Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: May 1, 2019
Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing to drop both ENGL 441 (Winter, 2019) and HIST 243 (Winter, 2019).

Unforeseen extenuating circumstances had emerged for me at the end of February 2019 which had prevented me from focusing on my academic goals. My Mother has been in a group home for mental health and addiction my entire academic career here at Queen¿¿s and she means the world to me. Near the end of February she told me she had a tumor that was cancerous and needed it removed. Cancer runs in my family and took the life of her Mother (my grandmother) in 2003. This seriously harsh information resulted in me sinking into a depression during the months of March and April. I did not seek professional help, but I did attempt to get through this depression by talking it out virtually every day with my closest family member: my older Brother. The reason that I am dropping only two out of three courses is that the ENGL 375B (Winter, 2019) credit is a full year course and I was able to explain to my professor that I was going through serious events out of my control. The professor for that course has written a letter to accompany this appeal to explain how my academics switched in almost an instant. I was completely disengaged from the courses I had taken. This made me too far behind on assignments/tests and there was simply no way I had the ability to finish either course that I am requesting to drop. I am still talking to my older brother virtually every day. My Mother did get the cancerous tumor removed, but knowing that her Mother died from cancer makes me scared that it might come back. I visited my Mom this past week and she is feeling much better now. She does not know that I am writing this appeal therefore there are no letters from her healthcare professionals attached.I do not want to make her feel like she is the reason for my inability to finish these courses.

If granted permission to drop these two courses I am going to switch my program to a general bachelor's degree and then look into graduating next semester with a three year degree. I have the sufficient number of courses in order to do this so I will be able to move on to the next step of my life with a degree from Queen¿¿s University. I will continue to get support from my family and give support to my Mother. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at 14scl2@queensu.ca or 613 770 2337.

Sincerely,
Spencer Leefe 10155497