Petition Letter
To Whom It May Concern:
The transition from high school to university was detrimental to my mental health, resulting in a cyclical cycle of poor academic performance during my first three terms of my undergraduate degree. I am appealing my marks for MATH 121, BCHM 218, CHEM 281, CHEM 282, STAT 263 and PHGY 215 because I recognize that my grades in these courses were shaped by my mental health and not by my academic abilities. I came all the way from Vancouver to attend Queen's University and honestly, it was the hardest transition of my life. For me not knowing a single person and struggling to make friends at Queen's took a large toll on me. I have a very close community at home, who are very accepting of me and honestly coming to Queen's did not make me feel that way. The majority of this campus is Caucasian and I come from a very proud Pakistani background that I felt was not accepted at Queen's. I felt isolated and alone and very marginalised. I would think that for a school that has had so many racial instances in the past would learn and try to make students of colour feel inclusive but yet I still experienced racism on campus which In turn was damaging for my mental health.
Throughout the first three terms of my undergrad, I struggled to maintain balance. When I made my decision to be a 2nd year Life Sciences specialization, It was May of 2018 and I was among the support of my family and it made me feel like I could take on a harder course load. However, when I came back to campus a non-supportive atmosphere I realized I could not handle a specialization along with my mental health. Being so far away from home and still not having a solid support system in Kingston just made me enter the same cycle of poor academic performance. I tried to get help, but the student wellness services at Queen's are also flawed. How was I expected to wait multiple weeks to see someone to help me with my mental health. That is not ok. My family has always been there or me and supported me throughout my life. Getting the grades I did made me feel so embarrassed and shameful that it took all my energy to block it out my head and that is why I did not pursue action and appeal earlier. In the past, when I would think to appeal I would just become so overwhelmed with all the negative feelings that it would be too hard to continue. When the second semester of second year came along I decided to make a place for myself here on campus, by getting involved with Jack.org Queen's Chapter, a mental health advocacy organization on campus. I recuperated and found myself with a sense of support. As well I dropped to a Life Sciences major and the workload came a lot better to handle along with my mental health. I started to feel better not perfect but better and it started to show in my grades. When the year finished and I got my grades I thought this would be the time to appeal but again it just hurt too much to think about that stage of my life. I am now in third year and my mental health is improving every day and I do not feel as weighed down by mental health as I did. I am finally on track and my grades have improved substantially; I have a good support system and my mental health is in a good place, and it would mean so much to me if my courses are appealed as they are not a true reflection of my academic ability. These grades are preventing me to further my education by going to graduate school. My low grades do not indicate that I am a bad student but really, a good student whose mental health had been affected. I hope you will give me a second chance. Thank you for considering this appeal.
Sincerely,
Husain Akbar
The transition from high school to university was detrimental to my mental health, resulting in a cyclical cycle of poor academic performance during my first three terms of my undergraduate degree. I am appealing my marks for MATH 121, BCHM 218, CHEM 281, CHEM 282, STAT 263 and PHGY 215 because I recognize that my grades in these courses were shaped by my mental health and not by my academic abilities. I came all the way from Vancouver to attend Queen's University and honestly, it was the hardest transition of my life. For me not knowing a single person and struggling to make friends at Queen's took a large toll on me. I have a very close community at home, who are very accepting of me and honestly coming to Queen's did not make me feel that way. The majority of this campus is Caucasian and I come from a very proud Pakistani background that I felt was not accepted at Queen's. I felt isolated and alone and very marginalised. I would think that for a school that has had so many racial instances in the past would learn and try to make students of colour feel inclusive but yet I still experienced racism on campus which In turn was damaging for my mental health.
Throughout the first three terms of my undergrad, I struggled to maintain balance. When I made my decision to be a 2nd year Life Sciences specialization, It was May of 2018 and I was among the support of my family and it made me feel like I could take on a harder course load. However, when I came back to campus a non-supportive atmosphere I realized I could not handle a specialization along with my mental health. Being so far away from home and still not having a solid support system in Kingston just made me enter the same cycle of poor academic performance. I tried to get help, but the student wellness services at Queen's are also flawed. How was I expected to wait multiple weeks to see someone to help me with my mental health. That is not ok. My family has always been there or me and supported me throughout my life. Getting the grades I did made me feel so embarrassed and shameful that it took all my energy to block it out my head and that is why I did not pursue action and appeal earlier. In the past, when I would think to appeal I would just become so overwhelmed with all the negative feelings that it would be too hard to continue. When the second semester of second year came along I decided to make a place for myself here on campus, by getting involved with Jack.org Queen's Chapter, a mental health advocacy organization on campus. I recuperated and found myself with a sense of support. As well I dropped to a Life Sciences major and the workload came a lot better to handle along with my mental health. I started to feel better not perfect but better and it started to show in my grades. When the year finished and I got my grades I thought this would be the time to appeal but again it just hurt too much to think about that stage of my life. I am now in third year and my mental health is improving every day and I do not feel as weighed down by mental health as I did. I am finally on track and my grades have improved substantially; I have a good support system and my mental health is in a good place, and it would mean so much to me if my courses are appealed as they are not a true reflection of my academic ability. These grades are preventing me to further my education by going to graduate school. My low grades do not indicate that I am a bad student but really, a good student whose mental health had been affected. I hope you will give me a second chance. Thank you for considering this appeal.
Sincerely,
Husain Akbar