Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Lyndsay Duffin (10151440). I am entering third year at Queen's. I apologize for missing the September 15th deadline. I did not know the appeal process existed until last Thursday. After last semesters grades were released I knew I needed to talk to advisors, but I could not even call until I returned on September 10th because I worked every day in the summer at 9:00am. I have been seeing many officials since last Monday about my grade issues including academic advisors and Chair of Undergraduate Studies in Psychology, Jill Atkinson. I learned about this option but they did not tell me there was a deadline and kept referring me to new people. Finally last Friday another academic advisor told me they would confirm how the psychology department considers CRs as I had been told two different things. I still had not heard anything from them, so today I decided to complete the appeal. I then saw the due date. Had I known, I would have met this deadline.

The reason I would like to apply for credit standing is because my performance was inhibited last year due to several combined factors. I took on too many extra curricular activities with leadership positions, I had a bad experience in one extra curricular, and I was diagnosed with essential tremors (ET).

Last year I wanted to become involved with activities because I believed it would show me to be a well-rounded person on resumes and for future schooling. I was already becoming the co-president for AMS group Queen's Helping Haiti (QHH) and a Gael leader in orientation, but I wanted to join more. I took on other volunteer work as the Vice President of the Queen's World University Services of Canada (WUSC) committee and a marketing chair for the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS). All these positions put me in a place of leadership. I found myself devoting all my time to these extracurriculars. Had I not been the leader of these and had others relying on me, I would have resigned, but I felt too guilty to do this.

This second part is difficult to explain. Last year, I had many problems with my co-president of QHH. Throughout the year I received text messages from the person that were demeaning to me personally and professionally. This caused a lot of stress to me. I kept it secret because sharing it would show bad leadership and teamwork. However, after the messages peaked in severity just before reading week I made the decision to finish the year and then step down. I kept working with the group until the end because I felt guilty leaving those that did not know what was happening. At the end of the year in late March the person and another member began harassing me to get the club key that was issued in my name and began threatening to report me to the AMS if I did not comply. I had meetings with several AMS officials and they explained I was not at fault as it was my key, and that I could go before the student council to report these issues; however, at the time I did not feel comfortable being in the same place as them. The AMS officials also sent emails to the two members saying that I was not to be contacted any more and the messages ceased. This ordeal made me work very hard for the club to try to cease the harassment, and took time away from me at the end of the year to try to resolve the issue.

Finally, I have been diagnosed with the neurological disorder ET. Since grade ten I have shown occasional symptoms and since then they have increased in quantity and severity. It began as a small shake in my one finger, and now my hands always have a slight tremor with random shaking fits where I am unable to write and sometimes even type on a computer. These extreme fits have been occurring since the end of 2015. I cannot write for hours at a time due to my hands being weak, unable to grasp my pencil, and shaking. It is especially bad if it occurs before a due date, during tests, and during exams. I spent many hours last school year visiting doctors. After a few walk-in-clinics, I visited Queen's Student Health where one doctor referred me to Dr. Christopher Hyson in London, Ontario where I am from. I had an appointment with Dr. Hyson when I returned home on May 9th after exams. ET is progressive and will continue to worsen, as I get older. There are several medications and surgeries that can treat this; however, for several reasons that would be too long to explain here I cannot take treatment at this time. Dr. Hyson and I have set up yearly appointments for us to monitor the situation and treat it as it worsens.

There is no single explanation for my lack of performance last year. It was a year of turmoil as I tried to recover only to be met with more complications. I have now made several major changes in my life. The only extra curricular I am in is as one of the four co-presidents of WUSC. So I share one quarter of the responsibility. I am also not working during the school year. I drink more water and avoid scheduling classes that occur late in the evening, as ET is worsened by dehydration and lack of sleep. Finally, due to my tremors I will speak to my professors and TAs about using laptops to take notes, and I am planning on contacting accessibility services for written tests and exams so that I might have more time to complete them.

I believe my grades will increase significantly this year now that I have more time to complete the work. I do not believe my grades last year, which were mostly Cs and a couple Ds, are representative of what I am capable of. My grades significantly dropped from first year in which I received mostly Bs and a couple Cs. Even in first year I did not believe that was my best effort. I really am looking forward to improving this year.

I would like to request that two of my courses from last years have their grades changed to CR. They are PSYC 271 in which I received a 1.0/4.3 and PSYC 215 in which I received a 0.7/4.3. These are my worst grades and have significantly brought down my GPA. They are influencing me moving forward in Queen's and will most likely severely affect me in applying to grad school programs should I choose to do one. I want to move on from last year and do well, but I do not feel I can if these two grades continue to plague my transcript. I am asking for a second chance. Thank you for your time.