Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 4711
Submitted: June 11, 2018 at 8:29:30 PM
First Name: ShangNan
Last Name: Shi
Student Number: 20033757
Email: 16sss6@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BSc
Plan: MATH
Level of Study: 2
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Waive the requirement to withdraw for one year
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),
My name is ShangNan Shi, and my student number is 20033757. I am appealing the Faculty¿¿s decision that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s for a minimum of one year.
It is surprising that I¿¿ve already been studying at Queen¿¿s for two years now, and I¿¿ve never imagined myself in a situation like this. My family isn¿¿t wealthy. In fact, I had my first job when I was 14, and I worked as a tutor. My mom has been passively looking for jobs, and there was no luck, especially in BC. Even though she became a certified realtor a year ago, due to the intensive competition and she was new to the industry, I decided to find a part-time job, to reduce my mother¿¿s pressure on her back, so she wouldn¿¿t need to worry too much about me. I started working at Sakura Restaurant, located at Frontenac Mall, Kingston, as a part-time employee. I started during the first Christmas in Kingston, and almost worked every day: two full day on weekends, and after my last lecture during weekdays. I was aware of what it would take regarding my studies, but I was doing well during the first half of the school year. I understood all the materials and was able to catch up quickly on those more difficult topics. I was confident that I could handle my job and school at the same time. Then some family issue occurred. My grandfather passed away, and I haven¿¿t seen him for the past 4 years, and wouldn¿¿t be able to see him for the last time either. I got extremely depressed, so I stopped going to lectures, but continually went to work. Professor Keiko Aoki from Japanese 100 noticed my unusual behavior, and she helped me out during that time period, especially in Japanese Study. My grades weren¿¿t ideal for my first year. Even though I was more motivated during my second year of study, working is still a big deal for me, since I need to financially support myself to pay off my house rent, bills, food, even a portion of my tuition because I didn¿¿t get much from governmental loan. For the year of 2017, I made approximately 13,000 in 8 months at Sakura Resturant (T4 as supportive document). My course schedule was all planned out so that I would have one day with no lectures. I also enrolled in several online courses, hoping I would have a more flexible schedule. However, it didn¿¿t end up well, either. The materials are getting harder, and they require a lot more time investment, especially in those second-year Chemistry and Biology courses, and it¿¿s hard to keep up with the online courses, as I missed all the assignment and quizzes. Even though I stopped working during the exam period (for both December and April exams), I couldn¿¿t make up for the lack of engagement and time investment of my studies.
What would I do if my appeal is granted First of all, I have already talked to my mother about my situation. After some discussion and calculation, we¿¿ve come up to an agreement that she would support me 500 dollars each month for my future study. With the savings I have right now (about 6700, see supportive document), I don¿¿t have to work as much as I used to do. In other words, I can devote myself to my school work, with very minimal distraction. Then is my poor GPA score. I¿¿ve decided to retake a couple of my failed courses so that it would raise my GPA by a bit. I would expect to maintain my future grades around B level. It is something I¿¿m capable of achieving. In addition, I am enrolled in several summer courses. I¿¿ve been making a timeline for each course, marking the due dates for assignment and quizzes, and organizing my daily schedule so I could balance my study and break time. I believe there is no way I can fail, if I keep up with the good habits, and maintain them for the rest of my study at Queen¿¿s.
I would fully respect Faculty¿¿s final decision. However, I genuinely ask you, to reconsider, and give me another chance. I want to show you how determined I am. If I fail to complete the goal I set, I will accept the decision of withdrawal of three years.
Sincerely,
ShangNan S
June 4th, 2018
My name is ShangNan Shi, and my student number is 20033757. I am appealing the Faculty¿¿s decision that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s for a minimum of one year.
It is surprising that I¿¿ve already been studying at Queen¿¿s for two years now, and I¿¿ve never imagined myself in a situation like this. My family isn¿¿t wealthy. In fact, I had my first job when I was 14, and I worked as a tutor. My mom has been passively looking for jobs, and there was no luck, especially in BC. Even though she became a certified realtor a year ago, due to the intensive competition and she was new to the industry, I decided to find a part-time job, to reduce my mother¿¿s pressure on her back, so she wouldn¿¿t need to worry too much about me. I started working at Sakura Restaurant, located at Frontenac Mall, Kingston, as a part-time employee. I started during the first Christmas in Kingston, and almost worked every day: two full day on weekends, and after my last lecture during weekdays. I was aware of what it would take regarding my studies, but I was doing well during the first half of the school year. I understood all the materials and was able to catch up quickly on those more difficult topics. I was confident that I could handle my job and school at the same time. Then some family issue occurred. My grandfather passed away, and I haven¿¿t seen him for the past 4 years, and wouldn¿¿t be able to see him for the last time either. I got extremely depressed, so I stopped going to lectures, but continually went to work. Professor Keiko Aoki from Japanese 100 noticed my unusual behavior, and she helped me out during that time period, especially in Japanese Study. My grades weren¿¿t ideal for my first year. Even though I was more motivated during my second year of study, working is still a big deal for me, since I need to financially support myself to pay off my house rent, bills, food, even a portion of my tuition because I didn¿¿t get much from governmental loan. For the year of 2017, I made approximately 13,000 in 8 months at Sakura Resturant (T4 as supportive document). My course schedule was all planned out so that I would have one day with no lectures. I also enrolled in several online courses, hoping I would have a more flexible schedule. However, it didn¿¿t end up well, either. The materials are getting harder, and they require a lot more time investment, especially in those second-year Chemistry and Biology courses, and it¿¿s hard to keep up with the online courses, as I missed all the assignment and quizzes. Even though I stopped working during the exam period (for both December and April exams), I couldn¿¿t make up for the lack of engagement and time investment of my studies.
What would I do if my appeal is granted First of all, I have already talked to my mother about my situation. After some discussion and calculation, we¿¿ve come up to an agreement that she would support me 500 dollars each month for my future study. With the savings I have right now (about 6700, see supportive document), I don¿¿t have to work as much as I used to do. In other words, I can devote myself to my school work, with very minimal distraction. Then is my poor GPA score. I¿¿ve decided to retake a couple of my failed courses so that it would raise my GPA by a bit. I would expect to maintain my future grades around B level. It is something I¿¿m capable of achieving. In addition, I am enrolled in several summer courses. I¿¿ve been making a timeline for each course, marking the due dates for assignment and quizzes, and organizing my daily schedule so I could balance my study and break time. I believe there is no way I can fail, if I keep up with the good habits, and maintain them for the rest of my study at Queen¿¿s.
I would fully respect Faculty¿¿s final decision. However, I genuinely ask you, to reconsider, and give me another chance. I want to show you how determined I am. If I fail to complete the goal I set, I will accept the decision of withdrawal of three years.
Sincerely,
ShangNan S
June 4th, 2018
Academic Plan
Academic Plan: After two very unsuccessful years, I¿¿m now asked to be withdrawn for one year. In the past two years, I¿¿ve been concentrating on working rather than being wholly devoted to my study. Here is an Academic Plan that I shall follow and lead myself to future success.
My original goal was to pursue a degree in Biology and work in this field of study after graduating. Due to the low GPA, I couldn¿¿t choose Biology as my major last summer. Even though I¿¿m enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics, I was hoping to get into Faculty of Biology upper years. However, after the second year of studying, as I chose several courses in Biology and Anatomy, I don¿¿t think it is the right path for me. The evolutionary concepts are exciting to learn, but they aren¿¿t the most interesting to me. So, I¿¿ve decided to change my major into Computing Science. I¿¿m noticing the power and potential of AI in almost all fields right now, and I¿¿m really into programming. I¿¿ve learnt how to code a website when I was in Grade 8. In addition, Computing Science gives me broader choices after graduating. I don¿¿t know what it takes to change my major into CS, but if my GPA is too low to do so, I would be starting to choose relevant courses in the coming year, work hard, boost up my GPA, and change my major to Computing Science. I still wish to attend Queen¿¿s as a full-time student, as my major financial problem has been resolved, and I am now able to study without any distraction. Based on my decision of switching my major to a completely different field, I will need to start all over again. I¿¿ve looked into CS degree plan and has a good sense of what kind of courses I will be taking. In order for me to get started, I will be enrolled in two CS summer courses, CS 102 and CS 121. I fully understand that it will take another four years to get my degree, and I think I¿¿m ready for the new challenges.
I¿¿m also learning from my previous mistakes. I think the main reason why I did poorly in school is that I didn¿¿t do anything extra, such as in-depth reading, assignment, or any discussion on the forum. I only focused on the lecture notes and thought it was enough. Even though I didn¿¿t have any time to do so because of work, now I¿¿m seeing the benefits of doing those extra work through my summer courses. Those are great ways to review what I¿¿ve learned and further embracing the knowledge. Also, the cellphone was another distraction. My solution during last final exam period was using this app called Forest. The app allows you to grow a plant during a time period (from 10 minutes to max. 2 hours). While the plant is growing, I¿¿m not able to leave the screen of the app, or the plant will die. The app helped me to concentrate when I was reviewing for finals with no distraction from social media.
Lastly, my financial situation is also improving. After a brief discussion with my mother, we both agree on that I should focus on my school, and my part-time job should not be a distraction. My mother will support me 500 each month, plus the saving I have, which is about 6700, I should be able to support myself for at least another 3 years. My monthly budget is approximately 800. My roommates have my utility and internet fees covered because I volunteer for all the housework. I will also be applying for student loan from StudentAidBC, as well as bursaries, if eligible.
I believe I¿¿m now in a place where I just climbed out of a deep valley, and ready to move on. I am someone who¿¿s capable of doing well in my study. I graduated from IB diploma, and the last two years of high school was chaotic, but I still managed to do well in the most challenging program in high school level. I shall strictly follow the goals I set here in the Academic Plan if I¿¿m given a chance to continue my study. If I successfully waived the decision, I promise you a completely different student, that will do well in school and will be active in the Queen¿¿s Community. If I fail to do so and show no evidence of improving, I will accept the decision of withdrawal of three years.
My original goal was to pursue a degree in Biology and work in this field of study after graduating. Due to the low GPA, I couldn¿¿t choose Biology as my major last summer. Even though I¿¿m enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics, I was hoping to get into Faculty of Biology upper years. However, after the second year of studying, as I chose several courses in Biology and Anatomy, I don¿¿t think it is the right path for me. The evolutionary concepts are exciting to learn, but they aren¿¿t the most interesting to me. So, I¿¿ve decided to change my major into Computing Science. I¿¿m noticing the power and potential of AI in almost all fields right now, and I¿¿m really into programming. I¿¿ve learnt how to code a website when I was in Grade 8. In addition, Computing Science gives me broader choices after graduating. I don¿¿t know what it takes to change my major into CS, but if my GPA is too low to do so, I would be starting to choose relevant courses in the coming year, work hard, boost up my GPA, and change my major to Computing Science. I still wish to attend Queen¿¿s as a full-time student, as my major financial problem has been resolved, and I am now able to study without any distraction. Based on my decision of switching my major to a completely different field, I will need to start all over again. I¿¿ve looked into CS degree plan and has a good sense of what kind of courses I will be taking. In order for me to get started, I will be enrolled in two CS summer courses, CS 102 and CS 121. I fully understand that it will take another four years to get my degree, and I think I¿¿m ready for the new challenges.
I¿¿m also learning from my previous mistakes. I think the main reason why I did poorly in school is that I didn¿¿t do anything extra, such as in-depth reading, assignment, or any discussion on the forum. I only focused on the lecture notes and thought it was enough. Even though I didn¿¿t have any time to do so because of work, now I¿¿m seeing the benefits of doing those extra work through my summer courses. Those are great ways to review what I¿¿ve learned and further embracing the knowledge. Also, the cellphone was another distraction. My solution during last final exam period was using this app called Forest. The app allows you to grow a plant during a time period (from 10 minutes to max. 2 hours). While the plant is growing, I¿¿m not able to leave the screen of the app, or the plant will die. The app helped me to concentrate when I was reviewing for finals with no distraction from social media.
Lastly, my financial situation is also improving. After a brief discussion with my mother, we both agree on that I should focus on my school, and my part-time job should not be a distraction. My mother will support me 500 each month, plus the saving I have, which is about 6700, I should be able to support myself for at least another 3 years. My monthly budget is approximately 800. My roommates have my utility and internet fees covered because I volunteer for all the housework. I will also be applying for student loan from StudentAidBC, as well as bursaries, if eligible.
I believe I¿¿m now in a place where I just climbed out of a deep valley, and ready to move on. I am someone who¿¿s capable of doing well in my study. I graduated from IB diploma, and the last two years of high school was chaotic, but I still managed to do well in the most challenging program in high school level. I shall strictly follow the goals I set here in the Academic Plan if I¿¿m given a chance to continue my study. If I successfully waived the decision, I promise you a completely different student, that will do well in school and will be active in the Queen¿¿s Community. If I fail to do so and show no evidence of improving, I will accept the decision of withdrawal of three years.
Documentation
Professional Letter: Suppot Decument from Zhen.pdf
Professional Letter Detail: A signed document from my supervisor from work
Document: ShangNan_T4 2017.pdf
Documentation Detail: My T4 indicates my earnings in the course of 8 months
Document: Account Balance_Shaun Shi.png
Documentation Detail: My account balance