Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am asking for an appeal for credit standing in the following courses: MICR221(final grade: C), PHGY214 (final grade: C) and MICR 360 (final grade: D+). Last term and the term before were really hard on my mental health. The reason I am asking for an appeal only now, is because I didn't think I could have reached out nor was I fully aware of the resources available to me. It also took a lot of time for me to fully digest everything.

The situations I went through had a great impact on me unknowingly. Last term I was living in a very hostile and toxic environment and couldn't cope with it. This was seen in that I gave up all my extracurricular activities and secluded inwards both emotionally and physically. I distanced myself from friends and family, because I mostly thought that it was my fault and so I should have to deal with it on my own.

My home in Kingston, the place I studied at and that was supposed to feel like a safe space, felt like the complete opposite for me. My housemate, whose family also owned the house, tried to express his dominance towards me on a daily basis. I have gotten numerous messages of hate speech and some racist messages as well. I had tried to ameliorate the situation by making his parents aware of how his son was treating me, however this only made it worse. His dad visited twice a month and stayed for a week at a time, and his presence would further prompt his son manipulating behaviour. The father would not take into account of my sensitivities and allergies, even after I begged him often. This environment definitely interfered with my studies. Other friends of mine left the environment but I couldn't afford paying two rents, and so I had to stay.

Last term all of these emotions and experiences that I had buried down, started to come back up and triggering to my trauma. I could not deal with it all on my own anymore, so I finally reached out for help. It took a lot of courage for me to finally admit that I was depressed and highly anxious and that I couldn't improve my situation on my own. I have had problems trusting psychologists before stemming from my childhood. Growing up with a mentally and physically abusive father, the way my father manipulated me resonated a lot with how my housemate was treating me. Nevertheless, when I would tell professionals my story, they would seldom believe me. For this reason, I was highly skeptical of mental health counselling.

He practices Islam in a n extremist way , and that was one of his reasonings as to how he would treat me. To move past it, I only knew how to cope by burying it deep. When I was befriending a girl this term and she started to inform me about her extremist beliefs, it all just started to come back. It came in waves during classes, followed by panic attacks, not allowing me to properly concentrate in class or anything really.

Making matters worse, my mom, who is a single mom of two, broke her ankle during the last few weeks of classes. This had an substantial impact on me, because I needed to be the person she could rely on but I was missing classes.

I could not drop these courses because I only felt like I was drowning after the deadline.

I am appealing only these courses because they coincided with the events the most. Other courses had a timeline that was thankfully not as synchronised with the events that took a toll on me. The other course I took last term would not impact my GPA and the course load was much lighter, thus a grade discrepancy is noticeable.

Now that I have begun getting professional help, I have acquired some tools on how to deal with it all better. This will prevent me from getting so deep into the situation again. Additionally, I have made lifestyle changes and moved into a healthier environment, like my counsellor had suggested. I will also be seeking trauma-specific help.