Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies), Professor Johanne Bacnard,

I would like to formally begin this appeal letter by thanking you for your carefully considered approval of my prior appeal, given its delayed timeline. In this letter, I hope to adequately portray the circumstances I was encountering at the time, that ultimately led to my drastic academic performance in 2014-2015 school year.
Although my academic performance in the past had been average at best, my grades particularly took a turn for the worst in what I thought would be my final year at Queen¿¿s. My deteriorating school performance and mental health have been primarily influenced by my unstable relationships with my family. At this point, I would like to take the time to note that my family life has taken a toll on my mental health, tracing as far back to my first year at Queen¿¿s. However, these relationships specifically those with my parents individually took a turn for the worse that academic year.
During this time, I was still attempting to simultaneously cope with the aftermath of my parents¿¿ divorce, and my father¿¿s decision to remarry soon after. However, it was during November 2014, I discovered that my father and his new wife were expecting a child. This news severely affected me emotionally and mentally and increased the distance between my father and me. When I first found out through my uncle of my father having met someone and wanting to remarry someone neither my brother or I had even met. It was due to an affair my father had engaged in that ultimately led to their divorce. As a result, it seemed as though my father was spending more time on his new life as opposed to repairing the broken relationships with my brother and I.

I was viably upset and felt betrayed by my father who had idealistically promised me that he and his wife did not want any children, yet she was expecting not even a few months after their marriage.

My mother and I have always had an uneasy relationship, yet I have always had a closer connection to her than my father. Following the divorce, my father had chosen to stay in Pakistan and work, whereas my mother chose to live with my aunt in New York while she pursued a degree at Columbia. This proved to be comforting to note that although I was completing high school alone in Canada with no relatives around, my mother was not too far away. However, it seemed as though I took on a more adult role as mother became emotionally and sometimes financially dependent on me. During this specific time frame my mother was involved in a highly unstable relationship with a married man. It was in January 2015 when I received a call from my mum who was in tears and stated that she wanted to commit suicide, and that I needed to come to New York right away. It was then, that she made the impulsive decision to leave New York and move back to Pakistan. Her decision to move away so suddenly, made me extremely unhappy, as the only parent who was both emotionally and physically close to me, was moving far away once again; hence I felt intensely alone and abandoned.
This was a turning point for me where the events in my life continued to go downhill. Although, I was still fairing reasonably well in school, my mother continued to be emotionally dependent on me, using me as her go-to confidante; this was purely a one-way relationship. These issues included her carelessness with money, whereby she manipulated me into lending her money I had saved up, as she was too afraid to ask her own father for a loan. When I confronted my grandparents about the situation, my mother continued to spiral out of control. I would never be able to gauge her mood when visiting her during the summer and winter holidays; at times, she would be incredibly loving and supportive, whereas other times she would be cruel and distant, sometimes slapping me when she felt she couldn¿¿t control her anger.

It was in the Winter 2015 semester when I was informed of the fact that I not be able to graduate as expected due to lack of credits. I was dejected, and felt as though I had hit rock bottom. Moreover, I felt I had not only let everyone else down, but all the effort I had invested had gone to waste. This new information came as a further blow to me causing me to break down in front of the advisor. She was very supportive of my situation and encouraged me to visit a counsellor. Up until this moment, I had no idea that this service even existed on campus or that I was eligible for it. I made the conscious effort to see my counsellor a few times, who did teach me some helpful breathing exercises that improved my sleeping pattern. The timing was ill-fated however, as just as I started to visit the counsellor, the school term was coming to an end. It was unfortunate enough that my parents continued to be emotionally dependent on me for their needs, but now I had to struggle with not graduating on time as well. It was during this tumultuous time that I was involved in an abusive relationship. At the time, the only person I felt close enough to confide in, proved to be no better than my parents. As, I was trying to distance myself from my parents, I found myself in heated emotional battles with my partner on a daily basis. Every argument resulted in the threat, ¿¿If you walk away, I¿¿ll kill myself¿. Due to what I had seen my mother experience not even a couple of months prior, I took this threat seriously. I found myself trapped in a dire situation of wanting to help everybody, yet failing to help myself.

Given how most of my time was spent on coming to terms with the toxic relationships in my life at the time, I found myself constantly questioning my self-worth, consequently delving further into my anxious-depressive state. Until I met with the academic advisor and counsellor at Queen¿¿s, I felt completely alone and distanced from everything and everyone around me. What made matters worse was the fact that those I thought were closest to me, namely my parents and my partner, proceeded to remain indifferent to my situation at the time.
As a result, upon completing my final exam in April I made the conscious decision to drop out of school, until I was better equipped to deal with my own mental health issues. During this time period, I received help from a psychologist in Pakistan who helped me combat the tumultuous relationships with my parents, but more importantly helped me get better. My psychologist¿¿s support combined with my renewed faith in God, kept me strong throughout the past two school semesters. Academically speaking, I performed far better than I perhaps ever have during my time at Queen¿¿s. Despite having my aunt and my cat of twelve years pass away, I continued to strive towards my end goal of graduation.
At this moment in time, I find myself finally approaching the finish line with one hurdle left to pass. Although, I have successfully completed the units required for my program, my GPA continues to be too low for me to graduate on time. Therefore, I plead for you to consider my case in light of the situation I have portrayed above. I hope it becomes evident that I am a gifted student that is capable of excelling in academics, especially now that I am equipped with the skills to deal with whatever conflict may confront me. Moreover, I plead with you to consider granting my request to drop the courses with failing grades during the 2014-2015 school year, in light of my severely handicapped mental state at the time.

I would also like to note that my counsellor at Queen's, Dr. Arunima Khanna has separately submitted her affidavit to your office and that Ms. Joyce Hunter can also be called upon to attest to my situation, if the needed arises. Once again, thank you for agreeing to consider my case despite this appeal being submitted later than the given time frame.

Sincerely,

Mariam Shafi Khan