Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Queens University and the Associate Dean,

The Request
I am appealing for a late drop of SPAN 111 (Fall Term, 2017)

Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances
Anxiety has been a pertinent issue in my family, and it has been something I have had to manage throughout my entire life. As of late, my anxiety has increased in response to SPAN 111. I chose this course out of general interest with the belief that it would be enjoyable for my first semester of university. The stress that I have felt through my enrollment in this course is difficult, especially once I realized that it had no real impact on what I wanted to major in. The following should express the stress that this course has caused me during the last twelve weeks, and why my extenuating circumstances is means for appeal. As well as why the situation at hand is enough to have this course dropped from my permanent transcript.
Speaking in public has consistently been my worst trigger for anxiety, and unfortunately a large part of this class involves the professor calling out the names of students from the class list and asking us questions directly. It is entirely random who is selected for each question, and being subjected to this put me constantly on edge. Any time where I have to speak in public, I require a lot of practice and mental preparation before I am confident enough to address the class. This course challenged me because there was nothing I could do to prepare or avoid being called on. Participation is a significant part of our final grade so I was put in a very difficult situation where my grades have suffered due to my inability to answer questions sufficiently in class. I thought that having more exposure to this type of situation would help me, and that with time I would feel more comfortable, but that was not the case. Public speaking was difficult for me before, but it does not compare to to speak publicly in a foreign language. Not only was I unsure about my response but I was also uncertain about every single word I said. Furthermore, the majority of the students in this class are upper years enrolled only to supply a prerequisite for their major, not knowing anyone my age has been extremely isolating which further exacerbated my anxiety. This situation made it even harder to reach out for assistance. This classroom setting made me feel inadequate compared to my peers, and consistently uneasy for the full duration of the class. I constantly left the class feeling discouraged and upset with my progress, especially when I felt like everyone could understand things faster than I could. The most difficult part about the situation I faced was wanting to get help and reach out to the professor when I started to struggle, but due to my overwhelming anxiety regarding asking for help and being afraid to fail during my first year made it impossible.
When I first thought about dropping the course it was at the end of September, and the only factor was my unease in the classroom. However, this feeling continued after the first test at the end of October. By the time the deadline had passed, I had only received one evaluation of my learning (37), and although it was unsatisfactory in my eyes, it was only one mark out of many and I wanted to persevere. When the deadline passed I still felt motivated and I continued to work hard outside the classroom. My online work and assignments were improving (A's and B's) but I could not transfer the information I had learned to the classroom due to the anxiety provoking situation. Since then I have found the course to become progressively more difficult to get through, and my anxiety has reached a point where I feel physically sick each time I attend class.

Future Plan
I am very grateful for the help I have received, for I believe that through the collaborated efforts with academic advising, I have set up a plan that will help me succeed in the future. During the holidays, I will receive academic testing to see if any learning difficulties may be related to my problems balancing my work load. I hope to have regular check ins with peer support, so if a situation like this were to arise again, it can be handled much more efficiently. During the winter semester, I will be making appointments with the personal advisors on Queen's campus to manage my anxiety, and learn skills that will help me cope in the long run. I have realized that at this point in my academic career, taking four courses is what is best for me, and my current plan for the next semester will take this in to account. To remain on top of my academics, I plan to take a transferrable credit from my local university this summer. Although this has been a very difficult situation, my eyes have been opened to the amount of support and resources that are available to me as a first-year student. I have realized that my success lies with in my hands, and that there is a real opportunity to succeed if I remain pro-active. I am so thankful for the information I have learned in this process, and I hope that my learning experience will not negatively affect my academic career in the future.

Thank you for your consideration,
Katelyn McAulay