Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Arts & Science Associate Dean,

My name is Connor Hannough, I am a second year student attempting to pursue a major in Computer Science in the Faculty of Arts & Science. In late February, 2015, I reached out to Cindy Butts, an academic advisor to discuss my future at Queen¿¿s in an effort to take control of my life. She was very understanding and offered me helpful guidance. She recommended I pursue an appeal to have my courses; BIOL 102 - Intro Biology of Cells 2014 Fall and GEOL 107 - History of Life 2014 Fall, dropped after the academic deadline date.
From my first semester at Queen¿¿s I have been struggling to adjust academically and socially in various ways. I struggled to admit that I need help until this past semester. My academic stress has affected every avenue of my life. It has taken a toll on my personal relationships and has negatively impacted my passion for academics. Transitioning from high school to university is a big change and combining that transition with my family moving from Quebec to Pennsylvania put me in a position of extreme unfamiliarity and anxiety. I lost contact with most of my friends, which made me feel extremely lonely and isolated. In first year I was able to mask my struggles considering the majority of the courses I took were introductory courses and offered familiar material. However, the fall semester of second year proved to be much more difficult and too much for me to handle. Despite overwhelming concern from my family I was avoiding the causes of my stress and instead adopted problematic behaviours. I completely lost interest in all of my classes. Finally, I lost all motivation to attend class and the more I missed, the more stressed and avoidant I became. I developed very poor eating and sleeping habits and gained over 60 lbs. I withdrew academically and socially and placed all of my focus on video games and developed an online gaming addiction. I also began lying to the people closest to me, but more importantly I began lying to myself and entered a state of complete denial. In addition, in the fall one of my housemates and best friends was dealing with severe undiagnosed depression. He rarely attended class and mostly slept until late hours in the afternoon. He admitted to having violent nightmares and suicidal thoughts. I attended a ¿Safe Talk¿¿ session and learned about suicide and how to help someone you care about, deal with it. It never occurred to me that I was equally in need of help and outside attention, I always thought that I was simply stuck in a slump or I was just unhappy.
Over the Christmas break when I could no longer hide from my grades and remain in denial about my academic performance, I sat down with my parents and talked about changing my course of action at Queen¿¿s and ways to reprioritize my happiness and health. By facing the severity of my psychological and physical well-being, slowly the academic pressures started to seem less intimidating. I began second semester this year, with a new, rejuvenated mindset. Not only has my academic performance improved greatly, but since I reached out to Cindy I have been attending regular counseling sessions with the HCDS and I am taking steps to ameliorate my situation. I now understand that I have to be proactive in taking responsibility for my actions and the choices I make. My academic performance, like every aspect of my life has suffered immensely since my enrollment at Queen¿¿s and it is evident in my grades.
My meetings with health counselling have made me realize that I do not deal with stress in a positive ways. However, finally, I feel like I have been given the tools to cope with stress and take control of the choices I make. My grades are on the rise and I have been meeting with Irene Lafleche, the Undergraduate Program Assistant for the department of Computer Science, Ms. Butts, and my professors to create an action plan for my future success. I have developed a passion for computer science and aim to pursue a major in that field. Also, I am planning on seeking help this summer as well to continue my progress and prevent any regression. I am appealing for a second chance, one where my true academic potential can be realized and I can prove to myself and to the University that I belong here.
I am finally starting to realize that every single day I have a choice to make, a choice between right and wrong, good and bad. I am taking steps to be more involved in the Queen¿¿s extracurricular and academic experience as I mend my personal issues. Please consider my plea for your assistance and help me regain control over my academic success.

Sincerely,

Connor Hannough
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