Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Members of the Board of Studies,

I am appealing to the Associate Dean to formally appeal for permission to drop courses and allow full time studies. Due to challenging matters, I have unfortunately failed the following courses.

MUSC 171 (Fall 2022)
SOCY 122 (Winter 2023)
COGS 100 (Fall 2022)
ASTR 101 (Fall 2022)
PHIL 151 (Summer 2023)
BIOL 102 (Summer 2023)
PHAR 100 (Summer 2023)
BIOL 200 (Winter 2024)

Due to adjusting to university and being lost in my first year, I failed many courses until I found my way in my second semester. Unfortunately this landed me on academic probation for my second year, and third year along with a smaller course load. For my second year I took 6 classes per semester to improve my grades as much as possible. During my second year I attended a few SASS appointments to help with my studies which improved my first semester grades as shown. Along with SASS, I have also seen a few academic advisors for my situation. In my first year they helped me build my path to the program I want, and now they have helped me with this process. In my second semester my mental health started to take a toll due to many reasons. A reason I struggled is because none of my friends and family were aware I was on academic probation. This is because of the embarrassment I faced with the situation. I am the first in my family to attend post secondary school and I couldn’t tell my parents because I did not want to cause them any disappointment. I know how proud they are of having their daughter at Queen’s University and how proud my family is to have a family member be apart of an instituion as prestigious as Queen's. I do not want to disappoint them because this was always my dream. I was in a very bad living situation for a while, which really affected me mentally. This situation tore me down but I still put all my effort in school. Due to the severity I did reach out to off campus living which helped me a lot with the situation. Before University, I attended therapy for an anxiety disorder. My therapist did retire shortly after I started attending university and I did not reach out in my first year to anyone else. I was able to create outlets to help with my anxiety which I have continued to use throughout the year. In the following school years I plan to reach out more for mental health as I do think this will help with improvements. Lastly, I always felt the stress of academic probation on my back, but because I didn’t tell anyone I could not reach out and talk about it. Despite my best efforts to manage these challenges, they significantly impacted my academic performance, leading to results that do not reflect my true capabilities.

I have planned out what program I want to be in and how I will get there. I want to pursue Biology, I have redone BIOL 103, as well I am planning to retake BIOL 200. I did well in my other 200 level BIOL classes and plan to continue taking them in my third year. I have also started to transition from an Arts degree to a Science degree. Finding what I want to do and being able to adjust my plan has made me a lot happier. From talking to academic advising, I plan to reach out more to SASS to help improve my study habits and school life, and reach out to the counselling through Queen’s for my mental health and anxiety. Being able to adjust my plan has made me much happier within school and helped me realized where I belong. I am forever grateful for this opportunity to pursue my education, and continue in school. I hope my second year proved that I am able to take on a heavy course load and allow me to continue on a full course load. I also hope you understand my appeal to drop my failed courses. I am deeply remorseful for the academic shortcomings that had led me to this situation. Queen’s University has provided me with not just education but a sense of community, and hope for the future. I understand the seriousness of my academic performance and the standards set by the school. I have started taking steps and plan to continue with SASS and counselling. I am pleading for another chance to prove myself and show I am fully committed to hard work and utilizing available resources. I am determined to overcome these obstacles and continue to pursue my dreams.

Thank you for taking time to read my appeal and I hope you will consider it.

Thank you,

Talulah Hale