Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Faculty/School office,

I hope this letter finds you well.
My name is Rundong Yu, and my student number is 20153897. Thank you for handling my case. As our final marks were released on April 27th, I was disappointed to find that I had failed the course MATH211. Actually, I came across some special circumstances that were unforeseen and beyond my control, causing me to be in bad condition during the exam. I sincerely apologize for this unsatisfactory result and am eager to make up for it. Therefore, I am writing to request a kind consideration of my special circumstances and approval of a slight improvement of marks or a further attempt on the MATH211 exam. Details of my special circumstances will be provided down below for your consideration. Thank you for your patient reading.

Occurrence Date: April 16th, 2024
Impacted Assessment: exam of MATH211 on April 17th, 2024
Unforeseen circumstances: My 78-year-old grandpa collapsed at home due to a heart attack and was rushed to emergency. He was in critical condition for three days.

I lived with my grandparents in my childhood, who cared for everything since my parents had to work far from home to make a living. Grandpa, though in his 50s at that time, seemed capable of managing everything. If it were not for him, my parents would have much more stress, both mentally and financially, in raising a kid than they had then. He took all the responsibilities of this big family as my grandmother played the role of housewife. I still remember those nights when I eagerly awaited him to return home and share his stories with me all day. Even today, I can still recall those experiences and stories from him travelling around the world. There is no doubt that my grandpa was the first to enlighten me to carry out this international journey and pursue an overseas degree. He was like a pillar of my life. However, that very tough pillar nearly toppled down.

I received my father’s phone call on the night of April 16th, which began with thunder-like news that Grandpa was unconscious, lying in the bed of the emergency room in the hospital. The hospital had informed my father of Grandpa's critical condition and asked to prepare for the worst result (medical certificate). It seemed like my heart had missed a beat. I asked in a rush for more details about Grandpa, but my father replied with profound silence. I tried to speak with him with my inward panic hidden. I could not memorize now how I finished that call. One thing I could remember was that it was a heart attack, and Grandpa fell into a coma after his head hit the ground.

Further information on Grandpa's condition remained unknown since the doctor refused to let my parents in. All we could do at that moment was to wait hopelessly and helplessly. Hanging up the phone, I threw myself into the bed, felt my heart torn apart and burst into tears desperately. I could not imagine the worst result of this--losing my beloved grandfather for good. It almost felt like yesterday when he told me to study hard and make him proud last Chinese New Year. Those might be the last words from him. It frightened me to even think about all these. Overwhelmed by the possibility of losing my grandpa, I didn’t fall asleep until a pale ray of sunlight slipped in the room. Unaware of the passage of time, I was suddenly awakened. It was half past six already. Muddleheaded, I sleepwalked through the exam of course MATH211, at 7 p.m. on April 17th. I could neither focus on the paper in front of me nor write without my hands shaking.
I sincerely apologize for my unsatisfactory performance during the exam, though it was not intentional on my part.

Fortunately, the worst result had never happened, thank god. After living in vast suspense and worries for nearly 48 hours, good news finally arrived on April 18th. Grandpa survived through the surgery and was declared out of danger, though he did not wake up yet. Knowing that, I then commit myself to the rest of my finals.

Occurrence Date: April 23th, 2024
Unforeseen circumstances: blame from my parents; I was not in a fine mental state;
After I had finally finished all of my exams, I was planning to organize my circumstances and the medical certificate to apply for an academic consideration due to things happened. When I asked my parents for the medical records of Grandpa, I was questioned why. Knowing the reason, my parents got angry for they merely deemed this an excuse of mine for not studying hard before.
Unfortunately, even though I have committed myself to preparing for this final week, I could not have foreseen my grandpa’s illness and the enormous impact this would have on me both physically and mentally. This is unfair. For days, I cannot eat or sleep well. I do not have anyone to talk to about my distress, since my own parents judged me for making excuses. Overwhelmed by emotions of anxiety and unjust, I even sought help from a psychologist online. Allow me to express my sincere apologize for not applying for petition earlier and all the inconvenience this might cause you; it is not until now that I can gather information and evidence with clear mind.

Why didn’t I apply for academic consideration under special circumstances in a timely manner?
--My grandfather's illness unfolded suddenly. At that moment, I was during preparing for assessments, lacking both the time and energy to gather evidence and apply for Special Consideration.
--I erroneously believed that my grandfather's illness was a matter of personal privacy, and as such, I shouldn't disclose it to the Queen's University or apply for Academic Consideration. Allow me to extend my most sincere apologies for my misunderstanding of the policy.
--I was disturbed for my parents’ blame for making excuses. I am sorry for the delay caused by my condition.

Why other course assessments were not affected?
--The accidental heart attack of my grandfather took place on the night of April 16th and improved on April 18th, the period during which my other assessments were not contained. During the exam of Math211 On April 17th, I can’t help worrying about Grandpa’s critical condition and fearing that I might lose him for good. I stayed up all night before and was mentally absent.

Allow me to once again extend my apologies for my poor academic performance in the exam for course MATH211. However, this unsatisfactory performance can be well demonstrated as unable to reveal my true academic capabilities by my current results of the other assessments submitted and exams sat before and after my special circumstances. If it were not for the emergency I experienced and got disturbed by, I would act well. I hold high standards of myself, both in academics and in life. Because of the failing result under special circumstances of the course MATH211, I am now one step away from graduation, after which I have formerly planned to go back to my country where a fine opportunity for internship awaits. I failed the course because of uncontrolled worries about my grandpa's critical condition. Thus, I would be extremely grateful if Queen's University could take my special circumstances into consideration and grant me a slight improvement in my mark or a further attempt at the MATH211 course. Thank you for your patience and consideration.


Sincerely,
Rundong Yu