Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

My name is Nicholas Theodorakakis and I am a second-year political science major and play varsity soccer.

I am requesting to drop the courses POLS262 and PHIL257 due to a concussion that impaired my ability to finish assignments at the end of the term and hindered my performance on my exams.

In a game on March 24th, 2019, I obtained a concussion. I felt immediate symptoms of the concussion after the event and they have lasted up until very recently.

The reason I am appealing to drop the following courses is because the concussion symptoms made completing work a daunting task. The symptoms I was experiencing were a headache and severe neck pain. The concussion symptoms affected me in a way that I had not experienced before. The presence of the headache made looking at a screen and completing work extremely difficult and propelled me into constant stress. I was not eating or sleeping consistently due to the stress of having to complete work that was physically and mentally to strenuous for my body due to my symptoms. I realize that I should have requested a later writing date for my exams, but I thought I could handle the work when I could not. Thinking I could succeed with my injury and the stress that followed was not the smart decision, and it is still affecting me to this day. I am still not eating or sleeping consistently due to the anticipation of receiving my marks, fearing failure. I am making this appeal with the hope that I can drop the two courses that I was not able to pass, knowing that if the injury did not happen or affect me in this way, that I know I could do much better.

To prove the injury, I was evaluated by a therapist and have a completed form from the athletic therapy office at Queen's University stating my symptoms.

Thank you for taking my appeal into consideration,
Nicholas