Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Arts & Science Associate Dean,

My name is Colleen O'Kelly, a Second Year student at Queen's currently pursuing a Sociology major in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Since the beginning of my second year, I have been struggling at Queen's. I have such a passion for the school and cirriculum, and feel extremely lucky to be enrolled at such an amazing school, but I feel I am not performing to the best of my abilities. I now know the reason for my lack of motivation is my recent diagnosis with depression. Although I have been feeling more than less than my usual ambitious self for awhile, I only recently acknowledged it has gotten worse. My diagnosis has held me back from my studies, and is currently a battle I am dealing with. I have been proud of my work at Queen's so far, but could tell I was headed down hill, and the last thing I want to do is risk my future at Queen's.I have talked it over with my family, and other helpful individuals, and we have all come to the verdict that a semester away from school to tackle the problem at hand, while not sacrificing my grades, is the best option for me at this time. In preparation, I have dropped all of the courses I could right before the Financial Penalty deadline, but have not dropped SOCY 211. I would like to file an appeal to have that dropped for the time being, and for the rest of my Winter Semester away at home, putting a pause on my academics that are so important to me.