Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies),


I am appealing to request credit standings in some of my past courses and remove MATH121 from my transcript.

A previous appeal of mine to waive the requirement to withdraw for one year was accepted, and this appeal (which I was asked to submit separately) follows that course. As I have discussed, there were a number of extremely difficult circumstances over the past two years that had greatly affected my well-being, mental state, and academic performance. I went through an extremely difficult time that surrounded my sister¿¿s death anniversary, grandfather¿¿s death, and some severe family problems. Those issues were already tough to handle, but coupled with the stress of my first final exams and being alone and away from home, the way I handling myself led to some extremely poor decisions. On top of my terrible performance, I had broken many of my relationships made in university which brought on social isolation that eventually turned very ugly and caused me to lose some very close friends. There were a few episodes surrounding those incidents that were out of my control and greatly disrupted my academics ¿¿ during exam periods especially, my concentration levels were extremely low, and my ability to focus on necessary assignments and tasks was all but diminished. What started out as something minor that I thought I could ignore quickly escalated to the point where I stopped leaving the house and socializing, stopped eating, and had great difficulty sleeping. This became particularly detrimental to my studies since both my physical and mental states were very poor. Since I was facing extreme troubles both at home and at university, I had no support system to lean on during this time. Therefore, my terrible performance over the course of two years came as no surprise.

After a particularly bad period, I was convinced by a family member to seek out help from the campus¿¿ counseling services, and the process of slowly addressing both current issues and issues from the past began. There were still troubles concerning some peers ¿¿ enough to warrant a harassment complaint through my counselor ¿¿ but I had finally shared some of my concerns with someone who was able to help me; as it turns out, there were far more complex issues at play that I definitely would not have been able to tackle had I stuck to trying to fix things myself.

Though I have finally received the guidance and assistance needed to get back on track, two years of my undergraduate degree has passed, so my grades still aren¿¿t where they should be; however, my final marks for the 2014 Winter semester are still an improvement compared to my previous marks, and I truly believe I can continue with this pattern of improvement. Towards the end of this past year, I¿¿ve made progress in talking about my troubles, building a support system, developing tactics to deal with the stressors in my life, and immersing myself in things that are beneficial for my well-being; I am confident that, if I were given a little more time, I can pull myself back to my full potential. I hope it can also be recognized that when I was first accepted to Queen¿¿s University, I was an honors student at one of the top ranked high schools in Canada with an extensive list of extra-curriculars and volunteer experience. If there is one thing I can claim with absolute conviction, it is that my shortcomings as a student over the past two years are not due to lack of intelligence or capability, but rather lack of stability and support. I have finally received the help I needed and am now getting my life back on track.

In terms of my current appeal, I understand that I am requesting a high number of changes to my transcript. What I would really like to point out though is that aside from having extenuating circumstances that resulted in these poor grades, I have also come to realize ¿¿ with the help of my academic counselor ¿¿ that I was working towards a program (Life Sciences) that I have less interest and aptitude for, thus making it even more difficult to succeed with the material. I have discovered that my priorities and talents lie elsewhere, and I¿¿m hoping to turn my studies in a different direction. This all being said, I¿¿m hoping that because the courses I am requesting changes to are not relevant to my new degree, it will be acceptable to not have them affect my GPA in the future. I am truly frustrated at myself for not coming to these realizations sooner, but I would deeply regret it if my past misguidances impacted any possible opportunities to come. I know I will be able to make a positive difference in my final two undergraduate years but I still fear that my GPA, and thus academic worth, will not be worth enough if I don¿¿t try and adjust these past courses.
I¿¿ve been working really hard this summer to prepare myself for the coming year and make sure that I reach my full potential, both mentally and academically. I am so truly grateful for being able to come back to Queen¿¿s this year, and hope that with this final consideration from the university, I¿¿ll be able to make my undergraduate experience count.


Thank you very much,
Vrinda Ambwani