Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Since attending queens as a first-year student in the fall of 2017, I had been faced with select physical and psychological challenges that had a detrimental impact towards my performance, and ultimately my ability to succeed for each of my given courses. As a result, I am asking a Request to drop a course late in POLS 110, SOCY 122, and PSYC 100, and to Request Aegrotat standing in Econ 110.
The first challenge that inhibited my abilities to succeed came through the development of debilitating migraines that would onset without any triggers, and once present would last several days at a time. These migraines would prove to become more and more severe as the year continued, and would in effect did not allow me to perform in the same way that a typical university student would need to in order to succeed. Once these migraines developed, they would last for several days at a time, with each one lasting for a longer and increase in intensity to the point where I would be unable to contain or consume anything. After attempting many different types of medication to curb these migraines, as well as making a continuous effort to identify the cause of these migraines, it was found that my only way to cope with these would be to place myself inside my room with all of the lights out and stay there until I was no longer vomiting and had overcome many of the symptoms of a migraine.
As these migraines became more frequent, there was an incident that had happened mid-day on October 25, where I was found by two of my neighbors passed out in the middle of my floor, after failing to study for a midterm with them in the library. This event happened after battling a migraine for several days beforehand, and was found to be quite serious as I had no recollection of the events leading up to it, was unable to speak clearly or concisely, and presented difficulties walking and sitting upright. Campus first aid was called, and I was taken to KGH where I was then assessed for several hours and given treatment for this event. After being unable to conclude what it was that had caused this event, my Ontario driving was revoked, and I was referred back to my personal doctor for further treatment.
This event was extremely traumatizing for me as an individual, and had a profound impact on my wellbeing and ability to conduct myself as a student at Queen¿¿s University in a successful manner. With continuing migraines of greater intensity throughout the semester, and well into the second semester, I was impacted by feelings of great anxiety, depression, and even became suicidal, for there was still an absence of a clear indication of what caused this incident, as well as no relief in response to any of the medications prescribed by my doctor. As a route of seeking psychological and emotional support, I began attending regular meetings with Mary Green, a Residence Outreach Councilor with Queen¿¿s University, where we would talk through many of the difficulties that I had been facing, and helping come up with a plan to work forwards.
Through working with Mary Green, she identified many areas that had been providing me with great deals of additional stress and anxiety. Of these additional areas, Mary provided great concern over my stability after an incident took place at the Homecoming in the fall, where I faced finding one of my very close friends after they had been raped and given unidentified drugs in the morning of the event. As a result of finding this fellow Queen¿¿s University student, I followed through by calling campus security and accompanying her to KGH on an ambulance where I would spend the rest of my day caring for them. This was one of the most difficult experiences that I had ever faced in my life, for it would cause me to be woken by violent nightmares on several occasions, as well as lead me to develop further anxiety complications in my life. The additional concern came from Mary Green, as well as my personal doctor when it was noticed that I had experienced rapid weight loss, with decreasing in over 50 pounds of body weight in the length of less than one semester.
As a result of the events experienced over the first year at Queen's, they had a great deal of influence towards my success, and prevented me from performing at my academic potential. As noted above, the debilitating migraines created an inability to attend class on a regular basis, and prevented me from being able to complete assignments in a timed manner in relation to the course. This was further impacted by the psychologically traumatic events as identified by Mary Green, as they further inhibited my ability to complete course work. To conclude, in asking for this appeal, it would lead to an overall change in my GPA, and waive the requirement to withdraw for one year from the Facility of Arts and Science at Queen¿¿s University.