Petition Letter
Oliver Spratt
2981 Dean Avenue
Victoria, BC V8R 4Y8
June 14, 2015
Johanne Bénard, Ph. D
Associate Dean (Studies)
Dear Ms. Bénard,
Please accept this letter as my appeal to the Faculty of Arts and Science¿¿s decision requiring me to Withdraw for One Year.
Prior to entering first year at Queen¿¿s, I had only successful academic experiences. I achieved Honours with Distinction in grades 9 through grade 12 and I received a scholarship to Queen¿¿s.
Throughout high school, my plan was to go to Royal Military College (RMC) to pursue a career as a military pilot (I have my Transport Canada Private Pilot License) and I was academically accepted in Fall 2013. Unfortunately, I injured my leg playing rugby and required surgery in February 2014 around the same time as the mandatory medical examination for RMC. Due to this injury I did not pass the medical exam and was declined acceptance into RMC for September 2014. This situation was beyond my control and subsequently changed everything for me.
One back up plan was to attend Queen¿¿s. After communicating with advisors at RMC I was advised to register for courses at Queen¿¿s that would better position me to transfer into second year Bachelor of Business Administration at RMC.
I appeal to you with this story because I feel it is at the root of my poor academic performance. I arrived at Queen¿¿s with the confidence that guided me through high school and my pilot training, and I was excited to begin university. The transition however proved very difficult. Two of the courses were completely new to me (History and Psychology) and I was overwhelmed by the volume of work in all classes. In addition, I registered for the wrong math class (120) and switched to Math 121 in October and was behind due to the late start. I came to Queen¿¿s with a science background so I felt completely out of my league. Also, still recovering from the leg injury I could not play rugby, a sport I love. As the months passed, I became more disillusioned and disinterested. I became less motivated and confident in my abilities to succeed. This is not something that I am familiar with as I only experienced success previously. I did not let my parents know that I was struggling until exam time because I did not want to disappoint them. I was determined to figure it on my own, and was reluctant and uncomfortable asking for help. My parents tried to support me but I was overwhelmed and did not know how to accept their help. By the time I acknowledged that my marks were failing, I believed it was too late to do anything about it because 4 out of 5 courses were year-long courses. To make matters worse, my Grandad who I am close to became very ill with a cancer diagnosis. It was really hard being so far away during the time he was really sick.
Second term I tried to catch up and improve my marks but was unsuccessful. To summarize, my leg injury prevented me from attending RMC, I then enrolled in some courses not by choice and I struggled with my self-confidence and motivation. This is not where I want to be, and it is totally out of character.
Given these extenuating circumstances that affected my grades, I am also appealing for credit standing (CR) in any of the courses that qualify. I absolutely know that I earned substantially lower grades than I am capable of achieving. My past successes in school prove this.
Please consider this appeal that requires me to Withdraw for One Year in addition to my appeal for credit standing in courses that qualify. Ideally, I wish that I could just turn back the clock and start over, and have my enrolment in the 2014/15 calendar year erased. If this is a possibility, I request this option.
Sincerely,
Oliver Spratt
ST 10158557
2981 Dean Avenue
Victoria, BC V8R 4Y8
June 14, 2015
Johanne Bénard, Ph. D
Associate Dean (Studies)
Dear Ms. Bénard,
Please accept this letter as my appeal to the Faculty of Arts and Science¿¿s decision requiring me to Withdraw for One Year.
Prior to entering first year at Queen¿¿s, I had only successful academic experiences. I achieved Honours with Distinction in grades 9 through grade 12 and I received a scholarship to Queen¿¿s.
Throughout high school, my plan was to go to Royal Military College (RMC) to pursue a career as a military pilot (I have my Transport Canada Private Pilot License) and I was academically accepted in Fall 2013. Unfortunately, I injured my leg playing rugby and required surgery in February 2014 around the same time as the mandatory medical examination for RMC. Due to this injury I did not pass the medical exam and was declined acceptance into RMC for September 2014. This situation was beyond my control and subsequently changed everything for me.
One back up plan was to attend Queen¿¿s. After communicating with advisors at RMC I was advised to register for courses at Queen¿¿s that would better position me to transfer into second year Bachelor of Business Administration at RMC.
I appeal to you with this story because I feel it is at the root of my poor academic performance. I arrived at Queen¿¿s with the confidence that guided me through high school and my pilot training, and I was excited to begin university. The transition however proved very difficult. Two of the courses were completely new to me (History and Psychology) and I was overwhelmed by the volume of work in all classes. In addition, I registered for the wrong math class (120) and switched to Math 121 in October and was behind due to the late start. I came to Queen¿¿s with a science background so I felt completely out of my league. Also, still recovering from the leg injury I could not play rugby, a sport I love. As the months passed, I became more disillusioned and disinterested. I became less motivated and confident in my abilities to succeed. This is not something that I am familiar with as I only experienced success previously. I did not let my parents know that I was struggling until exam time because I did not want to disappoint them. I was determined to figure it on my own, and was reluctant and uncomfortable asking for help. My parents tried to support me but I was overwhelmed and did not know how to accept their help. By the time I acknowledged that my marks were failing, I believed it was too late to do anything about it because 4 out of 5 courses were year-long courses. To make matters worse, my Grandad who I am close to became very ill with a cancer diagnosis. It was really hard being so far away during the time he was really sick.
Second term I tried to catch up and improve my marks but was unsuccessful. To summarize, my leg injury prevented me from attending RMC, I then enrolled in some courses not by choice and I struggled with my self-confidence and motivation. This is not where I want to be, and it is totally out of character.
Given these extenuating circumstances that affected my grades, I am also appealing for credit standing (CR) in any of the courses that qualify. I absolutely know that I earned substantially lower grades than I am capable of achieving. My past successes in school prove this.
Please consider this appeal that requires me to Withdraw for One Year in addition to my appeal for credit standing in courses that qualify. Ideally, I wish that I could just turn back the clock and start over, and have my enrolment in the 2014/15 calendar year erased. If this is a possibility, I request this option.
Sincerely,
Oliver Spratt
ST 10158557