Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dr. Johanne Benard
Associate Dean (Studies)
Faculty of Arts and Science
Dunning Hall 1st Floor
94 University Avenue
Queen¿¿s University
Kingston, Ontario
K7L 3N6

Dr. Johanne Benard,

I am appealing to drop BCHM 218, CHEM222,CHEM223 and STAT263 from my Winter 2015 academic semester, due to an extenuating circumstance that was beyond my control as described below.

Beginning in November of 2014 and continuing into the Winter 2015 semester, I experienced a psychological challenge that severely affected my ability to attend classes, complete academic coursework or cope with doing very much of anything. The more work I missed, the more immobilized and overwhelmed I became. The pattern repeated itself for much of the Winter 2015 semester. Finally, in March of 2015, at the urging of my room-mate, I finally sought some assistance. First I went to Queen¿¿s Health and they provided some basic health advice around nutrition and sleep. Once again, at the urging of my room-mate, I finally talked to the Program Assistant in the Biochemistry Office about my situation. It became quite clear after our conversation, that I was in no position to write my final exams. She informed me that with proper medical documentation I had other options, including deferring my exams. At that time, I thought that was a good option and returned to Toronto in April 2015.

I began to see a psychologist beginning in April 2015. In our conversations it became clear to me that I was not in a position to learn this content on my own or write these exams and that a better option would be for me to repeat the courses at a later date.

Moving forward, I am still assessing which degree program is right for me. My hope is to return to post-secondary studies though and once enrolled, I have decided to get extra support from a learning strategist and a personal counsellor for both time and stress management.

Sincerely,



Ryerson Smylie