Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Director of Studies,

I am writing to appeal for Credit Standing (CR) for ANAT 215 (2023-2024), ANAT 215 (2023-2024), BCHM 315 (2024-2025), and BCHM 316 (2024-2025). I am also writing to request that the deadline for academic petitions from the 2023-2024 academic school year be waived due to the extenuating circumstances and mental health challenges outlined below.

In 2022, my grandfather had received a diagnosis that his cancer was inoperable and that chemotherapy or other radiation treatments were not advisable due to his poor overall health. Due to my history as his primary point of contact for all health appointments and his translator for all medical appointments during his journey with cancer, he had developed a dependence on me when it came to any aspect of his health. As his cancer progressed and his mental worsened, he became hysterical and refused all care that wasn’t delivered by me or with me in his line of sight. Throughout first-year (2022-2023), I had gone home to visit and to take him to medical appointments nearly every single weekend, as he refused care from others. I have attached transportation receipts from the times that I used that service, however, my main method of transportation was being picked up and dropped off by either one of my parents. Over the summer of 2023, I was his primary caretaker, due to my grandmother’s age and my parents being unable to step in due to work and financial burden. My mental health worsened at that point significantly, as my efforts to care for him were no longer having the same effect. He was hospitalized and admitted in palliative care on September 4th, 2023 (the day that I was to return to Kingston). Although I did return for the start of the semester, I returned home for a week because he passed roughly two weeks after being admitted, as seen in the death certificate.

This situation had affected me greatly as I began to have frequent panic attacks and would hyperventilate when I would be reminded of the issue. The panic attacks became longer and took a greater toll on me as the year progressed due to academic stress exacerbating my anxiety around performance and results. I was also showing symptoms of depression from the toll that care-taking had taken on me from 2022, that now presented as insomnia and the lack of motivation to attend lectures, catch-up on notes, and complete course work up until the last minute. For the majority of both the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic school year, I mostly attended mandatory labs and tutorials. I struggled with attending lectures, regardless of whether attendance was marked or not, resulting in the lack of notes and inadequate preparation for most assessments and exams.

Despite my lack of attendance, I began to use textbooks and online resources to self-study and managed to pass all my courses. However, for courses such as ANAT 215 and 216 that were graded based on heavily weighted exams that were usually almost always close to other midterms and finals, my inability to rest well and increasing anxiety resulted in grades that were not as comparable to my other courses. These were courses that could not be passed solely with self-study techniques and would have required attentiveness throughout the year. Other courses throughout the year had lab reports, assignments, tutorial grades, lower weighted exams, and quizzes that aided me in performing better in the course overall, instead of my mark being dependent on a single examination. I had attempted to receive mental health support from Student Wellness Services in February, however, I was still struggling with the trauma that came from clinics and medical appointments due to regular visits with my grandfather. I did not return for another appointment as my first appointment had not gone well and receiving care was becoming distressing.

As I began my third year (2024-2025) my symptoms of anxiety and depression remained constant and worsened during periods of high stress, which was consistent from the previous year. The same problems occurred with BCHM 315 and 316 where my performance for heavily weighted midterm and final exams was inadequate. Throughout this academic year, I was also sick very often as a result of stress and have included prescriptions and doctor’s notes from the year, as well as previous requests for academic accommodations. While my attendance and ability to keep up and manage with coursework for all courses was suffering, I managed to rely on self-study to achieve decent marks in the rest of my courses. I have also included a reference letter from a friend that shared numerous courses with me over both academic years being petitioned that discloses her statement regarding my attendance.

Considering the symptoms that I outlined above, my personal life was also greatly affected, if not more, than my academics. I was struggling to maintain relationships and failed to see how my grades in second year would be impacting my plans for my future. Due to the severity of my depression and my focus on attempting to move forward and not revisit the impact of my grandfather’s death on myself, I failed to understand how the appeal process worked and if I was even eligible. My failure to recognize the severity of the impact of a poor grade on my transcript and how it overshadows my current improvement and progress resulted in a missed deadline to appeal and request a CR on my transcript.

I am currently receiving mental health support from a therapist with Student Wellness Services and am in the process of getting a psychiatric referral to evaluate more severe mental health concerns and potentially develop a care plan that involves medication for symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia. I am also actively working as a caretaker to help with the trauma that I have in terms of providing care for another individual. I am slowly building a reliable team that will help me improve my mental health and overcome those challenges. I hope I have provided sufficient information regarding my circumstances over the last two years and hope that this letter and the supporting documents provide clarity regarding the four courses and my missed appeal deadline.

Sincerely,
Keerat Dhothar