Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

My name is Maegan Hanlan and I am a Bachelor of Arts student majoring in Gender Studies. I have been registered with QSAS since my second year at Queen’s for both a severe mood disorder and cerebral palsy. In the Winter term of 2024, I unfortunately went through an extremely difficult time with my mental health. Throughout the semester, I had kept in contact with my professors as I am a dedicated student and love the work that I have done so far at Queen’s.

However, as the end of the semester approached, even with my efforts in getting new medications, and talking to my doctor’s and social workers to help alleviate some of my mental health struggles, the remaining course work I had left and my mental exhaustion paired together was too much. At first, I had only planned to drop three of my five courses in the Winter 2024 term, however, after further discussions with my remaining two professors and healthcare professionals in May, I decided that it was in my best interest to drop all five. All of my professors saw my dedication to my studies and work and have also agreed to send in their support of the late drop if prompted by Queen’s accommodations staff. I have included a doctor’s note outlining the extenuating circumstances and support for the late drop.

As for my class in Fall 2025, I was more determined than ever to complete my degree after dropping my honours at the end of my 2024 academic year. However, my grandmother was diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer that took her life very quickly. This harsh grieving process working in conjunction with my mental health struggles already, led me to not pass this class. I had discussed these circumstances with my professor, and after completing a majority of my assignments with exception to the final paper, she said that I was not going to be able to pass with my extenuating documentation.

Throughout these times, I have also kept in regular contact with my accessibility advisor through QSAS, Caroline Teske, and other Queen’s staff and resources including academic advising and counselling to better understand my path at Queen’s and get the help I needed. I am now in regular contact with my social worker to work through these times and achieve my goals.

Queen’s has always been my dream school and with all of my physical and mental obstacles, I never believed I would get here. I now have 6.00 credits to earn in order to complete my degree by the end of 2025. My degree and walking across the stage is something that has kept me alive throughout these extreme hardships. I am petitioning to drop these courses because I do not think these terms or grades truly illustrate how committed and passionate I am as a student. Dropping these courses would allow me to pursue my dream college program within HR after my degree is complete and give me a GPA that better depicts the effort and focus I have towards my studies. Even though I have had several devastating circumstances arise throughout this past year, I am happy and eager to get my degree and have a transcript that reflects these hardships as well as my hard work. Queen’s and my professors have always been extremely helpful with my disabilities and accommodations and I am very grateful. I thank you so much for your consideration.

Best,

Maegan Hanlan
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