Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: The purpose of my letter is to appeal to drop the course CISC-220, System Level Programming (Fall 2014), after the academic penalty deadline. I have spoken to my professor, Prof. Margaret Lamb, about the situation and have explained to her that I will be appealing to drop the course; she has been very supportive and helpful. My current grade in the course is an ¿¿IN ¿¿ incomplete¿.

I have been struggling personally, mentally and academically since early in the Fall2014 term. I was struggling just to get through the semester and was not performing at the level I knew I was capable of. In November I decided to start speaking to a Queen¿¿s counsellor and have continued to do so until now. I am currently struggling with depression and anxiety, which have made it difficult for me to find the motivation and energy for my academics and my everyday life in general. After speaking to my counsellor I have made the very difficult decision to drop all my courses for the semester and focus on just getting better and into a healthier mind set.
I spoke to Professor Lamb about my current situation in December and asked to have my exam for CISC220 (and 2 exams in other courses) deferred until January 2014. She (and my other professors) allowed the deferral. However, December turned out to be a very stressful and difficult month for me. In January I was not ready and not in the right mind set to start the semester off with a full course load and 3 deferred exams. I quickly realized I couldn¿¿t do it and after more consultation with my counsellor I made the very difficult decision to drop all my courses for the semester and really just focus on getting better. I realized I was not ready to take the CISC220 exam and had did not attended many of the lectures and I realized it would simply be better for me to retake this course in the future when I will be in the right mind set to actually learn what it has to offer.

If granted my appeal, I will be taking the semester and the summer to really focus on getting better. I would like to feel better mentally and be back in the right mind set to achieve my full potential as a student at Queens¿¿s. I plan to retake CISC200, System Level Programming, in the future (possibly Fall2015, depending on how everything goes) when I will be able to properly learn and gain everything this course has to offer.