Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean,

Hello, my name is Keith Baronia, and I am under the Second Degree program at Queen’s currently taking a Bachelor of Arts Honours Languages, LIteratures, and Cultures (LLCU). The purpose of this letter is to act as an appeal to late drop several of my courses from the Fall 2022 - Winter 2023 Session: GNDS 335, GNDS 360, FILM 236, and ENIN 301. In addition, I would like to appeal for a Credit Standing on CHIN 200.

Initially, the beginning of the semester saw few issues and I managed all my courses with some relative ease. However, it unfortunately changed once the halfway point of the semester arrived. A serious family issue came up which ended up requiring the majority of my attention. I am currently with QSAS because of my health and the debilitating effects it has on my academic performance. Despite this however, the family circumstance only further compounded those issues which made managing several aspects of my general life and academics extremely difficult. It eventually reached the point where even basic necessities of my life proved difficult to accomplish such as food and sleep in the wake of managing everything currently occurring.

Before I realized the severity of what occurred, I had thought that it would not be too difficult to manage so I figured to try and push through if necessary. Furthermore, I was worried about it affecting my transcript and OSAP, although now I realize it was a poor decision in hindsight and that my efforts were for naught. I had met with my QSAS advisor as well as some Student Wellness councillors to help address the issues I had with regards to my circumstances in addition to helping communicate it with my professors, but managing everything became too draining and resulted in me essentially shutting down and pushing everything aside to focus on my family issues. Even then it still proved difficult as I was essentially exhausted and unable to do much for most of the year. As a result, my fall semester academics ended up completely collapsing. The winter semester was a little bit different as by that point I knew that I may not be able to simply push through like I initially thought back in the fall semester, so I had pulled out of some of the classes then. I stayed in CHIN 200 though because I felt awful about having already pulled out or failed most of my courses that year and wanted to try and finish it with the resources that were made available to me. While it proved to be slightly less difficult to manage than in the first semester, my performance was still not great and I was not really able to make up for what happened in the fall to save my grade. Combined with my current health conditions relating to anxiety and depression, overall, the entire year proved to be extremely taxing for my health both physically and mentally.

I am currently meeting with councillors and my QSAS advisor to help work through some of my issues with regards to my mental health and general life overall which contributed to the disastrous semesters I had. I am also trying different medications recommended by my doctor at Student Wellness to help manage some of my health issues. The family issue has subsided somewhat, but I am discussing it with QSAS and Student Wellness to help better manage my issues and making regular appointments to help manage them. A major issue I struggle with is properly reaching out for help rather than simply pushing through which is also another aspect that I am making regular appointments with my health professionals. I am hoping that a combination of these regular appointments dealing with the issues during those semesters can help make my academic experience smoother than it was during that year.

Thank you,

Keith Baronia
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