Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,
I am appealing to drop (late) my fall semester in the year of 2014 where I was enrolled in Chemistry 211, 212 and 213 plus Statistics 263. The reason I am appealing this is because throughout my two years of University I have seen myself progress from a normal, healthy individual into someone who is extraordinarily overwhelmed. The past couple of years at school I have been struggling with feelings of depression and anxiety. These changes in my mental state have lead me to strongly consider permanently giving up on my educational career. Throughout all of my time in high school I was extremely successful in and thoroughly enjoyed academics. Since then, through my two years in University I aspired to be a doctor. However, due to the difficulties I have encountered over the past year not only personally but also in turn academically I have begun to feel as though my dreams may be impossible to achieve. Once I received my first year grades in May 2014, after suffering a difficult semester due to both personal and mental health reasons, I became increasingly more depressed as I realized the grades I had were not high enough. I started to get more depressed and overwhelmed because I knew I had to do better but due to the circumstances I was not coming close to my full potential. My intentions were to be and do better for second year. Over the summer I worked on getting a handle on my mental health and prepared for the upcoming Fall 2014 semester. Once back at school, I tried out for the varsity track team and was cut, I applied to QIAA in order to be apart of the Qmun team but didn't make it and finally, tried to join the executive council of AMS but was not accepted. While trying to be apart of my Queens Community and keeping up with an extremely demanding Chemistry major everything began to feel like it was falling apart and became extremely overwhelming and distracting to my studies. At this point, I felt there was no way for me to be successful in my plans to become a doctor due to the difficult time I faced in my first two years of University. In trying to be apart of multiple clubs in one year and taking on a heavy course load including Chemistry 213,211,212, and Stats 263, I realize that I took on way more then I could handle and this was reflected in my final grades for that semester which were all Failures. Since this wake up call, I began seeing a doctor and really turned around not only my personal life and health but my grades as well. Being able to tell how badly I wanted to turn my educational career around he recommended I speak to an advisor in order to learn how I could face my academic problems and put them behind me. I took his advice, saw an advisor and am extremely proud of my results from the following Winter 2015 semester. I believe my grades have not only significantly improved but are now an accurate representation of the kind of student I really am. Finishing first year, my GPA was barely above 2.00, I let the stress and depression consume my life and did not learn how to properly cope. Now, after seeking help, I believe it is possible for me to achieve my goals of continuing education and even ultimately to be a doctor but only if I am able to have my Fall semester grades dropped. Over the past six months I have learned how to move past this and how to handle myself in and approach stressful situations similar to the one I have encountered. When all seems lost even after you feel like you have put your strongest effort forward there are always ways to persevere and endure even in the toughest scenarios. This is the approach I plan to take from now on in order to the best that I possibly can at Queens. I am aware this appeal is currently late in the future I will be more mindful of deadline dates because I understand it can have an effect on getting what I desire. Thank you for taking the time to read this appeal and I hope you can take everything I have stated above into careful consideration while making your final decision.