Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: May 9th, 2019
Jessica Franko
10198612
15jf11@queensu.ca

ATTN: Dean of Political Studies / To Whom it May Concern:

My name is Jessica Franko and I am a fourth year Medial in POLS and DEVS. I am appealing for a late drop for POLS 385 (Winter, 2019). This term I had to deal with significant extenuating circumstances which I could not have anticipated and hope that the below information will help to explain the problems I was faced with.

During this school year, I was faced with a host of stress and grief-inducing personal trauma and the losses of both a close family member (my uncle), and the anniversary of the loss of a personal friend (my best friend Stephanie's little brother Zech). I have attached supporting letters, and obituaries as supporting documents.

My emotional health at the start of this semester was already considerably deteriorated. At the start of the year (January, 2019), I left an abusive relationship after dealing with the unpredictability of my partner's addictions for nearly a year. Due to the abusive nature of this relationship, it wasn't until mid-February when he left for a rehab centre and was no longer able to contact me, that I was able to feel comfortable walking alone in Kingston. Trying to balance the societal and personal connotations of victimhood, while healing from this manipulative and controlling situation was something that I internalized for most of the beginning of this semester. I felt unable to leave this relationship until I disclosed the details of a physical altercation to a close family member and sought resources to leave the unhealthy environment. Until recently, this relationship has been a constant trigger of anxiety and depression for me, as I have had to work through intense emotional trauma. This experience was incredibly debilitating both emotionally and physically, and contributed greatly to the compounding stresses that I experienced this semester.

Around the same time as my ex-partner left Kingston, February 19th marked the one year anniversary of the unexpected death of my friend Zech. My friend Stephanie (Zech's older sister) has experienced physical and emotional trauma throughout her childhood; I have been her strongest support system through emotional challenges since she moved home eight years ago. Due to complicated family circumstances Stephanie and I had not seen Zech for almost two years prior to his death, and the pain of never being able to reconcile their past with each other has had an indescribable effect on my friend. Supporting her emotionally during this time was another contributing factor that heightened my stress this semester.

The painful reminder of my friend's death was immediately followed by the death of my uncle. At this point, I was already working through my own emotional trauma, working through the grief of the death of my friend, and supporting my friend through the anniversary of her brother's death. My uncle, who has been an incredibly close figure in my mother's life (and therefore mine), spent Christmas with us this year, and lived with us briefly following a serious operation. The circumstances of his death have caused significant on-going pain, specifically for my mother. I have felt an immense responsibility and expectation during this time to push my own grief aside and be there, both physically and emotionally for my friend and mother. This has resulted in many trips between Kingston and Peterborough (where my family, and Stephanie live) and once to Montreal during the week of my Uncle's death.

These deaths and personal challenges caused my mental health to deteriorate as well as that of my mother, and my close friend. The mental and physical exhaustion from emotionally supporting two grieving loved ones, while managing driving between cities, left me with very little emotional space to work through my own grief of these losses. As I have already been in an emotionally fragile state this semester, I found these experiences to be completely debilitating. For the past months, I have felt continual burn-out, which has manifested in decreased motivation, self-esteem, and ability to complete simple tasks.

I attempted where I could to perform well in this class. I consistently worked with my tutorial group on weekly material, and completed the final group project with a class partner. When I wasn't travelling, or was able to motivate myself to do so, I completed as many quizzes as I was able. I attended both mid-terms, and was a part of a study group for this course. However, these efforts were not enough to meet the academic requirements of this course, and due to the ongoing personal circumstances I was experiencing, I had a very difficult time staying on top of course material. I received the news that my uncle was in palliative care the morning before my second midterm, which I consequently failed. I drove directly to Pointe-Claire to meet my mother at the hospital immediately after my test that night. He had passed before I arrived at the hospital, and I spent the remainder of that week in Montreal arranging final wishes with my mother at the funeral home.

The result that these losses have had on my academic performance this semester has been great, as I have been travelling between Peterborough and Kingston to be with both my friend, and my family during this time. I have attached my unofficial transcript so that you are able to see my previous academic record, which I hope will show that this is an anomaly in my time at Queen's. I was met with such emotional exhaustion and burn-out this semester due to these experiences, and these stresses crippled my ability to focus, self-motivate, and perform throughout the semester.

The reason this course was affected and not my other courses was because this course required far more time investment than my other courses (requiring weekly quizzes, tutorial work, three software quizzes, two midterms etc).

After discussing these circumstances with my Professor (William Nelson), he suggested that I appeal to drop POLS 385, and take this course online during the Summer 2019 term instead. I feel that this is the best way forward for me so that I can give this course the attention it deserves. I have learned more about myself and the importance of self-care this semester due to these circumstances, and feel that my mother and friend have improved, and are able to cope more effectively since the initial stages of grief have passed. I will be in Kingston this summer, and am also able to recognize when I need to ask for mental health support now. Wellness Services are something that I will be looking into prior to the Summer Term and after the exam period is over.

Retrospectively, I know now how important leaning on personal support systems, and seeking help is when dealing with adverse circumstances. I hope that no student has to go through what I did alone. I know that my value as a student is more than my inability to cope for the final semester of my undergraduate career due to personal circumstances, and hope that I have the chance to prove that. I have otherwise been an exemplary student at Queen's University, attending the BISC program in first year, attending a QPID internship in Botswana, and completing a research practicum on the Shanghai exchange.

I thank you for your consideration of my appeal for a late drop of POLS 385 (Winter, 2019). I hope to complete this course in the summer and continue moving forward to the next steps in my life.

Kind Regards,

Jessica Franko