Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Extenuating Circumstances for the 21 Day appeal:
To the Associate Dean of Arts and Science,
I would like the opportunity to appeal the 21 day limit to have my grades from the 2012-13 year dropped. Specifically I would like the limit to be considered dropping:

FALL 2012: PHIL 203
WINTER 2013: ENGL 232 PHIL 271
FALL WINTER 2012/13: HIST 310 A and B

I was unable to appeal my grades within the 21 Day limit because of emotional distress caused by anxiety and grief over the loss of my family member.


Upon leaving school at the spring of 2013, I was still in the process of dealing with the emotional fallout of losing my mother the previous year. This factor combined with the shame of poor academic performance caused me to continue my spiral into a depressive and anxious state which had dominated my since my mother's passing. The anxiety that I faced not only negatively affected my grades, academic performance and quality of life; It made dealing with that reality an unbearable option. This emotional distress kept me from confronting this problem for far too long and only now have I been able to confront my academic status.


Now that I have been able to mostly deal with the emotional problems I was facing I would love for the opportunity to appeal my less than savory grades. To get myself ready I have undergone regular therapy sessions and have fully adapted to a medication regime of antidepressants to treat my depression and anxiety. Additionally I have been working this period full time, which I have not done before in my life, to learn to keep a more balanced lifestyle. One of my big problems was that my anxiety would isolate me from the world and then this isolation would cause me to become depressed. Keeping a job, which I plan to continue with part time at school, has really taught me to keep routine and focus and I feel these skills, as mundane as they sound, will help me stay focused in schools.


Therefore with a combination of coping strategies, family support and medication I have made great strides in dealing with the circumstances that lead to my academic under-performance. It took some time but I feel now ready to address the obstacles that would prevent me from continuing in academic life. To do this I plan to take online courses with the University of Athabasca to re-attune myself to academic coursework leading to a return to full time studies at the beginning of this coming fall semester. Having these courses appealed would make the process so much easier as it would adjust my grade-point average to a range where I could potentially transfer to another school or to enter another program of study at Queen's.


However as the seasons continue to tick away I must begin my application process or my request to resume studies soon, and that is why I am engaging in the appeal process, starting with this appeal of the 21 day limit, so that I could get rid of the courses which reflected such a bad time in my life.



Thank you for your consideration,


Mackenzie Collins (06232085)