Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (studies),
I am writing to you today with regards to a requirement to withdraw for one year due to poor academic standing. I understand that my cumulative GPA over the last three years has fallen below a 1.6 thus leading to the requirement to withdraw. During the first two and a half years of my career at Queen¿¿s University I was dealing with some serious personal motivation issues that were caused by many factors including a very rough childhood at home. I was battling depression and serious self-worth doubts. This made it extraordinarily difficult to focus on school as in all honesty I did not see the point. I was forced into coming to school when I was not ready due to family circumstances. Throughout those two and a half years I learned a lot about myself and how to deal with my personal issues. I went from barely passing a course and struggling to perform basic daily tasks due to lack of motivation, to someone who eats healthily, has friends, exercises and most importantly understand the value of education and works hard for it. Over the Christmas of 2017 between the fall and winter term I turned my life around by doing research on how to improve myself and actively employing my new knowledge. I ended toxic friendships and started new positive ones. For the first time in years I said enough is enough and turned myself around. I worked extraordinarily hard in the winter term of 2018 and ended up achieving the grades of B+,B- and a C. Although these grades are not incredible, to me they are. I genuinely understood course concepts and felt like I was part of a class as opposed to a bystander. These grades were not high enough to offset the damage done by my previous grades which is unfortunate.
I feel that if I am required to withdraw for a year my life may go back to the way it was before. School gave me a new purpose once I actually engaged in it. I have made so many great friends over the last six months and become a new person. Financially speaking if I take a year off I do not know what I will do, I will have no money coming from home or access to student loans. I will also lose my parents health benefits which I rely heavily on. I believe that with my newly learned skills and motivation I will be very successful in my education. I would like to one day pursue a masters and contribute back to the community that helped me grow so much. I rarely ask for second chances but this is one point in my life where I feel it may be make it or break it for me. I am one hundred percent committed to being the best I can be and working really hard to achieve my goals.