Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies):

I am a first year arts and science student appealing to drop HLTH101 (Fall 2015) beyond the drop date of November 6, 2015. The extenuating circumstances that have caused my academic performance to be affected are psychological challenges. I have been struggling with feelings of isolation, loneliness and constant sadness. I have been unable to find the social support in and out of classes to get the support I need in order to achieve my best marks. As a result of feeling like there is nothing I can do to make myself feel included with the other people, it makes me feel like I am alone even with numerous people around me. From the beginning of joining this course, it felt hard to fit in, because I joined the course late, not knowing anyone and it was difficult to transition and make friends that I could talk to about course concepts and ask questions. I found it difficult to approach people and feel like I could belong and make friends; it was too overwhelming and made me very stressed. The stress of not having social support began taking a toll on the amount of effort I put forth in my tutorials and my lectures because I was constantly feeling lost and secluded from the others. The feeling of isolation is difficult on my mental state and my motivation to put my best effort towards tests and assignments. From feeling like I have had no one around me to help me understand this course fully, I have found it difficult to find motivation for going to the lectures. Being a part of a course that is directly oriented more towards PHE/KIN students, makes it difficult for me to feel a part of this class because I am in arts and science. Since I am constantly feeling alone, and sad I have found it hard to keep up week by week to successfully complete the mini quizzes and also participate fully in weekly tutorials.

To try and resolve issues, and look at what I can do, is I went to see and Academic advisor who listened to the issues I had and explained how I could handle them. Originally, I came to Queen¿¿s for Con-Ed, and being in arts and science has been incredibly overwhelming for me and frustrating. If I were in Con-Ed, I knew I would have had the PROF class with people and developed bonds with other Con-Eds. I have found it difficult to find a social group that shares the same interests as me and have found it frustrating to try and fit into the social culture at Queen¿¿s.

For the future, I plan to withdraw from Queen¿¿s University to follow my dream of being in a Con-Ed program where I will be able to pursue my goal of being a teacher, and to be with other students who share my interests and beliefs. I plan on applying to Brock University Concurrent Education for the Fall 2016. I was accepted to that program with a scholarship for this fall. I have talked to admissions at Brock University who have said that, if I am unable to withdraw without academic penalty, my grade in HLTH101 will determine whether I will be accepted as a transfer student next year. I feel that my final grade will not reflect my true abilities given the psychological challenges I have experienced this fall. If I can withdraw from HLTH101, my acceptance to Brock University will be based on my high school grades. I plan to attend counseling in order to address the psychological challenges I have faced. I feel that with counseling and the support of my family, I will be more successful at Brock University next year.

Thank you very much for your consideration of my appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Nusca