Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Heba Khan
Student ID 20054806
953 Ambleside Crescent
Kingston K7P 2B6

May 27, 2019

Dr. Jenn Stephenson
Dean, Studies
Queen's University
99 University Ave, Kingston

Dear Dean Stephenson,

My name is Heba Khan and I am a 2nd-year biology student at Queens University. I am writing to appeal the grade I received in ANAT 316 during the winter semester. I believe there were situations that were beyond my control that contributed to my low grade.
I have had a very difficult time last semester, and my grades suffered as a result. I don't mean to make excuses for my poor academic performance, but I would like to explain the circumstances that resulted in the poor grade.

During the last week of the winter semester (April 1-5) I had a cold as well as recurrent fever. I was unable to attend any classes during the last week. Having a cold also greatly impacted my ability to effectively memorize and study for tests. Due to a large number of assignments and tests along with my dreadful previous experience when seeking medical attention, I didn't seek medical help during the last week. This in hindsight was foolish of me to do so. During my last visit to the doctor in late February, I was misdiagnosed and prescribed penicillin which caused an allergic reaction resulting in a large lump on my neck lasting a week. Later, the doctor told me it was a viral infection and medication won't assist with the infection. This caused me to miss a lot of classes and take care of my neck and health. As a result, I was behind in the course and it took me a while to catch up.

I had multiple deadlines during the last two weeks of the semester. I had an ANAT 316 test (20) on March 26th, BIOL 206 lab report (5.5) on March 29th, BIOL 202 Lab Exam (8) on April 3rd and PHGY 215 Lab report (25), BIOL 206 Lab report (8) and ANAT 316 Lab Exam (20) all on April 5th. All these deadlines along with being sick caused a lot of pressure and added stress to do well in each assignment.

I didn't drop the course on the March 1 deadline as I had received only 20 of my grade in the course before the drop date. I received a 74 and 64 in each of the 10 tests. I took the course as I am genuinely interested in anatomy and took ANAT 100 last summer. I enjoyed taking ANAT 100 due to which I took ANAT 316. The course wasn't required in my degree plan as a Biology student, but I took the course in order to learn more about the human body. I didn't feel the need to drop the course as I believed I could improve my grade later in the course. The majority of my course grade (70) was evaluated in the last 3 weeks of the semester. I wasn't able to do my best in the lab exam as well test due to stress from family problems and being sick. Since a large portion of my grade in ANAT 316 was evaluated at the end of the semester during my most stressful time, it was greatly impacted. All the deadlines were so close to each other and the ANAT 316 required me to memorize more than 60 pages for each test. This didn't leave me with enough time to do well in each assignment or test but since the ANAT 316 tests were worth so much the course suffered the most.

I live in Kingston along with my mother, brother, and grandmother. My mother and grandmother aren't native English speakers and therefore struggle communicating. My mother is currently enrolled in a PSW course which ends on May 24th. She took the course in order to build her career, but her lack of language comprehension held her back. I would often assist her with her numerous assignments. There were times when I wrote 45 pages for her. Her course was very fast paced and demanding, and I would often help her formulate and translate her thoughts in English or type her assignments for her. Assisting her with these tasks often took a lot of time and I would try to help her with her work before starting my own homework.

My father works in the Middle East. During the months of March and April, my parents have had numerous arguments which have impacted my mother's mental health. Their lack of communication with each other has resulted in heated arguments. During Christmas, their fights almost reached the point of divorce and caused adverse effects on my grandmother's health. These family problems have added more pressure on me to help my mother with her coursework and household work.

All of these incidents had a profound impact on my academic performance. I believed I could handle all these burdens, and I tried my best, but I was wrong. My next steps forward would be to focus better on my schoolwork, manage my time more wisely and seek help when I need it.
I am a good student as my academic performance from the fall semester and other winter courses show my hard work and dedication to my studies. I hope you will give me a second chance. Thank you for considering this appeal.

Sincerely,
Heba Khan