Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear, Associate Dean (Studies)

I am currently writing this letter appealing to drop the courses MUSC 171 (Fall, 2016) and SOCY 226 (Fall, 2016) and requesting credit standing for the courses SOCY 275 (Fall, 2016) and SOCY 210 (Fall, 2016).

Looking upon the experiences of the previous semester (Fall 2016), my ability to both excel academically and continually participate in everyday life was severely hindered by both feelings of depression and anxiety starting in October of 2016. These feelings of depression ultimately changed my demeanour towards not only my academic goals and performance, but also my overall care for life. The loss of structure and importance towards both my academics and life took so much away from me mentally. I found myself finding it difficult or unable to care about anything, not just my academics but also in the social and personal aspects of my life. This emotionless state made it extremely difficult to prosper and do well academically as my inability to care lead to my poor attendance in class and lectures, finding it difficult to focus when working and studying, and loss of desire to participate academically. I lost the desire to do anything; participate in social activities, do well in school, fix my problems. During the previous semester, I lost my sense of self and lost all care for the things that are important to me such as my future implications, my family, friends and education. In retrospect of last semester and the feelings I had in relation to my academic performance, it extremely affected me, I did not see the purpose or desire to get out of bed and going to class, I found it extremely difficult at times to create care and focus to towards any of my academics and lastly, I was emotionless to the negative outcomes that were a result of my carelessness. In turn this carelessness and emotionless, created a deep hole for myself, ruining my academics, as failures and bad marks did not affect me. Coming into this semester (Winter 2017), instead of allowing myself to continually fall and self-destruct, I have sought after the proper mental health care and assistance that I need, and since the beginning of this semester, I have been seeing a therapist bi-weekly opening about my feelings and what is affecting me. As a result of receiving the proper care I needed, it is clear to see the positive results that have come from it. I have seen improvements in both my grades, my lifestyle, and my ability to motivate myself. Although I still deal with feelings of anxiety, the works of both seeing a therapist and changing my lifestyle has come to restructure me and positively change me as an individual, shining light on the important things in life and highlighting the hope and drive within myself. This change of perspective has ultimately come to highlight all the destruction I have done to myself in the previous semester, bringing forth all the problems I created for myself, such as failing grades and a low GPA, but this change in perspective has also changed me as an individual, as now I have the fight, desire and drive to fight and fix the problems I have caused, rather than just letting it slip away and forgetting about it.
In terms of my future implications and goals academically, I plan on continuing my education at Queens University and completing my Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. Regarding the courses, I have requested to be dropped and/or put on credit standing, I plan on retaking all the courses, as my change in perspective made me realize the importance of what I lost, and that is my education. With new found desire and drive, I want to take on the education that I lost, to not only gain the education and raise my GPA, but also to show that the actions, emotions and lack of care that I displayed last semester is not who I am. In discussion of future implications towards my mental health, I plan on continuing my regular meetings with my therapist, as it gives me an outlet to release all the built-up emotion within me and continuing to live a positive lifestyle, seeking the emotional support from family and friends that I need, and cutting the negativity or things that brought me down. Academically, my sense of being restructured both academically and personally, has led to a positive trend that I plan on continuing. Unlike last semester, I have been going to all my lectures and tutorials, been in contact with both my TAs and professors, seeking the academic help I need to improve. As a result of this positive trend, I have seen positive results that come from them, I am receiving better grades, understanding the concepts taught, and overall more connected to my education and academics than ever before. Hopefully, you can consider my appeal letter, as I have genuinely worked so hard to improve both mentally and academically this semester, and do not want to be penalized or forced to take a year of leave, due to the actions, feelings and carelessness that I was unable to cope with in the previous semester.

Sincerely Yours,
Daryl Balaoing ¿¿ 10194066
15dgb@queensu.ca
Faculty of Arts - Sociology