Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

My name is Tiffany Ledesma and I started my first year of post-secondary education at Queen's University. I have taken a full load of five courses and have been struggling greatly due to personal issues and therefore have been having difficulty with a course I wish to drop. The course I am writing to you to drop is SPAN 204.

During the whole Fall semester, I have been struggling as an individual to adapt to the life of University without knowing. I thought the change happens to everyone else in the exact same way it has been happening to me. I never really fully looked at the symptoms in detail, or thought something was truly wrong. I thought, It's okay, everyone is going through this, get over it. As I now look back at what I was experiencing, I realized that anyone who is going through the same things I am should really look for help. From the months of September up until now, I have noticed my frequent tiredness, inability to produce an appetite, lack of motivation, and isolation. I always feel like a failure and that everyone is succeeding while I am seen as one of the weak. When I am alone, I often cry and wish my family is here with me for random reasons. I felt and still feel like a burden, as my friends often ask me if I ate and if not, I would be dragged to the cafeteria to eat. No matter how much I slept, changed my sleeping patterns etc., my exhaustion and lack of motivation has been noticed by numerous people, even my Don. Whenever I miss class, it is simply because I feel too ashamed, tired, or have lack of motivation because of the previous two characteristics mentioned. I felt like even though I was struggling now, things could get better right I lived in a world of imagination, thinking things could get better. But as I got worse, my grades started to slip, especially in this course. No matter how hard I studied, how many office hours I attended, or how many e-mails were sent, I still failed to provide satisfaction of a sufficient grade. With every horrible grade received, I continued on the path of exhaustion, little to no eating, and isolating myself.

Recently, I have also found out one of my closest friends has passed away from terminal cancer. This news has been the most devastating news of the year for me. My constant mourning and crying has been the result of missing a few classes to try and let myself heal. This unfortunate passing has given me lack of confidence and lack of attention span within SPAN 204 and numerous other courses. Due to my grades already being horrible currently from the symptoms above, my world within school has gone downhill. I already felt behind within this course, but after losing one of my best friends, all I have wanted to do is go home. This made me struggle and get frustrated at myself for lack of focus or confidence and I feel like I may be depressed from this situation. I have gone home for over a week to try to heal and study for exams, but failed at healing as I returned to Queen¿¿s feeling the exact same before I left. I am now back at Queen¿¿s panicking, because I know my attitude and the way I am now will never been sufficient enough for myself to pass this course.

Due to personal issues, my academic counsellor has advised myself to go see a counsellor to have someone listen and help during this time. Even if SPAN 204 is dropped, I pledged to continue to go to counselling to have a professional aid in my struggles. I will also be open with their suggestions in hopes of improving my health.

Thank you for taking your time to read and understand my struggles.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Ledesma
Art-Sci
Class of 2018