Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: When I enrolled I was awarded an AFA as well as qualified for some academic bursaries. Despite this, I got 0$ funding from OSAP last year then in winter of ’25, I was trying to stay focused on classes but I have always been worried about money

After my first year, I was left with an outstanding balance of over $13,000. I was struggling attempting to figure out how to pay my tuition. I tried to contract myself to graphic design but it was hard to upscale due to football and the academic expectations. In early fall of 2025, I was awarded OSAP which was used for the rest of my tuition. By the time I was able to get into classes with the funding I had gotten from OSAP, this had caused me to enroll late into courses. My account was on hold which made things difficult.

During the fall semester, i had begun to have financial issues as i was struggling to pay for my first years tuition. I was able to mitigate the situation a bit through OSAP but my parents were not able to support me. My dad has been out of work for 2 years after his place relocated and My mother was going to school in Ghana herself to get back into nursing. She had her own loans to pay for. My eldest brother is also currently not working which limits my help for financial aid.

We had rented out our basement to an individual who had been selected from the homeless shelter program as we were having difficulties finding tenants to rent out to. Within the first month we had found that they had severely damaged the property along with vandalizing the property which we had to clean and fix. My family had not deposited the payment we were supposed to receive from his pension for safety reasons as that would make him a permanent resident for the full years lease. We had constant police visits to our property because of these issues and were soon able to remove him from the property. It was an unsafe environment for my 7 year-old brother to grow up in as we never knew what would happen if things were to escalate.

Because my parents were busy with trying to figure their own issues, I was having issues paying my rent. I was able to get a job at Stages, as it worked around my varsity practice and academic schedule. I would wake up at 8:30am for a lift, finish my classes at 2:30, meetings an practices till 8:30pm, then I would head to work and finish around 3:00am. In the beginning it wasn’t so bad but i began to have issues sleeping. I needed this job to pay my utilities and get some groceries but that was all the security i could offer myself with the wage I was earning. I had amassed $2500 in debt to my landlord and was being threatened to be taken to the landlord tenant board.

I’ve been relatively healthy throughout the season, however I’ve had multiple inures pulling me from practice which caused mental strain. I suffered from hip injuries which required a multitude of injections throughout the year. Navigating the institutional parameters have affected my abilities to focus as I’ve had to figure things out by myself when It comes to OSAP and everything My parents are first generation immigrants which makes things even more difficult as it has placed a lot of responsibility on me to figure things out myself. I am the first person in my direct family to go to university and moving 3.5 hours from home has made it difficult for me. I recognized that the last year and a half have not even the best, but I’m focused on academics this year. I am working with Carleigh Collins, going to meet with our athletic mental health. Im leaning into my supports and being able to move these past few courses would help me start fresh.