Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: All throughout my life I have been a straight A student. I have always had my eye on the ball, and went to a high school that specialized in conditioning students to become the highest level of achievers. Never once did I think that any of that would ever change, that I would put my academics on the back burner. A series of bad decisions made on my part in my final year of high school led me to a downward spiral that I have spent every day trying to climb out of. I know this is an extremely sensitive topic for some people and I apologize if this is a trigger for you in any way, but the year before university started, I was badly sexually assaulted all while being in an abusive relationship that I couldn't bring myself to end. I spent the summer trying my best to come to terms with the situation all while dealing with everything else going on in my life. Throughout that relationship I saw everything through the lens of my abuser. My friends were all out to get me, my parents were being over controlling, and the only person I ever needed was him. I completely isolated myself from my support system and saw this person as my life line. It was almost as if my body and mind went into survival mode. I let a lot of horrible things happen because I felt like I needed him in my life and I had no one else. Only when other women had approached me with incidents they have had with him in the past did I take the time to reflect and listen. It made me come to the realization that these stories I was hearing felt very similar to experiences I had with him. All of a sudden it felt like the walls were closing in on me and my world came crashing down. I spent the rest of my senior year trying to come to terms with how someone I thought cared so much for me could do such a horrible thing to me. I spent a lot of time helping other victims file police reports as well as being a support system to them. All throughout, I was extremely isolated both at school and at home. I have had past friendships that did not end well and they took that moment as an opportunity to spread rumours throughout the school. It felt like I was a zoo animal on display walking down the halls. Being underaged at the time, the police had to get my parents permission in order to talk to me about my report. Being from an asian household, the whole subject of being intimate before marriage is extremely frowned upon, even nonconsensually. I felt very ashamed and a sense of disappointment from my parents. It felt like I had nowhere to turn. I felt outcasted at school, my parents do not understand how to help me with the situation at home, I had the police constantly calling and asking for statements, other victims asking me for my guidance to help them file reports, all the while trying to keep my grades up for university as well as cope and come to terms with my own assault.

I felt that Queen's university was a fresh start for me and I was so content to be able to leave Toronto for a while. However, during my time at Queens, I found myself surrounded by the same people I went to highschool with, and seeing friends of my abuser's at the gym. Being in an environment where drinking and partying is heavily prevalent reopened wounds I have tried to heal as situations continued to repeat themselves. I found myself in the same situation again one night at queens. I spent the rest of the semester locked in my room isolating myself from my friends, class, and work. Everywhere I turned I would be reminded of the past. The last two years was super difficult for me and as someone who used to get straight As in every class, seeing my grades slip was super frustrating. Student Academic Services at Queens reached out to me a few times throughout the year, but I couldn't bring myself to reach out for help. Asking for help would mean that I would need to be honest about the reason behind why I wasn't attending tutorials or doing my work. Truth be told, I wasn't ready to speak up. I was and am still scared to leave my room because I am so scared to run into my abuser. It has led me to the point where I stopped going to class and tutorials which affected my ability to perform well on tests and assignments. This has been damaging to my mental health as well and I found it super difficult to put my focus and energy on my school work. I have spoken to Barbara Lotan this year a few times and she advised me that this was an option that I could take. I fear that this has affected my ability to go to law school in the future and that devastates me. As for supporting documentation, I have an email for my case from a detective that I reported my first case to. It didn't go anywhere and I was shut down immediately and told to let the situation go that I didn't end up reporting my second one. I am going to get in contact with more mental health professionals to better handle this trauma this summer. I understand my academic performance has not warranted a good standing student but I am going to take the needed steps to ensure better academic performance in the future. I apologize as this petition letter is not as formal as I would hope it would be, I would greatly appreciate any help you could possibly give me.