Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
I am writing to request a credit standing appeal for my final grades in ECON 212 (Fall 2015), ECON 222 (Winter 2016) and ECON 223 (Fall 2016). I recognize that I am rather late with requesting this appeal, however, I simply had no knowledge that such resources and options were available until very recently upon consulting with academic advisors about my chronic mental health issues. I was advised that my conditions were serious and considered an extenuating circumstance, and was then directed that an appeal would be appropriate.
Towards the end of my first year at Queen¿¿s, I had begun to develop self-esteem and anxiety issues leading up to depression. During my summer back at home, I ate very little to almost nothing, I also worked so frequently my parents and friends were unable to help. Subsequently, I had lost over 40lbs within two to three months along with losing a substantial amount of my muscle mass and hair. Throughout the following school years, my mental and physical health persisted to deteriorate, I had barely eaten or slept, which impaired my ability to concentrate. Upon visiting to my family doctor, Elizabeth Sochocka, results from my blood tests indicated many deficiencies, particularly low iron to the point of being classified as anemic. Essentially, someone whom is struggling with the condition of anemia does not have enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to their body's tissues, as a result I was constantly tired and weak. Dr. Sochocka had advised me to take iron supplements along with eating an iron rich diet. Although I had sincerely taken this advice, my body now had difficulty absorbing iron regardless of how much of it I had consumed, till this day, this continues to have an impact on my health. At the same time, my academic goals have always been my priority, I have attended every lecture with a few exemptions of illness and the majority of my time was dedicated to my studies. However, my anemia had interfered with my ability to concentrate and sleep. I was interested in pursuing an economics minor but had not taken calculus within my first year. I enrolled in ECON 212 and ECON 222 at the same time I was taking my first university level math class MATH 126. I recall Professor Art Stewart advising the class within the first week of school, that a background in calculus is essential for this class. Having previously done well in math and taken calculus in high school, I was under the assumption that I would do well in the course. Furthermore, mid semester of ECON 212, having done a few quizzes and a mid year exam, I was achieving a rather average mark in the class. However, as the class progressed past mid semester, the concepts became much more advanced than what I was currently learning in MATH 126 and I began to struggle to concentrate and make sense of these concepts regardless of how many hours I dedicated to studying. Finally, I had done poorly in the ECON 212 exam, which was worth 50 of my final grade despite doing well in MATH 126. Doing well in MATH 126 was enough incentive for me to continue to endeavour to complete an ECON minor within second semester (Winter 2016) and take ECON 222. Ultimately, I was in the exact same situation, where by mid semester my grades within ECON 222 were on the lower side of average and I believed that if I were to put in extra time and effort I would be just fine. However, struggling with concentration alongside anemia, with the final exam weighing 50 and the concepts becoming more challenging towards the end of the semester, my final grade again suffered. I was distraught by both of these final grades, which further induced my irregular eating and sleeping patterns. Continually struggling with anemia, I was convinced that if my diet and sleep were to improve I could be successful in economics. As a coping mechanism to deal with my previous poor grades in economics, I decided to enroll in ECON 223, which focuses more on theory less so on the mathematics side of economics. At this point, I began to develop anxiety overall towards economics, my mental and physical health persisted to deteriorate due to pressure, again I had been unable to eat or sleep.
Through my challenging experience I have learnt that taking care of my mental welling-being both physically and mentally is vital to my academic success. This includes maintaining regular meetings with my doctor, along with regular blood tests to ensure I am on the right track in terms of my diet. Also dedicating more time to physical exercise and preparing my meals accordingly to include both iron and vitamin C, in order to help my body absorb iron. Additionally, it may be helpful to take a lighter course load in order to better aid my health and academic goals.