Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I’d like to start by asking that the information shared in this letter and in the supporting documentation remain confidential and be shared only on a need-to-know basis, given the incredibly personal nature of what I am sharing.

This time last year, I wrote about how I was confident that both starting SSRI medication to treat my anxiety and depression and working with my therapist and academic advisor would lead to better results and returning to the “A student” I was in high school. While I was confident in that assessment at the time, the circumstances I was dealing with somehow got even worse. In the fall of 2025, my Grandfather on my mom’s side passed away, making this the second Grandfather I’d lost in the span of two years. This was further compounded by my dad, who has long struggled with alcohol addiction and concerning issues regarding his declining mental state, getting scammed for an ungodly amount of money from February of 2025 to as recently as a few weeks ago. As someone who has always viewed my Dad as both a role model and a voice of reason, especially when it comes to things that seem too good to be true, this hurt in ways that were unimaginable. I approached my family for support, but my Mom (his ex-wife), Grandmother (who was later diagnosed with cancer in 2026), and aunts (who apparently have more important things to deal with) were of no help in curbing this incredibly problematic issue of my Dad sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to scammers.

In August of 2025, when I discovered that he was draining his retirement savings account to engage in yet another scam, I approached my family to obtain a power of attorney over my Dad’s financial assets and was assured that they would follow through and hire a lawyer (Tim as referenced in the text messages) to manage his finances. Throughout the fall, I remained in constant communication with my dad as I learned more and more about how deep this scam went and discovered during reading week that he was continuing to get scammed. This once again sent me into a depressive spiral that made it incredibly difficult to function as a student, as I was also mourning the death of my Grandfather on my mom’s side. I once again reached out to my family and was assured that a lawyer would be looking after his finances in early December. In the week leading up to my December exams, my brother, who was at home, told me that he suspected that my Dad was getting scammed again. This furthered the depressive spiral that led to countless sleepless nights, resulting in me being unable to write my December exams or complete my final assignments. The day before Christmas Eve, while my Dad was in the hospital, I discovered printed emails confirming that he was, in fact, getting scammed once again. Attached are the text message correspondences with my grandmother and aunt, who up to this point had assured me that there was nothing to worry about and that the scams were over (which I had a mountain of reasons not to believe), and that a lawyer would be looking after his finances. This was a lie and has yet to be followed through on to this day, allegedly due to the complicated nature of removing someone's financial decision-making, but also, anecdotally in my opinion, due to a lack of effort on their part to take any steps to prevent something like this from continuing to happen.

During the winter semester, I learned that my Grandmother on my Dad’s side had aggressive lymphoma and would be undergoing chemotherapy, a battle she is still fighting today. Compounded with both my Grandfather’s deaths, my Grandmother on my mom’s side being in and out of the hospital, and my Dad’s declining mental state, I felt like the world I’d grown up in was falling apart before my eyes. My support system, however (such as my Mom, therapist, and friends), was beginning to help me accept this new reality late in the semester as I prepared to write my exams in the spring. As the weather got warmer, I refound my passion for sport as a way to take my mind off this depressing reality for a few hours and would play football with my friends on Tindall field. Unfortunately, however, this was also somehow a mistake as a few weeks before I was scheduled to write my exams, I broke my pinky finger in my dominant (right) hand, an injury I didn’t think was of much significance at the time, but ended up needing surgery for. I was devastated as it felt like once again taking one step forward and two steps back. I wondered what I did to deserve such a brutal 4 years of university and how, after making so much progress mentally, I could end up in a situation where a physical limitation would not only prevent me from writing my exams in the scheduled window, but also the deferral window as well. I discussed this with the Econ department and was assured that I’d be able to write them sometime in August. Until then, however, my GPA would remain below the threshold needed to continue my studies at Queen’s.

Included in the supporting documentation are the following: the obituaries for my grandfather on my mom’s side (Donald Prior), which I am named in; text messages between myself, my Aunt, and my Grandmother on December 23rd 2025, concerning the scams he’s involved in; verification of the surgery on my right hand pinky finger that prevented me from being able to write my exams this past spring; as well as the letter and supporting documentation from my 2025 request to provide additional context which includes the following: my Dad's post-surgery documents; a letter from my Dad’s doctor concerning his recent time spent in rehab and his mental state, the obituaries for my Grandfather on my Dad’s side (Goulding Lambert), which I am named in; medical documents of my ER visit after my panic attack/fainting episode; and a confirmation of my anxiety condition from my doctor. I would also be more than willing to provide any other information/documentation if necessary.

As I said in my letter last year, I'm not writing this to make you feel sorry for me, but to provide context to the external factors that have exacerbated the anxiety/depression I already deal with. These past four years are in no way a reflection of the student I am, and as I’ve spent countless hours with my therapist and friends trying to make sense of all this, I’ve come to accept that ‘things change’. They can and they will, for better or for worse, and that there is only one constant; I can only change the things I have direct control over. For me, that starts with my state of mind, but extends to the words that I say, the things that I write, and the actions that I take. And that’s all school is, right? At the end of the day, academics are one of the few things where I have direct control over the outcome, a framework I so desperately need in such a difficult time. I strongly believe that with this newfound mentality, I can return to the high-achieving student that got me into Queen’s in the first place and propel myself into this ever-changing world with the knowledge, experience, and most importantly, resilience I will have gained in the process. I would be incredibly grateful for the opportunity to return to Queen’s and continue my journey to achieving what I know I am capable of.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Hayden