Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I apologies for the late appeal and would like to ask for special consideration to this circumstance. With regards to the Winter 2015 and Summer 2015 semester, I was not aware of the twenty one day appeal window, and had planned on appealing when I returned in September in order to get support from my counsellors in Kingston. During the Winter semester I had a tough time working or focusing on tasks, including school, because of my emotional state. The two course I had failed was a result a result of an inability to finish the final assignments and exams. This state carried on slightly into the Summer semester and had I known of the appeal timeline, I likely would still have not been able to write a proper appeal in time. My attention was outside of academics and school and focus was on the problems personally and at home.

As I came back I slowly got back into the routine, however the depression and mental state I was in, causes of which were separate from the family deaths, affected my ability to complete tasks then also, as explained in my appeal letter. As the semester ended, I knew I would now have to file an appeal for the past semester as well. Although better, I was still in a fragile state, and was prone to fall back into the problems of the first semester, which I inevitably did during the second half of the winter semester. Again not knowing of the timeline, which I concede was bad planning, I wanted to be able to get through the winter semester, prove I could do better and give myself a greater case for an appeal, and possibly an extended appeal, which I am now asking for in regards to the Winter 2016 semester. In addition, as I was still in a fragile state, I did not want to do anything that would aggravate my symptoms, cause a deepening in my depressive state or add additional stress and anxiety to myself. I made a conscious effort to withhold my request until I was of a proper mental state to write the appeal, not only for clarity but for the sake of my mental well-being as well, which was also another reasoning for not filing a request in September either. I am very sorry for withholding my request for appeal until now, and assure you that I am taking every step possible to remedy my situation, prevent anymore falls in my academic performance, and to stop myself from reluctantly staying in school or doing another semester, including the upcoming fall semester, if my mental health is not stable.



During the winter semester I had been doing well in my courses, however my uncle, who I had considered a second dad, died. His status was became terminal in early March, his death was the during the last week of classes and his funeral was during the first week of exams. As Dr. Khanna can support, I had been close to my uncle, often closer than with my own father. Upon his hospitalization, she provided me with a letter for an extension of my final assignments. However after his death I was distraught and never handed in my final assignment for Geography, which was worth 40, I also wasn't able to hand in my final essay for my Economics course and as such failed those courses. In addition, I was unable to study for my exam, and although I did attend the exam, I started crying, as I had previously done in the library and at home during the weeks prior, I was unable to complete my exam and actually left it blank, writing only a note, explaining why the exam was not complete. In the end, I believe my case is strong to have these courses dropped as the final assignments and exam was not complete because of my grievance. The big mistake I undertook was starting math in the summer. I was still not in a proper state for the first month and thus one third of the course, by the time the mid-semester exam came I failed, as I had essentially failed first half of the course, which was worth 50, it made it difficult to succeed. I had thought of dropping the course, but I had been told by my family that I must complete the course and that my father would not support me in going to Queen's for another year if I did not complete the course. I stayed, although I finally realized it was too late and was not able to compensate for the first half of the course, come final exam.


I am sorry for the late response, however I am adding another appeal for the deadline. I was after the winter semester 2015, not aware of the twenty one day deadline, in addition I was still in an abnormal state, after the summer semester I had planned on coming to school in September and filing the appeal then. By the time I had come to school and learnt about the appeals I realized I was past the deadline anyway, by the time I was doing my appeal in October, I was not in a proper mental state, I never was able to do it and by the time the semester had closed I knew I would need to appeal that semester, I decided to wait until this semester to file a large appeal in order to outline all my issues in once concise document and appeal.


I would like to thank you for reading my letter and considering my request, my uncle's death certificate is available. Dr. McNevin and Dr. Khanna have filed supplementary documentation for my academic appeal.