Petition Letter
To the Associate Dean (Studies),
I am writing an academic appeal to withdraw from my two courses this term, HLTH 235 and PHIL 203 (online) (Winter, 2019). I am writing this request due to the unforeseen passing of my mother on January 24th, 2019. Until her death, I lived alone with my mother since my father passed when I was young. This has caused a great deal of change in my life, including moving out of my childhood home to live with my mother¿¿s relatives. At the time of her passing I submitted a three-month academic consideration request which was granted to me from January 24th to April 30th. The reason I am submitting an appeal to drop the courses that I have had consideration for is due to my inability to keep up this term while coping with the loss of my mother. I initially returned to school only a week after her death imagining I would focus all of my energy to finishing the term that my mother had just paid for, however I have now realized that my initial response to my loss was shock and I wasn¿¿t aware of how hard it would be for me to carry on with my studies. In January, I reached out to my professors about my mother¿¿s death, however I never heard back from my philosophy professor which discouraged me from reaching out further about accommodations for the course. I am aware that the drop date for courses of this term was on March 1st, 2019. However, I have only recently began to realize the impact this has had on me and decided to submit an appeal only after studying for my first exam and subsequently not showing up to write it because I was so overwhelmed and unprepared. I have been in close contact with my doctor this term, she has already been helping me deal with my depression for some time, which has also had an impact on my studies due to the added stress of trying various medications that ultimately worsened my depression. I have included a letter from my doctor in this appeal in which she explains this in more detail. This is unfortunately not how I foresaw my year ending however, it would be a great help if the university could assist me in withdrawing from my courses so that I may continue my studies at Queen¿¿s September of 2019, when I have had time with my family and recovered without having this term affect my grades. I plan on taking this summer to better my mental health while also learning to live without the support of my mother so that I can return to Queen¿¿s in the fall to finish my degree. My mother was always the biggest advocate for my education and it would definitely ease the pain of my loss to be able to continue without academic penalty for this term.
Sincerely,
Teija Korjus-Parker
I am writing an academic appeal to withdraw from my two courses this term, HLTH 235 and PHIL 203 (online) (Winter, 2019). I am writing this request due to the unforeseen passing of my mother on January 24th, 2019. Until her death, I lived alone with my mother since my father passed when I was young. This has caused a great deal of change in my life, including moving out of my childhood home to live with my mother¿¿s relatives. At the time of her passing I submitted a three-month academic consideration request which was granted to me from January 24th to April 30th. The reason I am submitting an appeal to drop the courses that I have had consideration for is due to my inability to keep up this term while coping with the loss of my mother. I initially returned to school only a week after her death imagining I would focus all of my energy to finishing the term that my mother had just paid for, however I have now realized that my initial response to my loss was shock and I wasn¿¿t aware of how hard it would be for me to carry on with my studies. In January, I reached out to my professors about my mother¿¿s death, however I never heard back from my philosophy professor which discouraged me from reaching out further about accommodations for the course. I am aware that the drop date for courses of this term was on March 1st, 2019. However, I have only recently began to realize the impact this has had on me and decided to submit an appeal only after studying for my first exam and subsequently not showing up to write it because I was so overwhelmed and unprepared. I have been in close contact with my doctor this term, she has already been helping me deal with my depression for some time, which has also had an impact on my studies due to the added stress of trying various medications that ultimately worsened my depression. I have included a letter from my doctor in this appeal in which she explains this in more detail. This is unfortunately not how I foresaw my year ending however, it would be a great help if the university could assist me in withdrawing from my courses so that I may continue my studies at Queen¿¿s September of 2019, when I have had time with my family and recovered without having this term affect my grades. I plan on taking this summer to better my mental health while also learning to live without the support of my mother so that I can return to Queen¿¿s in the fall to finish my degree. My mother was always the biggest advocate for my education and it would definitely ease the pain of my loss to be able to continue without academic penalty for this term.
Sincerely,
Teija Korjus-Parker