Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dr. Stephenson,

I am writing to you in regards to petitioning a late drop of the courses which were impacted by the sudden death of my close friend, Chantel Butler, and impacted the completion of my IN grade due to the sudden diagnosis of my grandmother’s terminal cancer. The classes are from W23, and they are Phil256, Phil250 (Full year course), and Phil275 and LAW202.

As you know, I had petitioned to drop two summer courses due to the diagnosis of my grandmother’s terminal cancer, and you were gracious enough to grant me these drops due to the severity of the issue. These three courses granted me an incomplete grade due to the passing of my closest friend, Chantel. During the summer, I was enrolled in three courses and determined to get my academics back on track after struggling with her sudden death. I was granted incomplete grades for all three of the winter term courses and informed my instructors of the event as soon as I found out about her passing. Chantel and I met in high school, had every class together, and became attached at the hip. At one point she lived with me, as her home was unsafe. She became an older sister I never had. I moved schools and she was my only support system when I moved seven hours away from all my friends and family. Unfortunately, she fell victim to a fatal fentanyl overdose, and she was found in her home. As you can imagine, the incomplete grades I received were very beneficial to me at first. However, this was interrupted when my grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she has since been placed in hospice care as of two weeks ago.

This caused a severe interruption in my summer studies and my incomplete grades for these three winter term courses. I petitioned my summer courses as soon as I had spoken with an advisor and my doctor, and again, you graciously granted this request. However, due to the severe impact my grandmother’s diagnosis had on me and my health, I was in no state to be able to focus on my completion of these IN grades.

I had every intention of completing these courses. I had a couple of essays to hand in, and I would have succeeded. In fact, before the missing assignments due to the interruption of significant life events, I had high 70’s on my assignments at the time. These were some of my favourite courses at Queen’s by far. I have spoken with my accommodation advisor and an academic advisor about the circumstances, and it is clear to me that I needed to take a break for my mental health throughout this. I went to therapy for the death of Chantel and I felt well enough to complete my IN grade courses. I wish I had the strength to complete the courses to the best of my ability, but with my grandmother also facing a terrifying diagnosis, it was not possible. I am fighting every day to heal and face my struggles head-on.

With that being said, I truly wish I had the ability at the time to showcase the passion for these courses I once had. But losing my best friend, and then a couple of months later discovering my grandmother was faced with a similar fate, but slower, broke me. I have accommodations in place to ensure I can cope with the daily struggles of my disability. I do not neglect the fact that I should have included these courses in my previous petition letter to you, but I also feared that I would come off as disrespectful, inconsiderate or even desperate. I am capable of succeeding. I am taking an extra year in my studies to retake courses I did not complete during the winter 2023 term. I don’t like that I have to write you another letter, it feels like I’ve failed not only myself but other people supporting me. I am trying my best with the situations thrown at me this past year. As you know, Phil260 last term was causing a massive amount of stress given the incident with the midterm accommodations, but I still put my absolute all in to prove that I am as dedicated as ever, and successfully turned that F in the course into a C with several hours of hard work and dedication. I have IN grades from Fall 2023 due to the impacts of Phil260, they are awaiting grades but I am expected to pass with no issues. I have study groups I attend with other students, I am going to office hours and reaching out for extra help. I am not giving up. I want to be at Queen’s, I would love to re-take these courses next year as planned to show not only you but myself that I am capable of so much more when not dealing with the death of a close friend who was followed up by my grandmother’s terminal illness.

I wish I had included these courses in my petition written to you this summer, but honestly, my goal to take care of my mental health included spending time with my grandmother and coping with losing Chantel a couple of months prior. I am extremely grateful for all the support I have since received from the professors who knew about Chantel’s loss at the time it occurred, and the ongoing support I have at Queen’s from my advisors and friends in Kingston. I appreciate any course you’re willing to late drop, even if that isn’t all of them included above. I know these grades are not an accurate representation of my academic growth at Queen’s, and I am working incredibly hard to continue that growth and focus on my mental health at the same time.

This year so far, I have overcome the struggles of Phil260 and the challenges associated with the investigation regarding the professor’s backlash towards accommodated students. I have been granted a service animal accommodation to further help me succeed and participate in on-campus activities without the barriers I had before. I am currently battling my mother’s 4th stage ovarian cancer diagnosis and her struggles after getting surgery. I am still pushing myself academically, participating, and meeting with professors this term to help me succeed and continue on my path to succeeding academically. I have overcome so much, I don’t want my GPA to fall due to these past courses and impact my current success at Queen’s. I have plans to retake Law 202 this summer, and one other course to help get the missing credits and boost my GPA. I have also taken this opportunity to meet with Haley Everson, who has kindly assisted me in making an academic plan with this petition in mind. Haley has been amazing in helping me get back on track after the Phil260 nightmare from earlier this academic year, and we were able to establish a plan for how to grow academically after the events which occurred last year that prevented me from succeeding.

I appreciate your consideration, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the year.
All the best,

Olivia Yzerman