Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am writing to get the 21-day rule waived so I may appeal the grades received in two of my courses I took this past year, BIOL 201 and PHGY 214. The past two years, I have been coping with severe anxiety and depression. These issues have progressed the in last year and caused me to have not only academic problems, but also social ones. Most days, I could barely leave my bed from the depression and anxiety. I was so upset that I would be kept awake until five or six in the morning because I was incapable of sleeping. And when it came to going to class, I would try to go but some days I could not make it. Most days I wondered why I was even alive, and death had often ben contemplated. I was even having a hard time keeping friends to talk to because I was so miserable and the only person I could talk to was my long-term boyfriend who lives many hours away during the school year. He was often stuck listening to me crying on the phone for hours and having panic attacks while talking to him. He is currently also fighting a personal health issue alone and I wish to be with him to help him through the tough point in his life. In second semester, I had been taken to Kingston General Hospital late one night for severe abdominal pains. I had been seen twice more after that night for an ultrasound and to the Queens campus physician but nothing was found in the tests. The pains had gone on for several months after I had been to KGH and many times the pain was so unbearable I could not move to go anywhere, including classes.

In BIOL 201, I had done significantly well in both of my lab practicals (67.5 and 77.50 ) but the exam went poorly because I had been worse during exam period and mid term period. The stresses of exams on top of my daily stresses, which were often too hard to bear, made my grades not accurately reflect my abilities. I will be retaking 201, as it is required to graduate from my degree plan (Biology) because I know I am capable of much more as a person.

I took PHGY 214 because I believed I wanted to take a minor in Life Sciences. The grading in PHGY 214 is based solely on one midterm and one exam in each semester. As stated before, my daily stresses on top of my exam stresses caused me to not be able to leave bed for days at a time, let alone focus for studying for my examinations.

After moving home with my boyfriend, who is a fourth year nursing student, he brought to my attention that maybe the pains I had experienced earlier in the year had to do with how I was feeling. After speaking with him and my grandparents, they suggested I go see someone. After speaking with someone, It has been brought to my attention what has been going on the last year and I am now seeing someone and working to better myself as a person. I am working with my problems instead of fighting them. I strongly believe that I am on a straight path to increasing my grades, and bettering my life but shamefully, it has taken this long to realize. As I explained before, I do not believe my failures accurately reflect my academic potential and therefore wish to get the 21-day rule waived so that I may appeal to get my courses lifted so I may be in a good academic standing.

If the appeal is granted to lift the 21-day rule, and my two failed courses are lifted from my GPA, I wish to spend fall semester in Sudbury where I may be surrounded by loved ones (friends and family) who will help with my progression to better the quality of my life and keep providing the moral support I need as I continue on my journey to gain my degree. I will be alone in Kingston, which may make my intended pathway more difficult but my boyfriend graduates in December from his program and will be moving to Kingston in January to practice nursing. Therefore after fall semester is over, from Winter 2015 onwards, I will no longer be alone in my situation. Thank you for taking the time to read my appeal.