Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Attention: Associate Dean of Studies, Queen¿¿s University, Kingston, Ontario

Request: I am appealing to drop GRMN 101 (Fall 2017).

I am asking for the appeal to drop this class for reasons of extenuating circumstances beyond my control.

Before I continue with what feels like the exact same text I used when appealing to drop a class (PHIL 153 ¿¿ winter 2017) this past May, I would like to offer up notice of my past appeal, which is almost identical, so everything is in the open. After what I thought was a successful summer for me with work and therapy, combined with living at home with my parents, so my diet was controlled, and my general pace of living was slowed down compared to my first year of University, I felt ready to participate and have a good year. I was also taking prescribed medication daily that really helps me by slowing things down and feeling less anxiety.

I would also like to point out that at my father¿¿s urging, I dropped all my winter classes for 2018 and returned home to live and begin again on a plan for therapy and living so that I can return to Queen¿¿s in September 2018 and continue my education. Initially I thought of taking one or two courses online, but I decided against that right now. Doing classes online though may need to come into play in the future so I am keeping that avenue open to my mind. Hopefully during the eight months I am away and working on my health and on my return, it will result in a positive change for me.

With the present appeal, my circumstances are again the same mental illness. I found myself depressed again with anxiety which I think to be what keeps from going to classes at times.
I did not reach out to anyone or even make contact with the wellness centre like I did last time. I was prescribed medication by my family doctor in the summer and I am required to take a daily dose. Shortly after I arrived at school this past September for unacceptable reasons, I stopped taking my meds periodically and then eventually altogether and that propelled me to return to what appears to be my systematic failure.

For GRMN 101, I am asking for the appeal to drop the class as I found myself again acting irrationally and hardly attending. I believe my last attendance was early October and once again I could not bring myself to drop it via SOLUS. A simple 5-minute exercise that saves everyone time and effort later. The only answer I can offer is an unsatisfactory, ¿¿I don¿¿t know why¿. What is even more painful (for my parents) is not just the cost of the class but also the book for this class, why would I purchase it and almost immediately stop going I believe I only attended 4 classes in the first four weeks, so I used very little of the Professor¿¿s time or resources in this class.

I am finding that yoga and meditation are helping me immensely. I am not relying on verbal therapy alone this time as I find it seems to help in the moment but doesn¿¿t stay with me day to day. It is unrealistic to attend sessions of verbal therapy more than once per week so finding alternative strengths to rely upon is necessary for me. However, I do need to take my prescribed daily medicine as it is a big factor. Another element is mixing the pills with alcohol isn¿¿t a good idea so that is how I sometimes get off track. I am not a heavy drinker at all but there are times when having a beer at University is hard to avoid. If I do have or know I am going to have a beer, I don¿¿t take my pills. It is going to be up to me how to handle my own situations, no matter what the difficulty level.


Please consider my appeal to drop on its own merits as it is genuine. It would also help in keeping my GPA above 1.6 which of course would avoid academic probation. I have every intention of trying one more time and coming back in September 2018 with a plan being worked on now so that I will eventually receive my Queens BA and beyond.

Jackson Bionda / 20019266