Petition Letter
Hello Faculty of Arts and Sciences,
My name is Holly Hansen and I am asking to drop DEVS 100 A&B, DRAM 100 A&B, GEOL 106, HLTH 101, MUTH 111, PSYC 100 A&B, ASTR 101 and CLST 102. I am also requesting to waive the requirement to withdraw for one year and waive the 21 day appeal submission requirement.
I understand that this is a lot to ask and I would like to thoroughly explain my compromising situation and request consideration. I first began my studies at Queen's University in September of 2020. As we are all very familiar, this was the height of covid and I was nowhere near prepared for what was to come. Maturity issues absolutely came into play and I would like to take full responsibility for that. I did not live in a Queens residence and it was my first time living independently with friends. School was online, we were far from campus and I became very disconnected. It was my first time really being exposed to online schooling and creating my own schedule since most of my classes were pre recorded. I also have quite severe OCD and ADHD and had not signed up for any of the additional resources that Queens offers because I felt I could manage on my own. For this reason, I neglected my work and my studies. I eventually ended up dropping a few of the courses I was in by the December drop date so I wouldn??t receive failures in all of my courses. I did not follow through for the rest of the year and failed the few classes I had by May.
This brings me to the second year, 2021. Before classes had even started in September, I had a very tragic accident and fractured over seven bones, one of which received surgery. I was traveling to and from Toronto for doctors appointments at Sunnybrook but I was able to do most of my work. I understand this next part isn??t the most valid excuse but I did go through a rough breakup immediately after my accident and fell into a temporary depression. This was around October. I was attending my classes throughout this whole period though, Drama being my favorite. I was doing fine in my studies up to this point. Then February of 2022 rolled around and my best friend??s brother passed away at age 23. My family is extremely close to this family, as I was to the brother, so I packed up to moved back to Toronto for the month. As you can imagine this was the most depressing time of my life and I was silly enough to not let any of my teachers be aware of the situation and get accommodations. I finished the year with a few credits but none of them were grades I was proud of. I hadn??t received any notice of academic probation because I dropped most of my failed courses from my first year and wasn??t considered a full time student. I didn??t think there would be any repercussions to my bad grades other than taking longer than the average student to graduate.
This brings us to this past summer. I signed up for online Fundamentals of Drawing and Painting and Social History of Popular Music. This is when I had a major self reflection and finally reached the point where I had a passion for my school work. I worked every day for the weeks that these courses took place and enjoyed myself in the process. I ended up finishing with an A- in art and a B in music. I was very proud of these grades and had a newfound drive for school and my career path. I was so excited browsing courses to take this year. I knew it would be a mixture of first and second year courses in order to catch up. As course selection time was approaching, I couldn??t find my selection time and date. I placed a few calls to the IT department and then to student help to finally realize the predicament I was in. I was so appalled, disappointed and heartbroken because I am finally at the point where I can put the messy past two years behind me and thrive in my studies I missed the email informing me of this because it was right in between the ending of school and beginning of my summer courses. Now I know how crucial it is to check your email every single day, without fail. I am also asking to waive the 21 day requirement because my summer was spent traveling to and from The Hospital for Special Surgery as we just found out in July that my wrists have been broken for the past twelve months due to the same accident. This is where I stand now and I am absolutely begging for your help and understanding. I know that the course drop date has not arrived yet so I am hoping to sign up for courses before the end of September. I am planning on retaking all of my courses other than my two summer ones which showcase the type of grades that I aim to and will be getting going forward. My dream is to major in Drama, which I will pursue over the next few years. I will also take a few summer courses this summer as I plan to try to catch up. I have been prescribed medication for my ADHD which I now take regularly and I am more than ready to take my studies seriously. I am so serious about my determination regarding my studies and am holding myself to a whole new standard. It pains me that I wasn??t mature enough and I am now in this situation but I am ready to do everything to resolve it and redeem myself. I wish that you understand and have the faith in me that I have in myself. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely
Holly Hansen
My name is Holly Hansen and I am asking to drop DEVS 100 A&B, DRAM 100 A&B, GEOL 106, HLTH 101, MUTH 111, PSYC 100 A&B, ASTR 101 and CLST 102. I am also requesting to waive the requirement to withdraw for one year and waive the 21 day appeal submission requirement.
I understand that this is a lot to ask and I would like to thoroughly explain my compromising situation and request consideration. I first began my studies at Queen's University in September of 2020. As we are all very familiar, this was the height of covid and I was nowhere near prepared for what was to come. Maturity issues absolutely came into play and I would like to take full responsibility for that. I did not live in a Queens residence and it was my first time living independently with friends. School was online, we were far from campus and I became very disconnected. It was my first time really being exposed to online schooling and creating my own schedule since most of my classes were pre recorded. I also have quite severe OCD and ADHD and had not signed up for any of the additional resources that Queens offers because I felt I could manage on my own. For this reason, I neglected my work and my studies. I eventually ended up dropping a few of the courses I was in by the December drop date so I wouldn??t receive failures in all of my courses. I did not follow through for the rest of the year and failed the few classes I had by May.
This brings me to the second year, 2021. Before classes had even started in September, I had a very tragic accident and fractured over seven bones, one of which received surgery. I was traveling to and from Toronto for doctors appointments at Sunnybrook but I was able to do most of my work. I understand this next part isn??t the most valid excuse but I did go through a rough breakup immediately after my accident and fell into a temporary depression. This was around October. I was attending my classes throughout this whole period though, Drama being my favorite. I was doing fine in my studies up to this point. Then February of 2022 rolled around and my best friend??s brother passed away at age 23. My family is extremely close to this family, as I was to the brother, so I packed up to moved back to Toronto for the month. As you can imagine this was the most depressing time of my life and I was silly enough to not let any of my teachers be aware of the situation and get accommodations. I finished the year with a few credits but none of them were grades I was proud of. I hadn??t received any notice of academic probation because I dropped most of my failed courses from my first year and wasn??t considered a full time student. I didn??t think there would be any repercussions to my bad grades other than taking longer than the average student to graduate.
This brings us to this past summer. I signed up for online Fundamentals of Drawing and Painting and Social History of Popular Music. This is when I had a major self reflection and finally reached the point where I had a passion for my school work. I worked every day for the weeks that these courses took place and enjoyed myself in the process. I ended up finishing with an A- in art and a B in music. I was very proud of these grades and had a newfound drive for school and my career path. I was so excited browsing courses to take this year. I knew it would be a mixture of first and second year courses in order to catch up. As course selection time was approaching, I couldn??t find my selection time and date. I placed a few calls to the IT department and then to student help to finally realize the predicament I was in. I was so appalled, disappointed and heartbroken because I am finally at the point where I can put the messy past two years behind me and thrive in my studies I missed the email informing me of this because it was right in between the ending of school and beginning of my summer courses. Now I know how crucial it is to check your email every single day, without fail. I am also asking to waive the 21 day requirement because my summer was spent traveling to and from The Hospital for Special Surgery as we just found out in July that my wrists have been broken for the past twelve months due to the same accident. This is where I stand now and I am absolutely begging for your help and understanding. I know that the course drop date has not arrived yet so I am hoping to sign up for courses before the end of September. I am planning on retaking all of my courses other than my two summer ones which showcase the type of grades that I aim to and will be getting going forward. My dream is to major in Drama, which I will pursue over the next few years. I will also take a few summer courses this summer as I plan to try to catch up. I have been prescribed medication for my ADHD which I now take regularly and I am more than ready to take my studies seriously. I am so serious about my determination regarding my studies and am holding myself to a whole new standard. It pains me that I wasn??t mature enough and I am now in this situation but I am ready to do everything to resolve it and redeem myself. I wish that you understand and have the faith in me that I have in myself. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely
Holly Hansen