Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am writing to appeal the faculty¿¿s decision that I must withdraw from Queen¿¿s for one year.

I have submitted this appeal as I believe my academic performance has been adversely affected by a number of extenuating circumstances. The most significant of these has been my struggle with anxiety, which reached a breaking point at the beginning of the winter 2019 semester. Due to an increased dosage of anxiety medication which took place in December 2018, I was afflicted with a severe case of depression. This further diminished my capability to properly perform in my academic requirements, among many other aspects of my life. The heightened levels of anxiety and the onset of depression were detrimental on my ability to focus and complete my academics to the required levels. I have attached a letter from my family practitioner regarding my mental health diagnosis and the change in dosage. While the process of remedying this problem may seem trivial, the process of seeking help while dealing with depression, identifying the cause of depression, halting medication and dealing with withdrawal symptoms can take a prolonged period of time. I had applied for academic accommodations, but was unable to receive them as my psychologist did not have the required credentials for QSAS to accept the documentation. Prior to the 2019 winter semester my challenges with anxiety mainly affected my ability to focus on schoolwork and in class. While this was a problem, I had tried to use brute force and perseverance to complete my work. A few weeks into the 2019 winter semester, once the symptoms of the increased dosage had started to set in, I fully lost the capability to focus on schoolwork entirely. This was paired with the debilitating depression which significantly decreased my ability to attend class and my other personal duties.

Another major problem which I believe has led to a poor academic standing was an unrealistic goal. While I had originally planned on completing a 4-year Honours Economics degree, I had been pushed by my family to attempt a physics minor alongside economics. This minor required MATH 121 which I have struggled with. While I did seek help in the form of upper year engineering friends, I believe the 60 final for this course was my ultimate downfall, as I struggle with examinations. I did pass PHYS 104 which was structured differently and connected better with my learning and testing strengths. I plan to better my ability of taking exams by seeking help through Stauffer Libraries support programs, and on-campus workshops for examination skills. I took MATH 121 a second time trying to improve my mark which would have helped my academic standing. Unfortunately, I still struggled with the course and the increased mental health challenges of the winter 2019 semester lead to another poor performance in this course. I now realize MATH 126 would have been a better approach for increasing my GPA this past year, as it does not include the material I was struggling with most in MATH 121. As a mature student, I believe my time away from school had created a larger learning curve for myself. I now realize that I took on a course which was too complex for me at the time.

After receiving the notice of academic withdrawal, it has allowed my family and I to accept a more realistic academic goal. With guidance from an academic advisor at Queen¿¿s, I now plan to complete a 3-year general economics degree. I plan to take MATH 126 this upcoming year and will retake Canadian Tax policy and second year Micro Economics. I plan to take Tax Policy and Micro Economics with a different professor or online through a different university, as the same professor taught both courses and I struggled with his teaching methods. I plan on taking ASTR 101 when it is next offered, as I have completed ASTR 102. These astronomy courses were originally supposed to be taken in first year, instead of CLST 101/102, but unfortunately the prerequisite, ASTR 101 was offered in the summer of 2018, after ASTR 102 had been offered. Upon the completion and passing of PHYS 104, the professor waived the prerequisite requirement for ASTR 102. In addition, as I have now completed my military training courses which were the focus of my 2017 and 2018 summers, I will be able to choose my courses at the designated time. I was unable to do so in the past as my military courses put me in the field during those dates. I have attached my course reports which show the corresponding dates I was on military training. This change allows me to allocate time in the summer for taking classes through Queen¿¿s, helping me progress while also maintaining a manageable academic schedule. I will also be having my current psychologist refer me to one in Kingston, which will allow me to receive more consistent and timely medical help rather than having to travel up to Ottawa to speak with her, as I have been doing in the past. I was reluctant to make this change in the past, but now realizes it will be beneficial to my success at Queen¿¿s. With a more realistic academic goal, and having remedied problems which were leading to poor academic performance in my past two years, especially the winter 2019 semester, I know I am capable of bringing my GPA into good academic standing. Thank you in advance for taking the time to assess my appeal.

Sincerely,
Paolo Mazzolin
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