Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: 15 January, 2026

Dear Associate Dean (Academic),
My name is Riya Bedi (20533702) and I am a first year student in the Life Sciences and Biochemistry program at Queen’s University. I am writing this petition regarding the failing grade I received for a course I took in the fall semester, PHYS 115 and the circumstances surrounding this situation.
On December 9, I had my PHYS 115 exam. During said exam, my right hand started shaking profusely and then went numb. I did my best to finish the multiple choice section of the exam with my left hand, but I am not ambidextrous, so this task was quite difficult and exacerbated my anxiety. After the exam finished, I approached the proctors of the exam and they suggested that I email Professor Topper who teaches the course. Upon emailing Professor Topper, she stated that they would look at my multiple choice answers compared to the long answer section. Furthermore, I went to the Queen’s Student Wellness office and tried to sign up for an appointment, but no physician was available. Then, I did my best to get an appointment with my family physician, Dr. Rohit Nagpal, but the earliest appointment was on December 30, 2025 (evidence of which is attached below). Upon consulting with my family physician, he referred me to a Neurologist whom I will visit as soon as I can get an appointment with. Furthermore, I would like to clarify that this hand tremor is not a symptom of anxiety for me. Typically anxiety manifests as hyperventilating and freezing up thus, this symptom is isolated from what I have observed of my own body thus far. I received the grade for this course last week, thus I am writing this petition after consulting with the Academic Consideration team over zoom about the best course of action to take regarding this situation. I am petitioning for PHYS 115 as this right hand tremor only occurred during the examination for this class and did not for other classes for reasons unbeknownst to me.
I am writing this petition to request if I can complete an assessment that would replace this exam, or if this course could be excluded from my GPA as an incomplete credit or Credit (CR) Standing. If there are any other favourable outcomes that can occur such as redoing the exam please let me know. I would like to reiterate that, I believe if this hand tremor did not occur I would have scored much higher on this exam. I am a student who cares about my grades and the transition between grade 12 and first year although arduous work has been rewarding in learning opportunities regarding how to improve. I kindly request that I not be penalized for a circumstance I could not control.

Thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Riya Bedi