Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: March 28, 2016

Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

My name is Rebecca Narvali and I am a second year Queen¿¿s student. I am appealing to drop Chem 282 (Winter 2016). I hope that by reading my letter, you might be able to consider my difficult circumstances. I am requesting to drop drop Chem 282, not only because of the benefits it would bring to my future academic goals and success here at Queen¿¿s, but especially because of the positive impact it would provide for my physical and mental well-being. These are all factors that are extremely important to me, especially when it comes to my health, and I hope that you may be able to take them to heart.
There is no clear-cut incident that has brought me to writing this letter, but rather a series of events that have built one upon the other. That being said, I feel that before I explain the specific details regarding my extenuating circumstances, it is essential for me to describe a bit about my past. I hope that providing such information in a time-line fashion may help portray the accumulation of events that have led to where I am now.
Looking back to fall 2015, is when I started my second year at Queen¿¿s majoring in Life science. I was excited, however this transition was by no means an easy one. First semester was difficult due to a variety of domestic and family problems I had to face. My sister, who is closest to me from my immediate family, was dealing with her mental health for the first time. Simultaneously, my grand-mother, who had moved in with us a couple years prior due to poor health, was beginning to show extremely hurtful and destructive symptoms of dementia. Even though I was away from all of this at school, it worried and impacted me on a very personal level. I am not including these details in hopes of receiving pitty, but rather to help you better understand how taking charge of my academic interests and planning my courses out properly were not a priority at this point. Due to the stress of my family, I wasn¿¿t truly able to focus on my academic interests as much as I had hoped to. It wasn¿¿t until I returned home for Christmas break when I finally got the chance to reflect on some of my future academic goals. My sister made some positive changes in her life and I was able to return back to school for the second semester with a clearer head.
After the break, I met with Professor Atkinson, (associate professor chair of undergraduate pscychology). I realized that lifesciences was not for me, and spoke with Dr. Atkinson about switching into a psychology major and lifesciences minor. I was loving psychology and doing very well. I was told that the transfer looks very promissing given my mark in PSYC 100. I completed many lifescience courses already, so I took CHEM 282 as a course to include as a lifesciences minor. This is where I made a mistake.
Dropping this course had not even occurred to me until I had to deal with my mental health, which had to happen after the drop deadline. I then received my first 25 midterm back, which occurred after the drop deadline as well. Due to the stress I was facing, I had failed it. I had no way of dropping this course earlier because both of these events in my life occurred after the drop deadline.
My immediate thoughts were extreme frustration. I had met with instructor, studied extremely hard, and now a course that I do not even need for a psychology major would be plumetting my GPA down to the ground. The worst part of this situation is that I am excelling in all the psychology courses I¿¿m taking. After finally taking the time to reflect and focus on myself this year, I have found an area of study that I am extremely passionate about. This is very special to me and does not happen every day. It frustrates me beyond belief that just when I find something that I enjoy studying ,and put in countless hours working hard at, CHEM 282, a course that I do not need for my degree, will bring me down and could affect my chances of successfuling transfering majors this upcoming May.
This, however, is only a small part of the reason I am appealing to drop CHEM 282. The most important reason involves the effect this course and my different life stressors had on my mental health peaking 2-3 weeks prior to the midterm. I was not sleeping, I was always worrying, I was fatigued at all hours of the day, overeating and sometimes would just want to be alone. I think the scariest part for me. was the effect it had on my academics. I remember sitting in the library for 3 hours staring at a blank sheet of paper not being able to concentrate and focus because I was so exhausted and stressed. This led me, ultimately, to seek the help of a personal counselor to discuss the negative effects my stress was having on me. I am being 100 percent honest when I say that this is the ultimate reason I need to drop this course. Mentally and physically, I am not capable of having my stress heightened to this point again, where it affects my health and my concentration in other courses. My health is very important to me, and this was an experience I am not capable of reliving. There are no other ways to put it. I am extremely concerned that by keeping this course, I will be prevented from excelling in my other courses and switching majors.
It seems so unfair to me that I am not able to drop a course because of extenuating circumstances I had to face after the drop deadline, which include dealing with my mental health, and receiving my first failed 25 midterm back.
In the future, I plan to take better care of my mental health, meet with a counselor regularly. I also plan to switch my major to psychology, an area that I am very passsionate about and eager to pursue. I also hope to take more time for self-care, and to reflect on my academic choices regularly to avoid a repeat of this situation. I believe hat by making my mental health a priority herein, I will be able to reflect on my academics more often, and as a result, will always be aware of important academic deadlines. I will ensure that by meeting with a counselor, I will learn ways to take care of myself and deal with stress in a healthy manner. Doing so, will help me to improve my focus, concentration and overall well being.
Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to read my letter and consider my request to appeal CHEM 282. I hope that by gaining a deeper understanding of my situation, you may be able to help me meet my future academic goals and help me improve my mental health.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Narvali