Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Studies,

I am appealing the Faculty's decision that I must withdraw from Queen's for a minimum of one year.

My academic performance over the past two years has faltered greatly since arriving from Toronto in September 2012. The experience was unlike anything us students have ever experienced before and I believe that it was due to the freedom that was given to me that I was not yet ready to handle and my general dislike of my major that has lead to where I am now. Unfortunately, my biggest problem was procrastination. I would put things off incredibly late, so late that most of the time I would just give up on something that I am completely capable of working through and achieving at least passable or decent grades. However, this was not just academically; this soon became a mental problem as well. Upon coming back from first semester, I felt confident in receiving an 'A' in one of my courses and thought that procrastination was something that I could rely on in first year. Due to this, that 'A' was the only good mark I had that year and I had no one to blame but myself. In spite of this, my parents gave me a second chance, although my immaturity led me to continue as if nothing was wrong when clearly there was a bigger issue starting to emerge here. In the summer between my first and second year, I took STAT263 and although mathematics has always been my strong suit, I procrastinated yet again, and flunked the course. I wish I had changed things around at that time but I did not. Second year came and went with much the same results as the first except without the 'A'. This time, I managed only D's and flunked two courses, and it was then that it all hit me that I couldn't do all this without help. I procrastinated and I did not have motivation to do the work that I was fully capable of doing. After second year, upon returning home, everything seemed to go back to normal which helped me a lot. To be blunt, I broke down in front of my parents when talking to them about my marks and thankfully, they sought out to help me and we started to come up with a solution.

Should my appeal be granted, I guarantee change in both my personal life as well as my academic life. I am currently taking two courses at the moment CLST205 and FRENP16. My parents and I agreed that I can no longer spend the money that I am currently spending on a university so far away if I am going to continue to get these grades, so we agreed on a test. If I do well on these two courses, then a second test would be initiated to see if I can handle one more semester. If I do well in the next semester, upon doing well in the summer as well, then I would continue with my education and become a teacher as I have so longed to be since Grade 11 of high school. However, this is not to say that there is I am doing nothing to change myself for the better. I realize that the situation I am in is a result of my actions but there were some factors that affected the outcome and I plan to do my best to try to change these factors into something that affects me positively rather than negatively. Three specific things I plan to do are to keep my parents involved, attend counselling next year, and change my teachables around. My parents are busy people both with full-time jobs and two more kids to deal with other than myself. I believe that if I am to involve them more with my academic life, I will be able to achieve higher grades through their motivation and willingness to help me in whichever way they can (tutoring, etc...). Additionally, I will attend counselling to help me keep track of my absences and class work to further improve my potential. Seeking out help has never been my strong suit but I realize that when I am on my own, I stray from my path and having a professional keeping track of my work habits will keep my going strong and eventually, independently. Lastly, I will turn my teachables around as computing is not my strong suit but mathematics is. Something that I realized after this year is how little work I did but I am confident that if I put work into studying, I will be able to accomplish good marks in both mathematics and computing.

I wrote this letter as honest as possible and upon writing it all down, I realize just how low a point I have reached. It has been one month and a half since this summer has started and things have been looking up for me. I am doing well in both my summer courses, and I am gaining the confidence and willingness to study and work for the marks that I can definitely achieve. Furthermore, I am predisposed to and have already begun to change and hopefully you are willing to help me continue change for the better so that I may achieve my dream of becoming a teacher.

Thank you,

-Brian Lee 10062564