Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies,


I am appealing to drop INTS 306 (Fall 2014), GNDS 215 (Winter 2015), SOCY 235 (Winter 2015). As well as GNDS 215 (Winter 2016), GNDS 312 (Winter 2016) and GNDS 321 (Winter 2016), I was unable to include these requested drops (Winter 2016 semester) in part 2 of my online appeal. I am also appealing to apply for credit standing in HIST 122B (Winter 2014), POLS 110B (Winter 2014), SOCY 122B (Winter 2014), ENGL 223 (Fall 2014), FILM 240 (Fall 2014), GNDS 120 (Fall 2014), GNDS 280 (Winter 2015), IDIS 302 (Winter 2015) and POLS 280 (Fall 2015) due to extenuating circumstances which were beyond my control.

Since completing my first semester of first year at Queen's less successfully than I finished high school, feelings of fear of failure have progressively set in. I had hoped to continue to improve on my 2.7 GPA my second semester, however my Grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. His diagnosis deeply affected me personally as I viewed my Grandfather as a father, which made it very difficult to focus and fulfill tasks. Following the death of my grand-father on August 4th 2014, greater feelings of fear and depression set in. I thought I have dealt with my grieving but have realized that I am still coming to terms with this loss. After completing first year and going into second year, my feelings worsened and coupled with my lack of support systems available to me in Kingston though friends and family and unawareness of the facilities available at Queen¿¿s, depression began to sink in. This led to me failing many of my courses as I found it difficult to focus, participate and attend classes. After receiving academic probation over the summer before third year, I hoped to start this school year off at Queen's well and begin to fix my previous mistakes. However, I found this task extremely overwhelming to complete myself. This lead me to be even more fearful to start completing tasks and assignments and I sunk into a deeper depression, in which I found it very difficult to get out of bed each day and be active and involved within the Queen¿¿s community. After meeting with an academic adviser in January, the two of us had set forward a plan which included weekly meetings with my psycho therapist along with meetings with an academic success counselor. However, to my despair I have found that this plan does not fulfill my health needs at this time. Regardless of wanting to attend class, hand in assignments, engage with peers in discussion and participate fully; I have found that I am still suffering from depression and anxiety, which has ultimately caused me to become disengaged with life. Prior to meeting with an academic adviser to discuss my extenuating circumstances, I was not fully aware of the options for me to drop and apply for credit standing in courses I had previously completed, from the Winter of 2014 to this semester. I do realize that I should have attended to this issue before it got to this level, however I do not believe I was in the right frame of mind to start making changes towards a fuller life. Only now, after seeking professional help do I understand how extensively this depression and anxiety has impacted my academic ability.

Should my appeal be granted, I hope to set into motion the following plan, which I have devised with both an academic adviser and therapist. I plan to take the rest of the semester off and return home to receive more intensive and regular therapy sessions. Along with this, I intend to participate in peer support group meetings on a weekly basis. Although, I am unable to define the length of my recovery at this time, I can currently say that I truly want to return to Queen¿¿s in order to complete my degree with a healthy and positive mindset that will allow me to achieve the academic success that I know I am capable of. When I am ready to return to Queen¿¿s, in preparation to ensure a successful career, I intend to meet with an academic adviser, either in person or on the phone, in order to revise my academic plan and make sure that I am on the right track. It is also my intention to make use of the accommodations available to me through the Queen¿¿s Student Accessibility Services. I truly believe that by taking these steps, I will give myself the ability to achieve my academic goals as I have put the necessary support systems in place.

I thank you for your time and consideration with this appeal.

Regards,
Ruth Young