Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson, Associate Dean (Studies),
My name is Noor Al-Huda Oada and I am in my 4th year at Queen's University, studying Physics. I am writing this letter to request an appeal to drop (DR) the following courses past the academic deadline: MATH225 (WINTER 2018), MATH280 (FALL 2017), PHYS216 (WINTER 2018) and PHYS239 (WINTER 2018).
I am appealing to drop (DR) the above-listed courses due to extenuating circumstances that were beyond my control that lead to a failing (F) grade. The unforeseen personal events that directly affected my academic performance has to do with both my physical and mental health. I had a rough transition in first year so I made sure to reach out to a personal counsellor at the start of the Fall 2017 semester. I have been seeing Tess Grant (Occupational Therapist) frequently since October of 2017. She helped me deal with my overall health, more specifically, my mental health. During the Winter 2018 semester, I really started to suffer from lack of sleep where I went days with no sleep. Having not slept for 50+ hours at times, I kept going on as if nothing was wrong but my friends started to show serious concern towards me. I started visiting other mental health professionals that offered counselling services in La Salle such as the crisis clinic. In addition, I later booked an appointment to meet with Counsellor Hannah Peck (March 21, 2018) where we talked about my sleep deprivation and its impact on my academics and mental health. My sleep habits were just the start of numerous other health problems, it just went downhill from there. It was not until I started vomiting and coughing out blood that I thought it was time to book a consultation with a medical professional. That is when I got in touch with Dr. Farnworth on April 2, 2018. The sleep issue lead me to miss important activities such as quizzes (in MATH225 and PHYS239) and even a mid-term (in PHYS216), despite studying and being prepared for both. I began to work closely and meet with each of my professors to work through the situation I was in. I discussed with my professors different steps I can take to succeed in the course- such as extra time and writing in a semi-private room. As exam time rolled around, my health continuously got worse. I started having medical emergencies during exams, where I had to be escorted out to seek medical attention. At one point, I was even dismissed by my professor to leave the exam hall as I was not in the best shape to continue my exam (April 12, 2018).
Focusing on PHYS239 specifically, originally I was set to write the exam on April 17, 2018, alongside my peers. However, I had documentation from student wellness services that stated unable to complete exam on April 17th due to a health condition. After also submitting a Self-Declaration of Brief Absence form, as Professor Giroux requested, we agreed to reschedule the exam till April 26, 2018. Despite that, on the 26th I had a medical emergency and had to be escorted out by Professor Judith Erwin. Given the decline in my health and the severity of symptoms, I was unable to write the PHYS239 exam. On April 27, 2018, I had a consultation with Dr. Ritsma where we went over many things, including a mental health assessment.
Now, the only courses I am appealing to for the winter term are MATH225, PHYS 216 and PHYS 239. I was not able to drop these courses earlier since the severity of my health did not deteriorate until after the drop deadline, affecting my performance at the end of the term. PHYS250 is another course I took in the Winter 2018 term but I am not appealing that course since the exam was written during Week 12 (April 3, 2018) therefore was not particularly affected by my circumstances. I have been working closely with Tess Grant to resolve my circumstance and manage in such a way where I will succeed in my studies. After talking with a few counsellors, I have been able to work out an accommodation with Tess regarding my exams.
With all this in mind, I have made a future plan for achieving academic success including lots of personal adjustments. I will be delaying my graduation by a year as I took the last school year (2018-19) to make-up for those courses and get back on track. As I am dropping the following courses, I have already enrolled to retake the courses (MATH225, PHYS216, and PHYS239) and successfully completed them during the 2018-19 school year. This past summer term I took two entrepreneurship (ENIN) classes and successfully completed them with a grade in the A range. In addition, I want to be able to focus on my schoolwork more so I have been taking a lighter course load. I will also be continuing and maintaining regular meetings with Tess Grant and other medical professionals. My goal is to focus on my health and decrease its negative effects on my academics. Reflecting back to how my 2018-19 school year went, I have made lots of progress to ensure that my extenuating circumstances did not continue to negatively affect my academic progress. I developed professional relationships with my professors to assist me through my success where I am under no pressure. Health-wise, I have become physically stronger by taking more care of myself on step at a time. My sleeping habits alongside eating habits have improved gradually, strengthening my immune system. After the success in third year, I am accepting this progressive recovery and slowly working my way up to achieve all that I want by graduation. I have high hopes that with these adjustments and improvements, I will be able to continue my fourth and even fifth year in a positive matter.
I hope you understand that my poor performance in the following courses was due to something I did not have control of (at the time). I am working very hard now to get a second chance and have the opportunity to show what I am really capable of. I will be happy to answer any questions you have for me. Thank you for your consideration and time to review my request.
Sincerely,
Noor Oada
My name is Noor Al-Huda Oada and I am in my 4th year at Queen's University, studying Physics. I am writing this letter to request an appeal to drop (DR) the following courses past the academic deadline: MATH225 (WINTER 2018), MATH280 (FALL 2017), PHYS216 (WINTER 2018) and PHYS239 (WINTER 2018).
I am appealing to drop (DR) the above-listed courses due to extenuating circumstances that were beyond my control that lead to a failing (F) grade. The unforeseen personal events that directly affected my academic performance has to do with both my physical and mental health. I had a rough transition in first year so I made sure to reach out to a personal counsellor at the start of the Fall 2017 semester. I have been seeing Tess Grant (Occupational Therapist) frequently since October of 2017. She helped me deal with my overall health, more specifically, my mental health. During the Winter 2018 semester, I really started to suffer from lack of sleep where I went days with no sleep. Having not slept for 50+ hours at times, I kept going on as if nothing was wrong but my friends started to show serious concern towards me. I started visiting other mental health professionals that offered counselling services in La Salle such as the crisis clinic. In addition, I later booked an appointment to meet with Counsellor Hannah Peck (March 21, 2018) where we talked about my sleep deprivation and its impact on my academics and mental health. My sleep habits were just the start of numerous other health problems, it just went downhill from there. It was not until I started vomiting and coughing out blood that I thought it was time to book a consultation with a medical professional. That is when I got in touch with Dr. Farnworth on April 2, 2018. The sleep issue lead me to miss important activities such as quizzes (in MATH225 and PHYS239) and even a mid-term (in PHYS216), despite studying and being prepared for both. I began to work closely and meet with each of my professors to work through the situation I was in. I discussed with my professors different steps I can take to succeed in the course- such as extra time and writing in a semi-private room. As exam time rolled around, my health continuously got worse. I started having medical emergencies during exams, where I had to be escorted out to seek medical attention. At one point, I was even dismissed by my professor to leave the exam hall as I was not in the best shape to continue my exam (April 12, 2018).
Focusing on PHYS239 specifically, originally I was set to write the exam on April 17, 2018, alongside my peers. However, I had documentation from student wellness services that stated unable to complete exam on April 17th due to a health condition. After also submitting a Self-Declaration of Brief Absence form, as Professor Giroux requested, we agreed to reschedule the exam till April 26, 2018. Despite that, on the 26th I had a medical emergency and had to be escorted out by Professor Judith Erwin. Given the decline in my health and the severity of symptoms, I was unable to write the PHYS239 exam. On April 27, 2018, I had a consultation with Dr. Ritsma where we went over many things, including a mental health assessment.
Now, the only courses I am appealing to for the winter term are MATH225, PHYS 216 and PHYS 239. I was not able to drop these courses earlier since the severity of my health did not deteriorate until after the drop deadline, affecting my performance at the end of the term. PHYS250 is another course I took in the Winter 2018 term but I am not appealing that course since the exam was written during Week 12 (April 3, 2018) therefore was not particularly affected by my circumstances. I have been working closely with Tess Grant to resolve my circumstance and manage in such a way where I will succeed in my studies. After talking with a few counsellors, I have been able to work out an accommodation with Tess regarding my exams.
With all this in mind, I have made a future plan for achieving academic success including lots of personal adjustments. I will be delaying my graduation by a year as I took the last school year (2018-19) to make-up for those courses and get back on track. As I am dropping the following courses, I have already enrolled to retake the courses (MATH225, PHYS216, and PHYS239) and successfully completed them during the 2018-19 school year. This past summer term I took two entrepreneurship (ENIN) classes and successfully completed them with a grade in the A range. In addition, I want to be able to focus on my schoolwork more so I have been taking a lighter course load. I will also be continuing and maintaining regular meetings with Tess Grant and other medical professionals. My goal is to focus on my health and decrease its negative effects on my academics. Reflecting back to how my 2018-19 school year went, I have made lots of progress to ensure that my extenuating circumstances did not continue to negatively affect my academic progress. I developed professional relationships with my professors to assist me through my success where I am under no pressure. Health-wise, I have become physically stronger by taking more care of myself on step at a time. My sleeping habits alongside eating habits have improved gradually, strengthening my immune system. After the success in third year, I am accepting this progressive recovery and slowly working my way up to achieve all that I want by graduation. I have high hopes that with these adjustments and improvements, I will be able to continue my fourth and even fifth year in a positive matter.
I hope you understand that my poor performance in the following courses was due to something I did not have control of (at the time). I am working very hard now to get a second chance and have the opportunity to show what I am really capable of. I will be happy to answer any questions you have for me. Thank you for your consideration and time to review my request.
Sincerely,
Noor Oada