Petition Letter
September 2015
To the Associate Dean (Studies):
My name is Janet Jeon (SN: 06206942) and I am currently enrolled in a non-degree plan to improve my GPA. I am writing this letter to appeal the 21-day deadline to appeal for credit standing (CHEM281, CHEM221, MICR221, ANAT315) and to have a mark dropped (CHEM282).
To be honest, I did not know anything about the appeal process and I was scared to go through with the process. I have been under a lot of stress, especially in the school year 2014-2015 which reflected on my academic performance. It took me a few months to pick myself back up but I believe this is worth a try.
Although I should have known not to let my personal life affect my academic performance however, due to the stress of trying to raise my GPA and working full-time and part-time to help my parents was really hard to manage.
I come from a low-income family. My dad is the only person working and providing for a family of four. My dad was given no choice but to resign from his dry-cleaning business at Sobey's two years ago due to Sobey¿¿s renovation and they said they couldn¿¿t provide a space for his business. He picked himself back up and found a temporary one-year contract job in Victoria Island. The hardest part was seeing my parents live apart from each other. My parent¿¿s health were deteriorating and my dad was not eating properly due to getting used to his new job. A few months into my dad¿¿s new job, my parents decided to sell the house to get more money and move to British Columbia. The moving process took about a year (while my dad was in BC). The moving date was set to the end of September 2014, so my sister and I helped with the move, which resulted in us missing our classes and had a negative impact on our academic performance. When things started to come together and my mom moved to BC in a one-bedroom apartment to be with my dad, his one-year contract was over and he was again left jobless due to the competitive job market and his age. He was unemployed and relied on employment insurance. This was very stressful on all of us and I knew I had to help out in some way. Without thinking of consequences, I took my own measures and found a full-time job and a part-time on top of completing my studies in my 2014-2015 studies. I thought if my parents don't have to worry about me then things would get better little by little. Obviously, this was a mistake on my part and I did not think this through due to being stressed and desperate to make money on my own to help my family that I jeopardized my academics.
After almost a year of depending on employment insurance, my dad was able to find another business in July 2014. July was a month when everything started to work out. I also had the opportunity to meet someone who was a psychiatrist by profession but became a friend to me. She actually graduated from Queen¿¿s as well and she helped me cope with stress and told me it is never too late to try. It is not too late to try and fix my mistakes, fix my academic standing, fix my life. That is why I am writing this letter to ask for a second chance. And this is why I decided to break out of my shell and take online courses to raise my GPA. I have never, not once in my undergraduate life, been so sure of my career, but now I am. I feel that I have matured a lot from this healing process.
The reason for not appealing my marks before the 21-day deadline was because I was too afraid to ask my parents for my dad¿¿s income of 2014 as documentation proof and I didn't want to tell them the bad news of my poor academic performance. I spent a year without seeing my family and I could not even go to my graduation ceremony because I did not want the burden of my parents paying for a plane ticket all the way from British Columbia to Kingston. However, I finally got the courage to tell my mom a few days ago and she was very supportive and reassured me.
If I can have a chance at appealing my 2014-2015 marks, I would forever see this moment as the one last chance at making things right. My plan is to re-take some courses from my previous years to raise my GPA, and be able to qualify to apply for the radiology therapy or radiological technology program at the Michener Institute.
Despite all the hardships I have experienced, I have learned so much from my short time at Queen¿¿s University. These experiences, although challenging, were valuable and I intend to grow and act upon them. I hope that this letter expresses my genuine sincerity and I ask for your favourable consideration as you consider my appeal.
Sincerely,
Janet Jeon (SN: 06206942)
To the Associate Dean (Studies):
My name is Janet Jeon (SN: 06206942) and I am currently enrolled in a non-degree plan to improve my GPA. I am writing this letter to appeal the 21-day deadline to appeal for credit standing (CHEM281, CHEM221, MICR221, ANAT315) and to have a mark dropped (CHEM282).
To be honest, I did not know anything about the appeal process and I was scared to go through with the process. I have been under a lot of stress, especially in the school year 2014-2015 which reflected on my academic performance. It took me a few months to pick myself back up but I believe this is worth a try.
Although I should have known not to let my personal life affect my academic performance however, due to the stress of trying to raise my GPA and working full-time and part-time to help my parents was really hard to manage.
I come from a low-income family. My dad is the only person working and providing for a family of four. My dad was given no choice but to resign from his dry-cleaning business at Sobey's two years ago due to Sobey¿¿s renovation and they said they couldn¿¿t provide a space for his business. He picked himself back up and found a temporary one-year contract job in Victoria Island. The hardest part was seeing my parents live apart from each other. My parent¿¿s health were deteriorating and my dad was not eating properly due to getting used to his new job. A few months into my dad¿¿s new job, my parents decided to sell the house to get more money and move to British Columbia. The moving process took about a year (while my dad was in BC). The moving date was set to the end of September 2014, so my sister and I helped with the move, which resulted in us missing our classes and had a negative impact on our academic performance. When things started to come together and my mom moved to BC in a one-bedroom apartment to be with my dad, his one-year contract was over and he was again left jobless due to the competitive job market and his age. He was unemployed and relied on employment insurance. This was very stressful on all of us and I knew I had to help out in some way. Without thinking of consequences, I took my own measures and found a full-time job and a part-time on top of completing my studies in my 2014-2015 studies. I thought if my parents don't have to worry about me then things would get better little by little. Obviously, this was a mistake on my part and I did not think this through due to being stressed and desperate to make money on my own to help my family that I jeopardized my academics.
After almost a year of depending on employment insurance, my dad was able to find another business in July 2014. July was a month when everything started to work out. I also had the opportunity to meet someone who was a psychiatrist by profession but became a friend to me. She actually graduated from Queen¿¿s as well and she helped me cope with stress and told me it is never too late to try. It is not too late to try and fix my mistakes, fix my academic standing, fix my life. That is why I am writing this letter to ask for a second chance. And this is why I decided to break out of my shell and take online courses to raise my GPA. I have never, not once in my undergraduate life, been so sure of my career, but now I am. I feel that I have matured a lot from this healing process.
The reason for not appealing my marks before the 21-day deadline was because I was too afraid to ask my parents for my dad¿¿s income of 2014 as documentation proof and I didn't want to tell them the bad news of my poor academic performance. I spent a year without seeing my family and I could not even go to my graduation ceremony because I did not want the burden of my parents paying for a plane ticket all the way from British Columbia to Kingston. However, I finally got the courage to tell my mom a few days ago and she was very supportive and reassured me.
If I can have a chance at appealing my 2014-2015 marks, I would forever see this moment as the one last chance at making things right. My plan is to re-take some courses from my previous years to raise my GPA, and be able to qualify to apply for the radiology therapy or radiological technology program at the Michener Institute.
Despite all the hardships I have experienced, I have learned so much from my short time at Queen¿¿s University. These experiences, although challenging, were valuable and I intend to grow and act upon them. I hope that this letter expresses my genuine sincerity and I ask for your favourable consideration as you consider my appeal.
Sincerely,
Janet Jeon (SN: 06206942)