Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am requesting to take more than 6.0 units of courses on a Letter of Permission to complete the remainder of my required credits at Queen’s. These credits include 12.0 units of ENGL 300-Level courses and 3.0 units of ENGL 400-Level courses. Per recommendation by Dr. Scott-Morgan Straker, I am hoping to take Athabasca University’s ENGL 324, 325, 345, 393 to replace my 300-Level courses, as well as ENGL 460 to replace my 400-level course. I intend on completing my remaining elective courses through Queen’s online classes. Dr. Straker has written me a letter of support for this request, and my family physician has also provided a note recommending I finish online due to ongoing health issues.

I want to first acknowledge that by looking at my record, you’ll see this is not my first academic petition. In January 2022, I petitioned to drop a course late due to extenuating circumstances related to my mental health following being sexually assaulted by a peer. When I reviewed my previous petition letter to aid my writing this one, I saw I wrote at the end how I regretted handling my circumstances poorly and would know how to handle them in the future. Though I have made a lot of changes since then to improve my situation, I have learned that progress is not linear.

After the 2022 winter semester concluded, I returned to my family home. I started therapy, focused on my physical health, and tried to be as transparent about what I was going through as I could be with those around me. In theory, I was doing all the right things to feel better. I moved out of my student house and into an apartment in September 2022, thinking that a new environment would allow me a fresh start to redirect myself. However, when I returned to campus, my panic attacks returned too. It got to a point where every time I tried to walk to my classes, I’d have a panic attack. Sometimes I would get all the way there but it felt like my feet just wouldn’t let me walk in. No matter where I went, I feared running into the person who assaulted me or anyone associated with him. No matter how much I pushed myself, my body and mind were not in alignment and would not listen to each other. I can honestly say, I’ve never felt more afraid and alone than I did then.

My record at Queen’s does not reflect my academic abilities. While I performed averagely in my first year in the whirlwind of leaving home, you can see a steep decline in my second year, where I struggled with transitioning into isolation with my peers due to the pandemic, and that trend continued into my third after the assault. From there I tried to find a path forward, and my grades, for the most part, improved in courses where I had professors who I could be open with about my circumstances, and who would give me extra time as a result. Still, my grades are not what they could’ve been, and this is largely due to missing participation grades because I couldn’t get myself to class. This was the case when I started ENGL 321 and ENGL 360 in September 2022. By the time the fall term exam came up, my ENGL 321 professor, Dr. Straker, recommended that I pull out of those two courses because I had fallen so far behind. This came as quite a shock to me, as I was fully intending on graduating in Spring of 2024, but it led me to re-evaluate how I was treating the privilege which is my education and academic journey.

I realized I had fallen out of love with learning, Instead, I was in a race to get to the finish line hoping it would set me free from a place where I felt very, very trapped. I thought back to the girl I was when I first applied to Queen’s - someone confident in herself, who had big dreams and would do anything to achieve them. I believed Queen’s would help me get there and never predicted life getting in the way. I knew that girl who had applied four years prior wouldn’t have been happy with how things were going, and I wasn’t either. In my last semester, Winter 2024, you’ll see a vast improvement in my grades. I began rediscovering my passion for learning and curiosity. And I largely credit my success in the majority of those courses to them having lectures available online that allowed me to spend much of my time at home with my support system.

My time at Queen’s has been incredibly difficult and humbling, but it has also shaped me into someone very in touch with their emotions, someone empathetic to others, and someone who can continuously pick themselves up despite how often life beats them down. To me, those qualities are way more valuable than the pain I still go through today. Despite the C’s and D’s that would make the old me pass out in shock, I am proud of myself for not quitting and I know in my heart that I deserve to see this through. I feel strong enough now to swallow my pride and make this request that I should have made a long time ago. I ask you on compassionate grounds to please allow me to take my education back into my own hands by giving me the flexibility to complete my degree online through transfer credits. I cannot return to that campus just to live alone in fear for another year of my life when I know how much I’m capable of when I’m not lost in all of the noise.

I have attached the necessary documentation from my family doctor and Dr. Straker, who I feel I should mention is not aware of the assault and cites, while still true, different reasons for my petition. If you require anything further, please let me know. Thank you for your time.

Warm regards,

Fiona Costello
20185051