Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Appeals Team,
I took the midterm in Feb for Stat263 and soundly failed it. I've been able to complete very little afterwards, perhaps an online quiz or two but the rest I have missed. My mark will be dismally low. This is a new experience for me and I want to be as strategic as possible to move forward. Regardless I will take the course again in September.

Last year when I signed up for Stat263, I was working a stable job with reliable workload and steady hours, a short drive from where I live. It was an ideal time to take on Stats, and use this prerequisite to pursue a Master's degree, and return to a career in social services. I wanted the challenge, the experience of Queen's (even though it's via the internet) and to move forward with my professional life.

In December, I was offered a new job in my field. It was an incredible surprise. I am coordinator of a new, federally-funded project, assisting youth with disabilities/barriers to employment to find ongoing jobs (rather than short-term or co-op). The days run long as I work to break ground as well as plan for ongoing success. From the beginning, it has been a roller coaster of tight timelines, ambiguity, one troublesome youth with escalating mental health issues, and the pressure of rolling out a brand new program with little direction from upper management, as my direct supervisor went on an indefinite personal leave of absence () in the middle of a crisis in my program. I started my job on Jan 5th in an empty office, and two weeks later I had 12 youth and a facilitator in our room, looking to all start new jobs in under two months. The success or failure of the program falls on me. When I ask for clarification on expectations, procedure, how to deal with my client threatening suicide, and so on - I get differing answers from one manager to the next, and still another from our project officer. Then they all defer authority to the other. It can take an hour to get home, not unreasonable but this course requires every ounce of attention that I have - mathematics is not my forte and as much as I am excited to defeat that, stats demands hours per day, plus tutoring, for me to just grasp the concepts. Then there is the homework. I sit there and stare at the questions, and sometimes it is only the next day when I 'get it', and have to start all over again. With my professional life being what it is, and a one-day weekend to catch up on whatever I missed while attending to family matters, I struggle to prepare for Thursday's quizzes, let alone the midterm and final exam. I am overwhelmed and cannot continue this course. I did not drop it before the deadline because I wanted to stick it out, as I've always done.

The stress and pressure of this turn in my life is unprecedented. It is incredibly dismaying to feel like I've reached my limit. Last Monday I got off the phone with my new manager after working all through the weekend and that day, to de-escalate a crisis. The skin on my face was red hot, beet red and my throat felt like it was being squeezed, as if I was both feverish and congested at the same time. This has never happened before. My blood pressure is higher, appetite is non-existent and sleep comes in fits and starts, with night sweats. I break out in cystic acne. My cuticles have been bitten to shreds. Historically I take antidepressants only to get through the winter months, but have remained on them to help me to remain stable during this period. Regardless my moods are more and more irritable and short, and I do things now like shut my car off when it is still in gear.

I do not believe that my work will remain this stressful. Someone with greater project management experience would likely handle this project with greater finesse and stronger character than I, and I'm working to get to that level. Professor Molson has been outstanding in his support of both me and his students, and every effort on his part has been made to greater ensure our success. The final exam is so close (April 10) but I'm so far behind, even if my program suddenly ended tomorrow, it will not be possible for me to pass with success. There is just no more room. In all of my experience with academia, including managing depression, I've always been able to stick it out and get a reasonable grade at least. If there is a course starting in the fall, I will be thrilled to try again. Professor Molson has been outstanding. I would look forward to taking his class again.