Petition Letter
I am appealing to waive the 21-day deadline regarding a dropping of courses from Queen¿¿s University.
For circumstances that will be expanded upon, given that this appeal to waive the deadline is granted, I was required by Queen¿¿s to withdraw for one year. The reason, without context, lies with my lack of ability to maintain the academic standard for the university. I believe that anyone who is presented with such a circumstance must take a step back and think about how and why they¿¿ve arrived at where they are. Personally, my reflection concluded with the belief that I was not mentally strong enough for the commitment and work that Queen¿¿s required from me. Accepting this, I understood the consequence that had been handed to me and devoted the months after my second year to reshaping how I acted day-to-day. During school, my focus and work ethic were extremely sub-par, and I knew that living a life this way was not possible. I began to consult with my doctor regarding habits and techniques I could use to return to my regular state of mine. Finding a full-time job as a server at a high-end private golf club allowed me to return to a day-by-day routine, and test whether I would wake up every day willing to work. Making sure that a healthy diet was also a part of my every day routine greatly increased my level of energy and focus towards important tasks.
At the end of the 2018 summer, I have personally noticed a large difference in my mental stability and activity. Now, after taking the school year off, it is refreshing to be back living on a good path with a clear mind of what I wanted to achieve. Reflecting on the last few months has me taken back, regarding the amount of progress I have made within my self and in my mental health.
Summarizing all the above, I suppose the reason as to why I did not submit my appeal on time was because I felt as though I shouldn¿¿t have. I believe rightfully so, though after this time has past I think that the progress I have made personally has brought me back to a place where I should try to get back to my academic studies. Perhaps not in full capacity, but so that the time that consumed my attention over the past year can be re-established in a positive manner.
As instructed by Lori Kilminster, due to the time crunch, I have also included my appeal to drop courses taken during my time at Queen's University
I am appealing to drop MATH 281, MATH 110, STAT 269, and CISC 101 past the 21-day deadline.
My second year at Queen¿¿s University began on a better note than what was left in April of 2017. Certain events that allowed this to happen are discussed within this letter, though most importantly, it was finding myself on academic probation in April of 2017 that initially got the ball rolling. At the time of receiving this news, it was not a surprise as I was aware of my poor performance at school during the year. Though looking forward, I was confident that I would have no problem getting out of the hole that I had dug for myself. The beginning of my second year at Queen¿¿s was ideal, climbing my GPA and investing time in studies all the while. Though, in the summer of 2017, I became aware that both my best friend¿¿s brother and family friend¿¿s mother had been diagnosed with a violent form of cancer. In November of 2017 I was informed of the brother¿¿s death and seeing the hardship of my best friend began a downward spiral. The mother died in the early months of 2018. I began finding difficulty in creating self-induced happiness as my priority was to ensure the stability of my friends around me. This spiral began to slowly grow larger as time went on, though after my December 2017 midterms, I was able to get myself out of the academic probation threshold GPA.
Beginning to feel more confident in my abilities and spending time with family over Christmas, a new event began to show itself. My grandfather, who has lived in the neighbouring house of mine since I was born, had been diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. From a lifetime of work around wood and dust, I was informed he would slowly lose the ability to breathe until an inevitable death by suffocation. On top of being told that he would die a slow and painful death, I would witness his decline every day until the end. This decline took months, and through my return to school, would continue to happen. Thoughts going through every day waiting for a phone call from parents saying that he has passed filled my mind and were a constant distraction and demotivator throughout the school week. On top of this waiting, another wait had begun as my other grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer¿¿s.
Throughout the last 10 years of my life, a phobia of germs has always been an issue. Though initially not a very prominent issue to handle, upon the external events in my life I began to see my anxiety climb. This anxiety would climb so high that there were nights of immobilization in my room, for no apparent reason. The thoughts of family back home, as well as phobia related would leave me crippled in bed, unable to eat, sleep, and live properly. Going to class began to become an issue when I found myself solely occupied on catching up and studying for items that I may have missed during my anxious absences.
Thoughts of imminent failure as a person and student sank me into a depression, one that I still fight to this day. In the later months of the 2017/2018 school year, I was able to see a doctor, who unfortunately only listened for minutes before prescribing me with medication. Upon my return home from school, realizing that my grades are not close to clearing the academic probation threshold, I have started my journey with another doctor. The nagging thoughts of death and depression are hopefully soon to start fading, and I wish to have another chance with my academic career because of it. Without being immobilized by fear and anxiety, I feel that pursuing a redeeming academic career is in my best interest.
Looking back at my last year, I can confidently say that I have come to terms with the unfortunate events that consumed my last year. I have accepted that those who are gone, are gone. it is because of this that I believe my extenuating circumstances are not a long-term problem.
For circumstances that will be expanded upon, given that this appeal to waive the deadline is granted, I was required by Queen¿¿s to withdraw for one year. The reason, without context, lies with my lack of ability to maintain the academic standard for the university. I believe that anyone who is presented with such a circumstance must take a step back and think about how and why they¿¿ve arrived at where they are. Personally, my reflection concluded with the belief that I was not mentally strong enough for the commitment and work that Queen¿¿s required from me. Accepting this, I understood the consequence that had been handed to me and devoted the months after my second year to reshaping how I acted day-to-day. During school, my focus and work ethic were extremely sub-par, and I knew that living a life this way was not possible. I began to consult with my doctor regarding habits and techniques I could use to return to my regular state of mine. Finding a full-time job as a server at a high-end private golf club allowed me to return to a day-by-day routine, and test whether I would wake up every day willing to work. Making sure that a healthy diet was also a part of my every day routine greatly increased my level of energy and focus towards important tasks.
At the end of the 2018 summer, I have personally noticed a large difference in my mental stability and activity. Now, after taking the school year off, it is refreshing to be back living on a good path with a clear mind of what I wanted to achieve. Reflecting on the last few months has me taken back, regarding the amount of progress I have made within my self and in my mental health.
Summarizing all the above, I suppose the reason as to why I did not submit my appeal on time was because I felt as though I shouldn¿¿t have. I believe rightfully so, though after this time has past I think that the progress I have made personally has brought me back to a place where I should try to get back to my academic studies. Perhaps not in full capacity, but so that the time that consumed my attention over the past year can be re-established in a positive manner.
As instructed by Lori Kilminster, due to the time crunch, I have also included my appeal to drop courses taken during my time at Queen's University
I am appealing to drop MATH 281, MATH 110, STAT 269, and CISC 101 past the 21-day deadline.
My second year at Queen¿¿s University began on a better note than what was left in April of 2017. Certain events that allowed this to happen are discussed within this letter, though most importantly, it was finding myself on academic probation in April of 2017 that initially got the ball rolling. At the time of receiving this news, it was not a surprise as I was aware of my poor performance at school during the year. Though looking forward, I was confident that I would have no problem getting out of the hole that I had dug for myself. The beginning of my second year at Queen¿¿s was ideal, climbing my GPA and investing time in studies all the while. Though, in the summer of 2017, I became aware that both my best friend¿¿s brother and family friend¿¿s mother had been diagnosed with a violent form of cancer. In November of 2017 I was informed of the brother¿¿s death and seeing the hardship of my best friend began a downward spiral. The mother died in the early months of 2018. I began finding difficulty in creating self-induced happiness as my priority was to ensure the stability of my friends around me. This spiral began to slowly grow larger as time went on, though after my December 2017 midterms, I was able to get myself out of the academic probation threshold GPA.
Beginning to feel more confident in my abilities and spending time with family over Christmas, a new event began to show itself. My grandfather, who has lived in the neighbouring house of mine since I was born, had been diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. From a lifetime of work around wood and dust, I was informed he would slowly lose the ability to breathe until an inevitable death by suffocation. On top of being told that he would die a slow and painful death, I would witness his decline every day until the end. This decline took months, and through my return to school, would continue to happen. Thoughts going through every day waiting for a phone call from parents saying that he has passed filled my mind and were a constant distraction and demotivator throughout the school week. On top of this waiting, another wait had begun as my other grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer¿¿s.
Throughout the last 10 years of my life, a phobia of germs has always been an issue. Though initially not a very prominent issue to handle, upon the external events in my life I began to see my anxiety climb. This anxiety would climb so high that there were nights of immobilization in my room, for no apparent reason. The thoughts of family back home, as well as phobia related would leave me crippled in bed, unable to eat, sleep, and live properly. Going to class began to become an issue when I found myself solely occupied on catching up and studying for items that I may have missed during my anxious absences.
Thoughts of imminent failure as a person and student sank me into a depression, one that I still fight to this day. In the later months of the 2017/2018 school year, I was able to see a doctor, who unfortunately only listened for minutes before prescribing me with medication. Upon my return home from school, realizing that my grades are not close to clearing the academic probation threshold, I have started my journey with another doctor. The nagging thoughts of death and depression are hopefully soon to start fading, and I wish to have another chance with my academic career because of it. Without being immobilized by fear and anxiety, I feel that pursuing a redeeming academic career is in my best interest.
Looking back at my last year, I can confidently say that I have come to terms with the unfortunate events that consumed my last year. I have accepted that those who are gone, are gone. it is because of this that I believe my extenuating circumstances are not a long-term problem.