Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 1246
Submitted: June 16, 2015 at 10:53:22 PM
First Name: Aimee
Last Name: Ware
Student Number: 10150924
Email: 14amw@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BAS
Plan: ENGL, SOC
Level of Study: 1
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline, Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses, Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Code: ENGL 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Proffessor John Pierce; Nikolai Rodruigues
Code: SOCY 122
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Proffessor Rob Beamish; Vincenzo Alaimo
Code: LING 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: FILM 110
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2015
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,
I¿¿m writing today in an effort to explain the situation that led to the decision made by yourself and the other members of the academic committee. As you will see in the attached letter from my psychologist I was dealing with personal circumstances well beyond my control. While I accept full responsibility for the outcome of my first year, I do appreciate you allowing me the opportunity to explain my situation, in such a way that the decision to suspend me academically for one year may be reconsidered. Should you allow me to return next semester and to ensure my success academically, I respectfully request the courses in which I did fail to be dropped from my academic record so that my future transcripts are a true reflection of my capabilities, rather than a reminder of my personal struggle. Additionally, the courses in which I did earn credit, I would like to remain on my transcript. It has always been my dream to obtain an education at Queen¿¿s University, although my performance was less than spectacular in my first year, I can assure you this will not be an issue in the future.
When I started my first year here at Queen¿¿s University I began with the hopes to start fresh and open up in a new academic environment and greatly succeed. I believed that the new environment and keeping busy by indulging in academic material would counteract my anxiety and depression, however I wasn¿¿t aware of just how challenging that would be. This proved to be the opposite as after one month, the work load and the social factor of University began to increase my anxiety and depression, and impacted my motivation and ability to keep up with new material being learned. In order to improve my academic situation, I made the decision to drop PHIL 100 and proceed with four courses (ENGL 100, FILM 110, SOCY 122 and LING 100) as I thought it would lessen the workload and decrease anxiety and stress. Due to my lack of experience in the subjects LING 100 and FILM 110 and in addition to a high severity of depression and anxiety, it made it challenging for me to adjust and obtain to new material as I normally would. In hopes to improve my performance in LING 100 which was the course I was struggling in most, I invested in a tutor (Julie Fang) who I met with 1-2 times a week for 1-2 hours at a time as she helped me grasp new material and stay on top of deadlines and assignments required. Although at that point I had become so far behind that it made it impossible for me to catch up, get current and stay ahead. I also invested in tutors for the following courses, ENGL 100 (Spencer Kalan) and SOCY 122 (Laura Scott). Due to the fact that these courses were more in tuned with my academic future/interest I was able to perform better, although this was nowhere near my optimum. Unfortunately I was unable to afford tutors across the boards for all my courses as I was restricted to a financial budget. Therefor I chose tutors for the courses in which I thought would be most appropriate to my academic plan, in which case I was unsuccessful in FILM 110.
I accept the fact that I did not live up to my full academic potential. However, in the future I plan to reach out to professionals and the various opportunities that I have around campus in order to cope with stress, anxiety and depression, rather than trying to fix it myself. I now have a clinical psychologist who I see weekly, who has helped me tremendously in decreasing my levels of anxiety and depression, while also providing me with many personal coping skills in which I can work with on a day to day basis, in order to get back to the position where I can carry out a successful education and live up to Queen¿¿s academic standards. I will continue to meet with tutors throughout my future studies, to ensure I am always up to date and understanding current material to the best of my ability. I plan to carefully choose courses in which I gather a strong interest and understanding in order to be successful and carry out a specific future academic plan. Throughout my studies I will also continue to stay current with my psychologist and keep updated on sessions whether it be through phone or skype. With new actions and new efforts put in place going into second year, I assure you I will not let you down, but most importantly I will not let myself down. I do hope you understand my situation and recognize that I truly wish to be a part of the Queen¿¿s University family again for this upcoming semester.
Sincerely,
Aimee Ware
I¿¿m writing today in an effort to explain the situation that led to the decision made by yourself and the other members of the academic committee. As you will see in the attached letter from my psychologist I was dealing with personal circumstances well beyond my control. While I accept full responsibility for the outcome of my first year, I do appreciate you allowing me the opportunity to explain my situation, in such a way that the decision to suspend me academically for one year may be reconsidered. Should you allow me to return next semester and to ensure my success academically, I respectfully request the courses in which I did fail to be dropped from my academic record so that my future transcripts are a true reflection of my capabilities, rather than a reminder of my personal struggle. Additionally, the courses in which I did earn credit, I would like to remain on my transcript. It has always been my dream to obtain an education at Queen¿¿s University, although my performance was less than spectacular in my first year, I can assure you this will not be an issue in the future.
When I started my first year here at Queen¿¿s University I began with the hopes to start fresh and open up in a new academic environment and greatly succeed. I believed that the new environment and keeping busy by indulging in academic material would counteract my anxiety and depression, however I wasn¿¿t aware of just how challenging that would be. This proved to be the opposite as after one month, the work load and the social factor of University began to increase my anxiety and depression, and impacted my motivation and ability to keep up with new material being learned. In order to improve my academic situation, I made the decision to drop PHIL 100 and proceed with four courses (ENGL 100, FILM 110, SOCY 122 and LING 100) as I thought it would lessen the workload and decrease anxiety and stress. Due to my lack of experience in the subjects LING 100 and FILM 110 and in addition to a high severity of depression and anxiety, it made it challenging for me to adjust and obtain to new material as I normally would. In hopes to improve my performance in LING 100 which was the course I was struggling in most, I invested in a tutor (Julie Fang) who I met with 1-2 times a week for 1-2 hours at a time as she helped me grasp new material and stay on top of deadlines and assignments required. Although at that point I had become so far behind that it made it impossible for me to catch up, get current and stay ahead. I also invested in tutors for the following courses, ENGL 100 (Spencer Kalan) and SOCY 122 (Laura Scott). Due to the fact that these courses were more in tuned with my academic future/interest I was able to perform better, although this was nowhere near my optimum. Unfortunately I was unable to afford tutors across the boards for all my courses as I was restricted to a financial budget. Therefor I chose tutors for the courses in which I thought would be most appropriate to my academic plan, in which case I was unsuccessful in FILM 110.
I accept the fact that I did not live up to my full academic potential. However, in the future I plan to reach out to professionals and the various opportunities that I have around campus in order to cope with stress, anxiety and depression, rather than trying to fix it myself. I now have a clinical psychologist who I see weekly, who has helped me tremendously in decreasing my levels of anxiety and depression, while also providing me with many personal coping skills in which I can work with on a day to day basis, in order to get back to the position where I can carry out a successful education and live up to Queen¿¿s academic standards. I will continue to meet with tutors throughout my future studies, to ensure I am always up to date and understanding current material to the best of my ability. I plan to carefully choose courses in which I gather a strong interest and understanding in order to be successful and carry out a specific future academic plan. Throughout my studies I will also continue to stay current with my psychologist and keep updated on sessions whether it be through phone or skype. With new actions and new efforts put in place going into second year, I assure you I will not let you down, but most importantly I will not let myself down. I do hope you understand my situation and recognize that I truly wish to be a part of the Queen¿¿s University family again for this upcoming semester.
Sincerely,
Aimee Ware
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: Dear Associate Dean,
I have carefully constructed an affective academic plan to ensure I will be successful if I am to be granted the privilege to continue into my second year of studies at Queen¿¿s University. The plan in which I have accumulated covers all the bases that will allow me to succeed academically and psychologically.
After my first year, I realized that in order to succeed in any academic environment, one must be psychologically prepared to cope and adjust to the new lifestyle change of University. Along with the many advantages and opportunities that University brings, there are also many challenges that one must be prepared to face, which include large course content, new and advanced material, a fast passed environment, balancing academic life with social life and the possibility of losing old support networks and adjusting to new ones. Setbacks and unfortunate life events are inevitable, and it is out of ones control to when they choose to occur, even if it happens to be at the most inconvenient of times. However, now that I have experienced this difficulty and understand how it can impact my academic success, I have put a plan in place in order to cope and still succeed if any setbacks or situations out of my standing happen to occur again. I have carefully taken the time to learn about the many resources offered to students around campus and how I can use them to fit my specific needs, as each serve vastly different purposes. I am keen on taking full advantage of the mental health facilities offered around campus, as they will help me cope with any stresses, anxiety, depression or any other mental setbacks in a sufficient and productive manner. I am very familiar with the outstanding ASUS Peer Tutoring program that Queen¿¿s has to offer, and this upcoming year I plan to financially structure my time and lessons with my tutors so I am able to afford a tutor for each of my courses. I truly believe this will serve as a great benefit to helping me stay intact and up to date with new material, studying mechanisms, workloads and etc. I also plan on participating in study groups and writing centres/workshops, as it will be an effective way to interact with higher academic instructors and peers on an intuitive academic level, as I strive to improve my skills socially in the appropriate fields. Most importantly I will arrange frequent consultations with professors/teaching assistants and make sure raise any questions or concerns I have with any course content/assignments. This is to keep my professors/teaching assistants up to date on my academic progression throughout each semester and to ensure myself of better and more improved performance. I vow to take full participation in all of the above, to ensure that I am meeting the appropriate academic standards known to Queen¿¿s University.
After speaking with a representative through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, together we were able to construct a plan to pursue this upcoming year. I expressed my desire to retake ENGL 100 and SOC 122 in order to obtain the grades I need in order to declare English as my major and Sociology as my minor. However, I would like to discard LING 100 and FILM 110 as they do not serve to my interests or the academic plan I have in mind. In which case, I hope to proceed with PSYCH 100 in order to collaborate with my SOC 122, and I am currently seeking another course in which gears towards literature/writing or any other form of artistic expression. I strongly believe that I am fully capable to continue as a full time student this upcoming semester, of course held to a strict academic probation. With this specific academic plan set in place, I now have new goals to strive for and a solid support system to help me achieve these goals at my optimum performance, as I am highly motivated to join the graduating class of 2018.
Sincerely,
Aimee Ware
I have carefully constructed an affective academic plan to ensure I will be successful if I am to be granted the privilege to continue into my second year of studies at Queen¿¿s University. The plan in which I have accumulated covers all the bases that will allow me to succeed academically and psychologically.
After my first year, I realized that in order to succeed in any academic environment, one must be psychologically prepared to cope and adjust to the new lifestyle change of University. Along with the many advantages and opportunities that University brings, there are also many challenges that one must be prepared to face, which include large course content, new and advanced material, a fast passed environment, balancing academic life with social life and the possibility of losing old support networks and adjusting to new ones. Setbacks and unfortunate life events are inevitable, and it is out of ones control to when they choose to occur, even if it happens to be at the most inconvenient of times. However, now that I have experienced this difficulty and understand how it can impact my academic success, I have put a plan in place in order to cope and still succeed if any setbacks or situations out of my standing happen to occur again. I have carefully taken the time to learn about the many resources offered to students around campus and how I can use them to fit my specific needs, as each serve vastly different purposes. I am keen on taking full advantage of the mental health facilities offered around campus, as they will help me cope with any stresses, anxiety, depression or any other mental setbacks in a sufficient and productive manner. I am very familiar with the outstanding ASUS Peer Tutoring program that Queen¿¿s has to offer, and this upcoming year I plan to financially structure my time and lessons with my tutors so I am able to afford a tutor for each of my courses. I truly believe this will serve as a great benefit to helping me stay intact and up to date with new material, studying mechanisms, workloads and etc. I also plan on participating in study groups and writing centres/workshops, as it will be an effective way to interact with higher academic instructors and peers on an intuitive academic level, as I strive to improve my skills socially in the appropriate fields. Most importantly I will arrange frequent consultations with professors/teaching assistants and make sure raise any questions or concerns I have with any course content/assignments. This is to keep my professors/teaching assistants up to date on my academic progression throughout each semester and to ensure myself of better and more improved performance. I vow to take full participation in all of the above, to ensure that I am meeting the appropriate academic standards known to Queen¿¿s University.
After speaking with a representative through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, together we were able to construct a plan to pursue this upcoming year. I expressed my desire to retake ENGL 100 and SOC 122 in order to obtain the grades I need in order to declare English as my major and Sociology as my minor. However, I would like to discard LING 100 and FILM 110 as they do not serve to my interests or the academic plan I have in mind. In which case, I hope to proceed with PSYCH 100 in order to collaborate with my SOC 122, and I am currently seeking another course in which gears towards literature/writing or any other form of artistic expression. I strongly believe that I am fully capable to continue as a full time student this upcoming semester, of course held to a strict academic probation. With this specific academic plan set in place, I now have new goals to strive for and a solid support system to help me achieve these goals at my optimum performance, as I am highly motivated to join the graduating class of 2018.
Sincerely,
Aimee Ware
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: Clinical Documentation; Psychologist