Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

My name is Sujith Ganeshamoorthy and I am writing this letter of appeal in hopes that I may be reconsidered for enrollment for the 2018-2019 academic year given the mental health struggles that I have been experiencing. During my first year at Queen¿¿s, as a mature student entering at a later age than many of my peers, I struggled to find my place and adjust into the university environment. I found it very difficult to adapt from a work environment to a school environment. This led to visits with councilors at Queen's wellness center, where I sincerely hoped to find comfort and coping strategies. I also was a part of the Bounce Back program, where my mentor was incredibly helpful, but despite all his efforts and spending countless hours in the library, I was unable to pass my courses. After taking the summer off in my first year I came back motivated and ready to tackle my courses with the belief that I could achieve my goals of succeeding in school. I have tried so many different learning strategies and had reached a point of hopelessness. During my second year, after my family encouraged me to finally seek out help, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety and was told that this has hindered my ability to concentrate while studying, enjoy learning, and overall just enjoy life. My physician has since prescribed medication to cope and I have been in the process of finding the right medication and dose for my personal needs. I am currently still waiting for further help from a specialist. I have been taking medication on a daily basis which has considerably helped but I understand that this is an ongoing process to achieve good mental health. However, I have been feeling better with the help of the medication and support of my family, friends, and partner and with the support of my doctor, as mentioned in the attached doctors note, I feel that I can improve my grades and work towards completing my degree by easing back into coursework.
I am submitting this appeal in hopes of being able to drop my failed courses from my transcript, thus enabling me to enroll in an online distance studies program to be able to give myself a second chance at doing well in school with the appropriate mental capacity. Despite struggling my first two years, I sincerely believe that I can succeed at the school I had dreamt of attending since high school. Please consider the following courses that I would be grateful for being exempted from my transcript (in being permitted to do so, my GPA will rise, allowing me to avoid needing to withdraw for one year); Intro Biology of Cells (BIOL 102), Creative Computing (CISC 110), The Dynamic Earth (GEOL 104 - Winter 2017 & Winter 2018), Macroeconomic Theory I (ECON 222 - Fall 2017 & Winter 2018), Microeconomics Theory II (ECON 212) and Topics in Innovation (ENIN 340).

Please let me know if there was any further information I could provide and If there were any opportunities to continue my education at Queen¿¿s for the 2018-2019 academic year. I¿¿m sincerely thankful for your consideration.

Thank you,