Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear associate deans of arts and science:
I am appealing for a late drop in Biology 102 and German 101 from Fall 2015, as well as credit standing for French 150 from Fall 2015 and Winter 2016.
During my first year at Queen¿¿s I was told to take as many courses as I could. However some of the courses I took did not go very well for me. I struggle with anxiety, and this year I fought with it a lot. My anxiety causes me to have issues taking exams, thus the reason I did not do well on almost every test or exam I wrote. My family this year was having many issues financially, which also impacted my performance in these courses. I learned a lot about my father and how unsupportive he is and I learned how much my mother struggles to keep our family together. I was under a lot of pressure and fell into symptoms of depression. I had a very hard time studying and focusing on my school work, I barely even spent time with my friends. I also worked all year because I knew that in my second year no one was going to be able to pay for my tuition, books, or living expenses. I had these thoughts of my family and everything depending on me and how much I worked that I could not focus. My tests kept coming back worse every time and I just slowly caved in. My anxiety and symptoms of depression greatly affected how I performed in these courses this year.
I entered into the Bounce Back program at Queen¿¿s, and started to seek counseling as well, to try and do better in my second semester. I did bring up my grade in French and managed to do well in my other courses too. I also dropped Biology because I realized that I was not going to pass, and it was not what I wanted to do in my future. Music is my greatest passion, and I¿¿m really good at it. I auditioned for the music program and the only thing holding me back is my GPA. I plan to continue in music at Queen¿¿s and become a music teacher someday.
Thank you,
Nicole Michel