Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Dr. Johanne Bénard,

This letter is regarding a credit standing for ECON 222 and ECON 240 taken during the winter term of 2016.

I am appealing these grades because I was not 100 percent healthy during the two months prior to theses exams, nor was I healthy for these exams themselves. Playing for the Queens Varsity hockey team I was diagnosed with a severe concussion during our last game of the season, this concussion disabled me to perform necessary actions in order to prepare for such exams. Actions such as, attending class, using electronic devices (lap-top, cell-phone, ETC), reviewing notes, healthy eating. During my concussion I experienced severe headaches, continuous vomiting, immense lack of sleep, memory loss and was sensitive to light and loud noises. From the symptoms I have just listed, it did not allow for me to learn the class material and required me to push my midterms to my finals making my final exams more heavily weighted. After my concussion I was constantly in and out of the doctor¿¿s office through athlete services where I was diagnosed not only by the medical staff that was at the hockey game, but by both school doctors as well. Although a year has passed I am still feeling the effects of my concussion and still require checkups. I have documentation throughout the entire process, from the time it happened, to my last sessions with both Dr. Bardana and Dr. O¿¿Connor both of which advised me to see them regarding my exam marks should I receive low marks. In section 12.2.2 it states that
¿¿Credit Standing (CR) in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed and passed all of the work of the course, including the final examination, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected¿. I feel my argument matches this section extremely well.

I understand that when looking at my grades from previous years you will see they are somewhat similar to the grades I am appealing. In order to play hockey at Queens university it requires players to take up to 4 years off until they can be eligible to play at the collegiate level. I am turning 24 years old and have sacrificed almost 4 years of my life so I could play hockey for this school. I spent 4 years focusing on hockey without lifting a single book. My grades are low because unlike normal students I took 4 years off and came without any study habits, or fresh knowledge obtained in high school. On top of being unaware of the challenges I have faced, I was required to make a full commitment to my hockey program this of which required four 2 hour practices a week starting at 3pm, and road trips every other weekend to compete against other schools. As I was not able to take classes that I wanted due to scheduling conflicts, I feel I was put in a position to fail and not given the opportunity normal students have to obtain a degree. After numerous visits with academic advisors we have come to the conclusion that if these grades were given a credit standing, and the grades I receive this semester are what I know they will be, then I will be in a position to graduate.

Still struggling with my concussion I have done my best to put myself back in a position to graduate. I made the personal decision this year to end my hockey career in order to better focus on my grades and reduce some of the stress that I have had in these past 2 years. My choice to end a sport I have dedicated my life to has been exceptionally hard on me, but through the stress I know that it was the right decision in order to put myself in the best situation to graduate. Please read carefully and put yourself in my shoes. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, and have a great year.

Sincerely,

Braden Mercier
10156630
14bbm1@queensu.ca