Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am writing this petition letter for the failure to pass the course ASTR 101 – Astronomy 1: The Solar System in the 2023 winter semester.

Due to an extenuating circumstance which I endured; my academic success was affected greatly. This incident had occurred in the end of March 2023, and following this I experienced intense emotional and mental impacts. The incident led to an investigation lead by Norma Barret, as part of the Queens Student Sexual Violence Response Services. Going through the process of the investigation was difficult and filled with uncertainty. I felt a heavy weight of depression for weeks following and found myself in a situation where the friendships I made in my first year at Queens crumbled while I spent weeks struggling to function. Having little support from my friends, I spent a lot of time alone dealing with the emotions of betrayal, sadness, insecurity, and fear. Experiencing all this at the end of my first year of university was utterly disappointing, as I had previously felt I was truly flourishing and succeeding both socially and academically. At a time where I should have been devotedly studying and preparing for exams, I struggled to face getting out of bed and looking after my basic responsibilities. I believe that despite my state, I put my best effort into separating how I was feeling and what I was dealing with from getting through the exam period, however I did not do as well as I would have if I was in a state of good mental wellness. There is a clear overall decline in my grades of my fall term exams and winter exams. I was on track to studying psychology as a major, but unfortunately failed the winter PSYC 100 exam, which I am now set to redeem in my second year. As with ASTR 101, I had a steady passing grade in the course, but with the exam weighing 50% of the grade, failing it meant I failed the course. While there is an overall impact of my academic standing because of this circumstance, I wish to petition my failing ASTR 101 grade to be dropped because of how it may affect my pursue of graduate studies in psychology, as well as the fact that this course was an elective taken out of general interest and retaking it would not be a valuable use of my time or money. This incident has been investigated, and a resolution has been found for the parties involved, however I feel that the mark this has left of my academic standing is a reminder of how it affected me so greatly. This petition being approved would mean that I can carry on with my studies without worry of how this could continue to affect me in my education.

Moving forward, I have sought out resources and support to assist me in moving past this situation, and healing from the trauma it caused me. I know that moving forward, I feel determined and positive that I can resume my studies at Queens with full force and focus. By continuing to utilize the support resources I have access to, as well as maintaining my focus on mental and physical wellness, I am sure that I can face any future challenges in this nature with a more resilient approach.

Thank you for your consideration.

Madison Budge
20335875