Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Cassandra Persoon and I am appealing for permission to finish the fourth and final year of my BPHE Honours degree away from Queens University. I would like to complete the remaining requirements of my degree at Brock University, a school located in St Catharines, Ontario, much closer to where I live.

Since my second year of university (2013/2014), I have experienced multiple extenuating circumstances that have prompted me to make this decision. In second year, I became very physically and mentally ill due to high academic stress, as well as psychological stressors from having to deal with living arrangement problems. My academic performance decreased, and I had to ask of multiple professors to allow me to write midterms and examinations at a later date so that I could feel competent enough to just pass. I had regular consultation with a health professional at La Salle from October to February, prompting me to improve my physical health which was only coming together slowly. Going into my third year, I had still not completed some of my second year examinations, and again became much stressed in the first couple months because I had more testing to deal with than usual.

During the summer going into my third year, I stayed in Kingston to work with the Queens University Sports Camps. However, when the expected number of weekly hours was cut short from what had been suggested during interviews, the summer became very stressful in regards to finances, as from the high demands of student living in Kingston. To make up for my prior year of poor academics, I did an 6 credit online summer course in English, but I did not do as well as I hoped; completing the 4 essays and studying for the final written exam was very difficult to do while balancing the work schedule of 2 different jobs. I ended up earning only a little bit more than ¿¿breaking even¿ from what it cost me to live in Kingston for the summer rather than if I had stayed home.

Going into third year, this lack of financial flexibility caused me to avoid seeking assistance for academic struggles; having the money and time for a tutor was not possible, so I had to work very hard to earn good marks to make up for my poor performance in second year. While doing so, I had to work at least 8-10 hours a week to make enough money for living expenses, and deal with social issues amongst my housemates, all increasing the psychological stress level of that time. I also had to think about the exchange program that I was enrolled in for the upcoming semester (Winter 2015). When I had applied in second year, I thought I would be in a better financial position than I was, so this unexpected drawback made me concerned whether or not the exchange was a good idea. However, I had already made financial down payments with the school, and personal banking arrangements which I would lose if I backed out. My courses for third year had also already been established, and with not being enrolled in any mandatory courses for the second term, this would have set my academics back even more. Finally, I had informed so much family and friends of my exchange that there were many people counting on me to go, so I felt a lot psychological pressure to not let them down, on top of my financial and academic stress. I worked very hard the entire semester, and even after earning marks that were better than the year before, I was still very concerned about the financial situation I was headed into my exchange semester with.

While on exchange, I have been very aware of my spending and allocating only so much money to certain things. However, there was some confusion with my assigned residence room just before I arrived, thus I have been placed in a room that has been more expensive than what I had planned to be spending on rent. In confusion with my luggage at the airport, I also incurred unexpected costs that could have been useful for other such purposes out here, such as groceries. I do not regret going on exchange, as I believe it has forced me to mature a lot more than I thought it would. That being said, I have had to draw from my savings that I would otherwise have used for paying for next year¿¿s tuition and rent at Queens, so if I were to come back to Queens, I would not have nearly as much funding as I thought I could count on for fourth year. Upon arriving, I tried to find a job here in the Netherlands, and made sure to get the proper Working Holiday VISA so that I was legal to work. However, it is not reasonable for employers to hire someone who is only in the country for 5 months of ¿low season¿¿ business, and who cannot speak the native language of the country, so I have not been able to get work anywhere. Exchange has showed me that I have experienced enough of the ¿student living¿¿ financial and emotional stressors in the past 3 years, and that for me to live back at Queens this fall would not be wise for my financial, psychological, or physical state.

I hope that in my appeal I have informed you sufficiently of how much this agreement would benefit me, and I would be happy to speak with someone personally if that would be required to further express my need. Thank you
Cassandra Persoon