Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,
I am appealing to waive the 21-day deadline to obtain credit standing in a course.
Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances
I took STATS 263 during Summer 2012 and could not appeal 21 days after the deadline because of the statutory rape law suit involving a teacher at my brother¿¿s school and my brother.
When I returned to Queen¿¿s in September 2012 I explained the extenuating circumstances of the summer to an academic counsellor. She advised me to appeal for credit standing in STAT 263, since I¿¿d obtained a D- . However, I didn¿¿t not go through with the appeal because I could not speak of the situation. My parents wished to keep the lawsuit a secret so I was not allowed speak of the situation.
My parents were trying to forget it and move on. They also wished to protect my brother from the negative media attention that would result if the situation became public. Thus I could not approach my parents for documentation.
At the time, I could not get involved with my brother¿¿s counsellors at the mental health hospital or bring the situation up with my parents since it was already so horrible for my mother and father to pay for a private school and have their son statutorily raped instead. I couldn¿¿t bring any more stress on this situation, asking them to get psychologist¿¿s notes for my STAT 263 grade because my father lost his job partly because of the stress of the situation and I could not bare to put additional stress on them.
When I eventually returned to Toronto and asked my counsellor to support my appeal in 2013, she would not do so due to their company policy (see attached email).
It has been hard to accept what happened to my brother. For a very long time I felt ashamed that my brother was raped. I felt that it reflected upon him and by extension myself and my family. I realize now that my brother was a victim, which has allowed me to write the appeal letter. The psychological manipulation by the teacher was the beginning of my brother¿¿s drug and alcohol problems. This appeal letter is one of the most difficult things I¿¿ve had to face. It is a time in our lives that my whole family wants to put behind us and forget.
In addition, the lawsuit was settled and paid in January 2015 so I am released from whatever restriction I had to abide by in terms of keeping the situation secret. My understanding is that the high school paid my brother and myself and my family to keep quiet in order to keep the school¿¿s reputation.
My future plan involves continuing to put distance between myself and my brother¿¿s issues. My brother is currently in a combined program in Florida that provides family treatment, mental health treatment, as well as alcohol and drug rehab. The weekly (and sometimes bi-weekly) family counselling appointments have helped me face the emotional stress and release some of my anger at the teacher who abused her position. I will be travelling to Florida January 13, 14, and 15th 2016 for three days of family counselling. I have been very careful to ensure that the trip does not conflict with my studies by talking to my professors and working with the rehab team.
I¿¿ve learned that it is important for me to be successful and be a positive role model for my brother. I cannot sacrifice my own mental health like I did the Spring and Summer of 2012. For many years I¿¿ve buried our family problems by refusing to think about them. I finally have hope that my brother may be able to come out of the downward spiral of alcohol and drug abuse that occurred after the statutory rape.
Writing this appeal letter involved a lot of tears and emotional energy which I didn¿¿t have available until I was able to acknowledge in January 2016 while visiting him in rehab that my brother is an alcoholic and any kinds of abuse is never the victim¿¿s fault. I have attached the plane ticket and the emails from our family counsellor at the alcohol and mental health treatment centre, Dawn Dicicco.
I am currently seeing a counsellor in Kingston, Dr. Sylvester to work through issues around childhood emotional abuse and I feel happy and strong that I have been able to get through this year despite the family stress. I no longer make the mistakes of Spring 2012 which was to sacrifice my own study time and my own needs and school commitments for a family situation I can¿¿t control. I attend Al-Anon meetings Thursdays to continue to care for my mental health. My attitude is that there is never any excuse to do badly in school and since I am graduating in 2016 the plan is to continue to take care of my physical and mental health, putting time in everyday, and be successful in the workplace, my future career and the rest of my life.
Please consider my appeal and thank you for your time.
Lianne