Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

My name is Annu Pulipra and I am writing this letter to submit an official appeal to drop two courses taken during the Fall 2021 term, SPAN111 / 3.0 and LLCU111 / 3.0, as well as the Fall 2021 portion of the full year course ENGL100 - A / 6.0, past the originally assigned academic drop deadline of November 1st, 2021.

In the academic term of Fall 2021, I was beginning my second year of post-secondary education at Queen??s University as a Bachelor of Arts (BAH) / Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) student. Due to personal circumstances that occurred during this time, I was not able to pass the indicated courses. I am aware of my actions and take full responsibility for submitting this appeal to drop the SPAN111, LLCU111 and ENGL100-A courses past the assigned academic drop deadline of November 1st, 2021, however, I am kindly requesting your time to review my circumstances.

I would like to begin by expressing my true passion for learning and how it has always been prevalent in my life. From a young age, it was always a dream of mine to be able to pursue teaching as a career in my life. The moment I found out about the Concurrent Education program at Queen??s, I knew that this is where I wanted to continue my path towards my dream of being an educator. I have always been an enthusiastic and hardworking individual, and showcased many of these skills through both academics and various leadership positions in my community. I put my all into everything I set my mind to, and was so grateful to begin the next chapter of my life as a post-secondary student at Queen??s University.

I was honoured to be accepted into the BAH / BEd first year program at the Bader International Study Center (BISC) in 2020, and was ready to have a fresh start in both my academic and personal life in an exciting new environment; however, the COVID-19 pandemic largely impacted my already wavering mental health during my first year at Queen??s, and the lingering effects of these past two years in isolation were still catching up to me during this past academic year. During the Fall Term of 2021, I was definitely struggling with my mental health more than I have before, and with September 2021 being my first month living in Kingston and attending in-person classes after a long and stressful summer at home, I found it harder to overcome these challenges. I stayed at home with my parents during all summer months in 2021, up until the scheduled in-person return in September. Balancing my personal struggles with mental health while exploring my plans for academic growth from home was something I had not anticipated prior to the start of the Fall 2021 term and was definitely something I wasn??t prepared to go through.

Living at home as a first generation Canadian in an ethnic household, my parents were not able to fully recognize my ongoing decline in mental health, and the disbelief of any personal struggles I had expressed to my family further heightened feelings of isolation during the summer months of 2021. The feeling of excitement and progression in this new chapter of my life and education journey turned into a long period of stagnation, where I experienced feelings of hopelessness and a decline in motivation. Balancing school work and home stress became a tedious task and created an unhealthy learning environment, and as the Fall 2021 term approached, I began to acknowledge the effects of my mental health on my courses. I had brought these struggles with me when I moved out on my own for the first time to Kingston for our return to in-person learning, and I was unable to address these issues alone, especially while balancing the abrupt shift in lifestyle in an unfamiliar town. I had moved to Kingston without knowing anyone on campus, including the housemates I would live with for the following 8 months. Having experienced invalidation while seeking help in the past, and feeling isolated in my new lifestyle, I failed to take concrete actions to improve my situation. As a result, I continued to struggle keeping up with my courses and was denying the realities of my mental health. I saw myself failing courses, and began to give into the shame associated with failure in my culture, ultimately viewing the sensible option of dropping a course early on as a sign of ??weakness?. I was ashamed to seek help, and instead told myself that I would make up for my grades with little to no action by the end of the term. As the Fall 2021 term progressed, I had reached my lowest point in my mental health journey. I denied opportunities that were presented to me to make sustainable changes to my lifestyle and thus disregarded the opportunities to drop these courses by the assigned deadline of November 1st, 2021.

I had continued to struggle going into the Winter 2022 term, and in these last months of the winter term approached, I ultimately came to the realization of the importance and gravity of my situation, and deeply regretted not doing everything I could to turn things around for myself earlier on in the Fall. I know I want to pursue my passion and continue my learning at Queen??s University, and so I made the decision to move forward and finally take action. I opened up to my parents about my mental health, and with persistence, time, and compassion, we have made significant progress in our mutual understanding. I have reached out to my doctor and I am currently seeking professional help to support my emotional growth through ongoing therapy sessions. Additionally, I have learned to tap into the many incredible resources that Queen??s University has to offer to help me get back on my feet. I have been in contact with Academic Advisors within the Faculty, and I am completing the Study Skills & Habits questionnaire developed by Student Academic Success Services (SASS). By reaching out to an Academic Skills Specialist, I will identify skills that need work and implement effective changes to my learning habits. I am also opening up to friends about my academic and mental health journey, since I had felt unable to do so earlier this term. Through transparency among friends and family, I have found a true support system that will also prevent me from repeating my actions in the future. In my friendships, I am setting goals for my academic and personal growth, strengthening relationships where I can communicate openly about any hardships and discuss sustainable plans of action to overcome them, all while further developing my confidence and having someone to keep me in check during this remedial period. Prioritizing effective time management practices that I will continue to use with my courses has proven extremely beneficial as well, such as pre-scheduling each day with time dedicated to different courses and ensuring to implement breaks and personal time to avoid potential burnout. Additionally, I am also speaking with my doctor about medications that will help aid the transition into a healthier, more positive mindset. I am determined to make realistic and sustainable changes that will help me not only get back on track with my personal growth, but with my post-secondary career at Queen??s.

To conclude, I want to thank you for taking the time to review my appeal and I truly hope there is a possibility to drop the courses SPAN111, LLCU111, and ENGL100-A from the Fall 2021 academic term. Thank you again for your consideration and I hope to hear back from you soon.

Sincerely,


Annu Pulipra
Student ID: 20232150