Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Arts and Science,
I am appealing to drop STAT 263 (Summer 2017).
Due to a psychological challenge, I was unable to complete my final examination. Over the course of the summer, I stopped working so that I could focus on this course, but as the final examination came closer, I began to doubt my ability to perform well on the exam, and felt pressure because it was worth 80 of my final grade. I am on the football team, and took two days off of summer training in Kingston so that I could prepare for it, because I wanted to focus all of my energy on doing well. I am on an athletic scholarship, and in order to maintain my scholarship I must uphold a GPA of 2.7 or higher. I finished the fall semester with a 2.68, which meant that I had to get my grades up in the winter, which I did (I finished with a 2.9 overall, so I was in good standing). In STAT 263, I did not perform well on the term test, nor weekly quizzes, and I was at 30 (30 of 20 of the total course mark (6 overall grade), so I calculated that I needed to get around 90 on the final exam in order to keep my GPA at a level that I could keep my scholarship. I worked on the course non-assignments (practice problems) and quizzes, but wasn¿¿t receiving high marks on the quizzes. After two full days of exam review on Friday and Saturday, I was unable to fall asleep until around 5 AM because I couldn¿¿t stop thinking about the fact that I needed to perform well, and I needed to keep my scholarship money. I only slept between four and five hours in the nights leading up to the exam. Due to a lack of sleep, I became more anxious and tired. Two days before the exam, my father sent me an article written by CBC about football players and findings of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) in their brains from receiving too many blows to the head, hinting that football was dangerous and I would be best suited to stop playing. This did not add well to my circumstances, because on multiple occasions I have made it clear to my parents that I am preparing to play professional football (I do have a good chance of playing, and have been contacted by Pro Football Agents since I began my University career at Queens. This was not the first time that my parents have shown a disinterest in my engagement in University Football. When I was home in BC in early August, a week after my exam, I met with an NFL agent. The message from my father did not meld well with my lack of sleep which ended up making me feel extra pressure, and additionally I felt that I now had something more to prove to my parents by getting a high grade. I decided that I would study through the night and only sleep for an hour to maximize my preparation. I was also leaving for home (British Columbia) the morning after my exam at 6 AM, and had my training camp beginning the day after I arrived in Kingston on August 9th.
A month out from the exam I completed every quiz and non-assignment (practice questions). On Thursday July 26, the day of the exam, I felt exhausted, fatigued, and slightly nauseous, which I hoped would be relieved by a few cups of coffee. After looking at some final practice exams, I felt ready for my exam around 12 noon. I drank a lot of coffee before my exam, but by the time I showed up to the lecture room where my exam was being held, I could hardly keep my eyes open and I felt like I was going to vomit. I closed my eyes for 5 minutes to try to shake it off and think positive thoughts, but I felt as though I was in a haze and couldn¿¿t focus. My hands became slightly shaky, and the words and numbers on the page weren¿¿t registering in my brain. I realized that I was in no condition to write the exam and immediately told the proctors. After sitting outside and drinking some water, campus security was called and I received a driven escort to KGH. I was not prescribed any medication, but the first nurse who visited me suggested that I talk with a counsellor to help me deal with stress. The second doctor who saw me recommended that I just get some rest, which I didn¿¿t find helpful given the circumstances. I made it home, and after I packed I slept and got on my plane home the next morning. I rested for two days in which I didn¿¿t train for football, and then felt back to normal.
Going forward, I will find other students who I can prepare for exams and tests with. I think that this will help me to keep a regular sleep and study schedule, and have some people to provide moral support. I am almost back to normal, but I played in our exhibition football game on Saturday August 19th and was unable to get my nerves under control, which caused me to make mental errors which I would not have made in practice. In the future, I will get a tutor before I fall behind in a course, and not wait until I am failing. If I feel I cannot deal with anxiety in the future, I will consult a personal mental health advisor for help.

Thank you for your consideration,

Jason Shamatutu