Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am writing this appeal as a continuation of my last appeal concerning the 21 day appeal rule. I am now requesting that you please waive my requirement to withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for one year based on the grounds that I was struck with an illness at the end of the winter 2014 semester.
About 3 weeks before the exam period was underway, I had a severe infection of the lymph nodes also known as ¿mono¿¿ leading me to be bedridden for weeks to come. I had high fevers, hallucinations, pain, and drastic swelling to my neck and face.
When I realized that my neck started swelling up, my first course of action was to get a medical opinion of what was happening to my body and so I made a trip to the campus clinic. The doctor there was the one who told that I caught some sort of virus, I remember him telling me the severity of my swelling and so prescribed me a strong set of antibiotics.
About two days later I noticed that the pain had not subsided, chewing and swallowing became unbearable and the swelling from my neck and jaw had spread all over my face- I looked like a completely different person. That day I went to see the La Salle clinic once again, but they were closed on weekends and so I went to the local walk-in clinic on Princess Street. The doctor there told me that I was most likely allergic to the prescription that the previous doctor gave me and I should stop taking that antibiotic. The new prescription I was given was for 20 days and it was a stronger dosage than the previous medication.
As all of the was happening, exams were around the corner and I started to panic, my judgment at the time told me that I should start studying for my exams even though I had missed so much class. I thought it would be best to catch up on my own even though I felt weak and tired from all of the prescription drugs I had been taking.
I began studying for my first exam which was GPHY 247 with just days before the exam. I somehow mixed up the days of my exam by one day, thinking it was the following day it was actually on that same day. My body and mind were so fatigued I made a mental error. The moment I realized this I contacted the instructor, Professor Harrington telling him my situation but also informing him that I could provide documentation of my illness. Unfortunately he was unable to do anything about this once I missed the exam, however he did redirect me to the University Appeals webpage.
At this point I was in a frantic state of mind because of my illness, the fact that I had just missed an exam, and because I had 3 other exams to worry about. I genuinely thought that my best option was to put my head down and focus on the upcoming exams ahead of me. It was my full intention to take care of my missed exam at the end of this period, my rationale was that if I went through with all of my other exams and told the school about my sickness after that I would be able to do a makeup exam in the summer. However matters became complicated when I was struck with a second illness at the end of the exam period which was somehow related to the previous incident.

It was not my intention to disregard the school¿¿s policy on academic performance. I knew at the beginning of that school year that I was placed on academic probation and I also knew that there was a possibility that I may have been asked to leave for a year but I really was working very hard to get myself out of that slump. I even met with Professor Betsy Donald to outline a plan that would get me to where I need to be.
For many students, Queen¿¿s is like a second home, but for me in a lot more ways Queen¿¿s is my only home- I migrated from couch to couch this summer and it made me appreciate the opportunity that I have been given. I am asking to be put on part-time academic probation and be given a second chance. I want to prove to the school and myself that I can excel in my academics. I love everything about Queen¿¿s, and I still would like to contribute to the Queen¿¿s community as a student enrolled in the 2014-2015 school year.


Thank you for reading my letter,

Kindest Regards,
Matthew Zachary Bachan
Queen¿¿s University
Class of 2015