Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Director of Studies,

I’m writing to inform you of the extenuating circumstances which prevented me from completing my
designated courseload during the winter 2023 semester. This includes all of my classes from that period,
Geophysical Character of the Earth (GEOL 368), Planetary Geology (GEOL 341), Terrain Evaluation
(GEOL 333) and Carbonate Sedimentology (GEOL 249).

I have a 6 foot 5 stature and at baseline a kyphoscoliosis which does not limit my activity but has caused
3 episodes of significant musculoskeletal pain over the past 10 years. Upon returning to school from my
parents house in Massachusetts after Christmas break (January 2023), which required a 10 hour day of
travel and lifting luggage I felt an intense pain in my lower back almost immediately but thought it would
improve with rest and heat. Unfortunately, it continued to get worse until the point where I had difficulty
sitting or standing and only felt any relief when lying flat. By January 18 th I could no longer sit for more
than a minute without having searing pain and walking was getting more difficult. I was seen at the
student health clinic on the 18 th, where I was told to rest my back as much as possible and limit the
activities which caused pain, and was given a prescription to see a physical therapist when the pain
lessened enough that I could actually do some PT exercises. I was able to walk to see a physical therapist
beginning February 5 th and attended sessions of therapy at the office and tried doing exercises the
therapist gave me at my apartment as best I could. The therapist shared that my recovery would likely
take about 8 weeks (see attached document). My sister who is also a Queen’s undergraduate student did a
lot to help me during this time and I tried to keep up with online lectures and I emailed my professors to
keep them updated. They understood I was struggling but that I wanted to try to complete the semester.
During that reading week my parents drove to pick me up and brought me back to Massachusetts lying
flat in their car. While at home I did physical therapy daily to try to continue improving (my mom is a
neurologist). I returned to school but continued to struggle with pain, limited sitting and standing.
Due to this I could not complete the assigned coursework, and I was unable to hand in my assignments in
time or sit through the examinations provided by instructors.

I’m submitting this petition so that I may continue my academic career without this stain on my record
which would prevent me from seeking graduate level education after my undergraduate studies are
completed and so that I may retake all the courses again and obtain proper grades for them. Please
understand how my injury put a severe hindrance on my ability during the winter 2023 semester. I have
also demonstrated my sincere interest in being successful in my undergraduate work, by completing a
successful fall 2023 semester. I believe that it’s very possible to continue my work and perform as well as
I would have had I not been injured and am currently taking the Terrain Evaluation (GEOL 333) and
Carbonate Sedimentology (GEOL 249) classes and have been doing well in the class and labs, attending
class and communicating with professors and the TAs to ensure I stay well positioned to do well.
I was unable to drop these courses officially before the deadline as I was having a hard time with
recovering from my injury and did not know the official process as well as I should have, and I had not
wanted to give up on the semester despite my injury, and was attempting to complete the classes. By the
time the deadline had passed, I was beyond the point of academically or physically recovering.

In the future I aspire to work to complete my courses with minimal interruption and do my best to
complete work as it is assigned. I continue to do physical therapy exercise daily and check in as needed
with my medical providers to make it less likely I have another serious episode like the one experienced

from January to May of 2023. Should this petition be granted, I will continue to work towards doing my
best in school and working to achieve my eventual goal of proceeding to graduate school. I very much
want to have success at Queen’s and work towards graduate school and a successful career. I very much
appreciate that my professors tried to work with me during this very difficult time. I regret that I was not
able to achieve all I had hoped during that semester because of my injury and illness.

Thank you for your time and consideration,


Noah James Wilson
Phone number: 781 539 2686
Student number: 20234050