Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Dr Naaman,

I hope you are well,

I write this letter to you with the hope of appealing the notice I have just seen whilst trying to select my courses for next term, which is that of a requirement to withdraw from Queens for one year. I apologise for this appeal being much later than it should be, but in this letter, I will outline two things: first, why my appeal comes later than the given deadline and second, the reasoning for my appeal.

Once again, I apologise greatly for how late this comes. Right before the end of the semester, my parents let me know that our financial situation had changed and that I would have to start paying a greater sum of the finances for my accommodation and my education going forwards, and given the portion I would need to cover, this was not information that I could take lightly. Therefore, since the end of the semester, I have been working non-stop to accommodate this. I haven’t had time to see friends, have spent a minuscule amount of time with my family, and essentially haven’t done anything but work and I regret to say that I therefore have not been up to date on checking emails or anything related to Queens. I have been completely committed to ensuring that I am financially able to continue my studies at Queens next year.

As to why I am appealing in the first place, when I went through one of these appeals before, I recall being informed that if a student can show that they are on the right trajectory, they might get their requirement to withdraw waived. I believe I am on that right trajectory. Whilst I haven’t yet fully sorted myself out, I have been far more involved in my classes this year, and whilst I have not passed every class, it is a huge step up from the year before; for those that I didn’t pass, I was close to doing so. That step up will only be improved on in this next academic year. I have found real motivation to be at university in the form of a job offer once I graduate; where before I was at Queens because university felt like what I should be doing, I now have a tangible, legitimate opportunity for work in a field that I really enjoy once I graduate. It is for this reason that I will be at university this year, as the offer is solely contingent on a degree, no matter where from. I don’t want or mean to make that sound ungrateful for the opportunities Queens has provided me, or to sound at all flippant towards the outcome of this appeal: I would like nothing more than to see my degree through at Queens. But I will not spend the next year working a job I don’t enjoy, when I could spend that year somewhere else getting a year closer to finishing my degree to then be able to start doing the job that has inspired my newfound motivation. That is also why I will be changing my degree plan to a plan without honours, so that I am able to finish earlier than I would otherwise. Again, I cannot stress how much I would like to see my degree through at Queens.

I appreciate that this is an unorthodox appeal, as it doesn’t come with any documentation, but if it would helpful, I would absolutely be open to a conversation over teams or zoom or something to provide any detail you would like.

I greatly appreciate your time in reading this,

Jack Hodgins