worked to build were significantly impacted as a result of the pandemic. During the pandemic I found myself reverting to the poor mental state similar to that which I had experienced in my first year at Queen's. I truly believe that I am a determined individual and can find my way out of any struggle or issue, but there have been times when this belief has been muddled. This previous semester, namely Fall 2021, is an example of that. I started the semester following my routine, eating healthy, frequently exercising, and keeping up with my courses. Following the first 7 weeks of the semester (including reading break), I had gotten sick and began my self-isolation. It was very challenging to not be able to exercise or leave my room. Exercising, eating healthy, and interacting with others were my biggest contributors to maintaining a strong and healthy mental state, from my second undergraduate year and onwards. My ability to perform much of my daily routine was taken away during the pandemic and further when I fell ill following the reading break. At this point, I found myself falling down a mental spiral of doubt and negativity, and felt the return of old, poor habits. I began feeling depressed and unmotivated at a level that I had not felt since my first year of university. Despite my illness, I managed to continue some of my coursework during this time, but I am not proud of the result for any of the deliverables following this point in time (when I fell ill), from week seven onwards. My mental battle continued for the rest of the semester. It was not until the middle of the winter break when I was able to put a lot of time and energy to win this battle and re-develop my healthy habits and routine which I had worked so hard to develop and follow when I had gone through similar struggles previously. I am doing much better now and able to write honestly about what I was going through in the Fall of 2021. I am not happy with the result of most of my courses from this past semester because I know I was capable of doing much better had I been mentally healthy. ASTR 101 was a significantly difficult course to get through while being in the state I was in since I had never seen any of this material before taking the course. I was learning a lot and doing very well in the course until shortly after I fell ill and my structured routine had lost its form. The final exam was a particularly difficult decision for me, I did not feel mentally well or strong enough to write it on the original date it was set. As a result, I decided to take the deferral option that was presented to all students. Shortly after I had returned home and readjusted to living with my family, I began writing in a journal with advice from a therapist. This was a very helpful experience for me and I am continuing this procedure to this date. Whenever I feel old habits are getting the better of me or I am losing myself, I pick up my journal and start writing any thoughts that I am having openly, and honestly. As a result, I was able to shed off unhealthy habits once again and re-develop the habits which contribute to me remaining healthy, both mentally and physically. In reference to ASTR 101, I took the course because it covered some topics that I was interested in and curious to learn more about. This course required a passing grade in the final to be eligible to pass the course. Preparation for the final exam was very difficult due to my incapacity at the time. The deferred exam was still very difficult to prepare for because I was recovering and trying to improve my mental health. I did not want to defer the exam further because it had already been deferred (for many students) and I wanted to start fresh and focus on the ongoing semester. Seeing a failing grade on my transcript for the first time since my first year of university is weighing heavily on me. It is something that I am truly upset about and have a desire to fix. I believe that if I were given another opportunity under different circumstances (such as now), I would be able to pass the exam, and as such pass the course with flying colors. I truly think that the current semester thus far has been my best (from a mental and academic standpoint) during the entirety of my time at Queen's. Unfortunately, I am not able to retake the course because the deadline for adding courses has passed. The fact that I want to do well academically and continue to improve myself on a daily basis has been the only thing that has kept me going through all my struggles. That fact has been in the back of my mind throughout, and now it is at the forefront. Given the circumstances, I feel that I should be given the chance to challenge (and retake) the exam or be permitted to withdraw (late drop) from the course. It is not a course that I need to graduate from my program, but I would be willing to retake the exam to not only prove that I have learned in this course, but prove to myself that I can do it. I know that I will persevere given the opportunity and come out of this situation as a better individual.
I have been working hard at my current courses as well as maintaining a healthy routine and mindset. I've been wanting to write this letter since early January but have been increasingly busy with my current academic schedule, a side business I recently adopted, as well as getting healthier and developing new habits. Additionally, I wanted to speak to an academic advisor to confirm the correct appeal procedure as well as discuss other possible options, among other things (i.e., graduation, etc.). I managed to secure an appointment with an academic advisor in mid-February. After a discussion with the advisor, I was led to believe that appealing the course for a late drop is the only viable option. Although there have been many internal struggles during my time at Queen's, I know it is a learning experience and I can confidently say that I have learned a lot. I finally feel that I am in a great state to transition into my career and professional journey. I hope it is evident from this letter that I have been working hard to improve myself following this past semester. If I am allowed to take a re-take a new exam for the course, I know that I will persevere. However, as previously mentioned, based on my discussions with the advisor, I believe dropping the course is my only option and I would be happy with this outcome because I feel the grade that I received is undeserving given the circumstances. Thank you.
Raghav Taneja (Student No. 20058783)
Note: I would like to briefly discuss the grading schemes of my other courses and my results. I took four courses in the Fall 2021 semester, namely CISC 422, CISC 327, CISC 455, and ASTR 101. I was able to achieve an A- and an A in CISC 422 and CISC 327, respectively. These courses had deliverables throughout the semester and I managed to get decent grades. I did have some previous knowledge in these classes which allowed me to understand most of the course content, despite the strain of my mental health at the time. Since these two courses were spread evenly throughout the semester, my results did not take much of a toll, but undoubtedly the resulting grades were lower than what I could have achieved if I were healthy. In regards to CISC 455, there was a course project with a weight of fifty percent. Similar to the exam for ASTR 101, this course project did not go very well for me as a result of my mental state during the latter half of the semester. I believe that my results for all these four courses would have been higher in the case that I had been mentally healthy throughout the entire semester. Lastly, I would like to apologize for the length of this letter, I did not realize it should have been 800 words. I also feel that all the information is relevant and was unsure what to remove.