Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 2315
Submitted: June 3, 2016 at 7:39:59 PM
First Name: Daniel
Last Name: Macgregor
Student Number: 10150535
Email: 14djm@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BA
Plan: ENSC
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies), Johanne Benard
I am writing to appeal my academic dismissal to withdraw for 1 year from Queens University, Faculty of Arts and Science. I was not completely surprised when I found out the information of my dismissal request, as my marks were borderline, but was very upset that it was a reality. I hope you review my appeal and see that I can benefit from the help at Queens ¿¿Student Wellness services and that I eagerly want to improve my academics going forward.
This past year and a half at Queens University has been a complicated one. In latter first year I started experiencing discomfort and physical pain through my stomach that would come and go. These stomach pains would affect my eating habits severely at times, causing me to skip meals because of the nausea. I did not get things checked out then because it wasn¿¿t always present, and I hoped it would go away. This year however, I would not only have pain and reflux issues, but would throw up when under tremendous stress. Initially, not knowing the cause of these pains worried me more, making me think it was something serious. The combination of stresses at school, health and home life started to really affect my work. I started to develop heightened forms of stress, which lead to anxiety. Throughout, second year, I was seeking medical help for my stomach issues and given a prescription to help heal. It was not getting any better, and I had to see a specialist for a scope. This condition started to noticeably affect my schoolwork and outside of my classes in a negative way. Coming close to the end of the first term I started worsening and felt forms of depression. I didn¿¿t want to see my friends and had let my grades skip because I couldn¿¿t focus. I know I didn¿¿t seek out help earlier, and I should have. I kept it to myself for too long I did seek help from my parents and tried to turn my second semester around. I did so, in a way that I was somewhat pleased with. Sadly this ending effort just missed the mark and resulted in the letter I received on May 24th 2016. I am currently working with a psychotherapist to help me cope with my mental health problems as well as my school stresses and plan to get help from the school as well through the Student Wellness Service Centre in addition to the Writing Centre for my academics.
I love Queens University and I believe that through the help I have received for my physical health in the past few months, and now mental health, it will help me to achieve my academic goals I have set. I believe I can turn my grades around for the better. Before I received this notice of dismissal I was actually planning on taking a semester off from Queens Academics (but possibly taking an online course) and continue with my therapist. My thought was to start back in January. Taking a couple of months to focus on my mental health and try to come back to Queens with new coping methods and a better attitude toward my program. Just as I did in my last term at Queens I plan to reduce my course load to help me focus on certain courses better as I found it worked in this past term. I think it would cause as reduction in anxiety to lower course load and help me focus on my overall health.
As a future plan I am hoping to take the first semester off, focusing on resolving health issues and improving my coping skills before I return if I am allowed to do so. I have letters from my therapist and G.P., however, some letters may have to be submitted at a later date.
Please understand that my low GPA is a reflection of a combination of negative distractions and that I am not a bad student. I plan to turn my university experience around for the better after I help myself. I hope you will give me a second chance. Thank you for considering my appeal.
Sincerely,
Daniel Macgregor ¿¿ 10150535
I am writing to appeal my academic dismissal to withdraw for 1 year from Queens University, Faculty of Arts and Science. I was not completely surprised when I found out the information of my dismissal request, as my marks were borderline, but was very upset that it was a reality. I hope you review my appeal and see that I can benefit from the help at Queens ¿¿Student Wellness services and that I eagerly want to improve my academics going forward.
This past year and a half at Queens University has been a complicated one. In latter first year I started experiencing discomfort and physical pain through my stomach that would come and go. These stomach pains would affect my eating habits severely at times, causing me to skip meals because of the nausea. I did not get things checked out then because it wasn¿¿t always present, and I hoped it would go away. This year however, I would not only have pain and reflux issues, but would throw up when under tremendous stress. Initially, not knowing the cause of these pains worried me more, making me think it was something serious. The combination of stresses at school, health and home life started to really affect my work. I started to develop heightened forms of stress, which lead to anxiety. Throughout, second year, I was seeking medical help for my stomach issues and given a prescription to help heal. It was not getting any better, and I had to see a specialist for a scope. This condition started to noticeably affect my schoolwork and outside of my classes in a negative way. Coming close to the end of the first term I started worsening and felt forms of depression. I didn¿¿t want to see my friends and had let my grades skip because I couldn¿¿t focus. I know I didn¿¿t seek out help earlier, and I should have. I kept it to myself for too long I did seek help from my parents and tried to turn my second semester around. I did so, in a way that I was somewhat pleased with. Sadly this ending effort just missed the mark and resulted in the letter I received on May 24th 2016. I am currently working with a psychotherapist to help me cope with my mental health problems as well as my school stresses and plan to get help from the school as well through the Student Wellness Service Centre in addition to the Writing Centre for my academics.
I love Queens University and I believe that through the help I have received for my physical health in the past few months, and now mental health, it will help me to achieve my academic goals I have set. I believe I can turn my grades around for the better. Before I received this notice of dismissal I was actually planning on taking a semester off from Queens Academics (but possibly taking an online course) and continue with my therapist. My thought was to start back in January. Taking a couple of months to focus on my mental health and try to come back to Queens with new coping methods and a better attitude toward my program. Just as I did in my last term at Queens I plan to reduce my course load to help me focus on certain courses better as I found it worked in this past term. I think it would cause as reduction in anxiety to lower course load and help me focus on my overall health.
As a future plan I am hoping to take the first semester off, focusing on resolving health issues and improving my coping skills before I return if I am allowed to do so. I have letters from my therapist and G.P., however, some letters may have to be submitted at a later date.
Please understand that my low GPA is a reflection of a combination of negative distractions and that I am not a bad student. I plan to turn my university experience around for the better after I help myself. I hope you will give me a second chance. Thank you for considering my appeal.
Sincerely,
Daniel Macgregor ¿¿ 10150535
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: Daniel Macgregor
10150535
Academic Plan
Throughout this academic year and after my school year I have had to do a lot of self-reflection in order to realize what problems had occurred and what to do to help resolve them. My mental and physical health has been a correlating issue and a big distraction in connection with my academic studies. I have been working to make sure that I am getting the help I need now. My goal is to know how to deal with certain situations throughout the year which I am seeking help for, as well as utilizing the academic and non-academic programs Queens has to offer, so that I can achieve my full potential, which I do not believe has been utilized yet.
Course of Study
When enrolling in classes I will be trying to focus on Environmental studies courses, as I am very passionate about the subject material and courses that the subject encompasses. As of this year I was having trouble deciding on a major but with my course load this year having many environmental courses, I came to the realization that this is what I¿¿d like to major in. So I would like to focus on Environmental Studies and choose that as my major going forward in my university experience.
Part Time Studies
Within re-planning my academic goals I believe continuing to take a smaller course load would be very beneficial. It allows me, as it has in the past term, to focus on the specific courses without the additional anxiety of a full course load. I plan on taking 3-4 courses per term to keep myself productive but also to help focus on those courses with greater detail and confidence. I would need to seek advice from an advisor about this, to see if it is possible.
Strategies for Success
I am fairly confident that I can identify the majority of the problems that stood in my way during my time at Queens. My mental health and mental stress were some of the biggest factors that I believe affected my schoolwork. As it was not easy for me to recognize by myself right away, I am now in counseling and therapy sessions in order to get better. This will help to change my perspective and my own attitude and my university experience. In addition my physical health was a constant worry throughout the year but I am now on medication and following up with the specialist to get better. New additions to my plan would be to join programs like the Wellness Centre at Queens as well as the Writing Centre and frequent meetings with counselors (at Queens and not) to make sure I am on the right path.
10150535
Academic Plan
Throughout this academic year and after my school year I have had to do a lot of self-reflection in order to realize what problems had occurred and what to do to help resolve them. My mental and physical health has been a correlating issue and a big distraction in connection with my academic studies. I have been working to make sure that I am getting the help I need now. My goal is to know how to deal with certain situations throughout the year which I am seeking help for, as well as utilizing the academic and non-academic programs Queens has to offer, so that I can achieve my full potential, which I do not believe has been utilized yet.
Course of Study
When enrolling in classes I will be trying to focus on Environmental studies courses, as I am very passionate about the subject material and courses that the subject encompasses. As of this year I was having trouble deciding on a major but with my course load this year having many environmental courses, I came to the realization that this is what I¿¿d like to major in. So I would like to focus on Environmental Studies and choose that as my major going forward in my university experience.
Part Time Studies
Within re-planning my academic goals I believe continuing to take a smaller course load would be very beneficial. It allows me, as it has in the past term, to focus on the specific courses without the additional anxiety of a full course load. I plan on taking 3-4 courses per term to keep myself productive but also to help focus on those courses with greater detail and confidence. I would need to seek advice from an advisor about this, to see if it is possible.
Strategies for Success
I am fairly confident that I can identify the majority of the problems that stood in my way during my time at Queens. My mental health and mental stress were some of the biggest factors that I believe affected my schoolwork. As it was not easy for me to recognize by myself right away, I am now in counseling and therapy sessions in order to get better. This will help to change my perspective and my own attitude and my university experience. In addition my physical health was a constant worry throughout the year but I am now on medication and following up with the specialist to get better. New additions to my plan would be to join programs like the Wellness Centre at Queens as well as the Writing Centre and frequent meetings with counselors (at Queens and not) to make sure I am on the right path.
Documentation
Professional Letter: Daniel M. Letter for Admissions.pdf
Document: To whom it may concern.docx