Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To The Associate Dean (studies) Faculty of Arts,

I am writing to you today to request the full credit for psyc100 which I did not attain due to extenuating circumstances. This past summer I was in a critical accident that required me to spend June to August 31, 2019 in hospitals which put me at risk of not getting to attend my first year at university. I was released from hospital in time to start at Queen¿¿s using a walker on September 24, 2018, more than 2 weeks late. My first semester was both mentally and physically challenging so I decided to drop one of my half courses to lessen the workload. I managed to pass all 5 courses in my first semester, including the first 3 credits of psyc100.

Second semester I picked up the sixth course again as I felt I could keep up and I did not want to fall too far behind academically in the Concurrent Education program. In the second semester, as requested by my physiotherapist and surgeons, I was required to do physiotherapy and go to the gym four to five times a week to aid my recovery and provide more strength to perform everyday activities once again.

When it came down to the final exam period, I was completely overwhelmed by having three essays due from April 4 until April 8.This then gave me two days to study for my psychology exam at 9am on Thursday April 11th, 2019. Throughout this studying/ writing period of time I was required by my doctor and surgeons to take frequent breaks to reduce discomfort due to sitting for long periods of time. My sleep schedule was also disturbed due to feelings of pressure to meet tight timelines. This directly affected my physical and mental abilities to perform to the best of my capabilities. During my final exam for psyc100, I was suffering through a large amount of discomfort due to the hours I spent sitting in a chair. I pushed past my body¿¿s limitations as I felt I could keep up and write the exam at the same time as everyone else. I know now that I should have asked for an extension on writing my psyc100 exam but I really believed in myself that I could push through my adversity to complete the exam.

I have already had to undergo plenty of challenges throughout this past year and I am proud of myself for doing so, however I am quite disappointed that my efforts did not pay off enough to pass psychology. The whole year I pushed my mind and body past what I should have been doing and I feel that this had an effect on my final grade. The reason why psyc100 was affected the most was because in the last week I had to work on my essays first as they were due first. That left me with only a few days to truly focus on studying for my psychology exam.

I want to add that I showed my determination and dedication to the psyc100 course through my efforts to gain the bonus extra five percent by participating in psychology studies. Unfortunately I did not receive my five percent bonus, even though I completed the extra work because my final grade was below 50. I feel that if I was given a sufficient amount of time to study for my final exam, I would have earned the credit for psyc100 which is required for my Concurrent Education program.

I kindly request the Faculty of Arts to consider my request for a pass in this course due to my extenuating circumstances.

Please see attached documentation regarding my accommodation letter and my doctor¿¿s assessment.

Sincerely,
Megan Catoen