Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: When I received the letter of academic suspension, I was incredibly sad and motivated at the same time. My second year at university has had a lot of ups and downs and I wanted to offer a brief explanation.
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At the beginning of the year, I was going to all my classes and really starting to turn things around. However, during a night out, I was confronted by a bully with whom I had a history. While in high school, I had an unpleasant encounter with him that I thought had been resolved. I didn¿¿t even know this individual was at Queens as I had not seen him at all in my first year. During this past year on October 15th during a night out, I got viciously attacked at Stages Nightclub.
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Not only was I physically assaulted, I was quite shaken up as I never thought this could happen in Canada. I immigrated to Canada from Kazakstan to live a better and safer life; however, I got a completely different picture after that night. ¿I was all alone at this time as my family was in Kazakhstan and I did not have many friends whom I could trust. I did not want to tell anyone about this, because I feared from further reprisals from this individual. This led me to feel depressed which is why I stopped attending classes as I was scared the bully would see me and attack me again. I never thought there would be bullies in university, especially at Queens. However, I took all my strength and decided to overcome this fear and started going to classes again. I believe because of this situation, my grades during the second half of fall semester slipped and affected me profoundly. ¿
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The second term started strongly for me. After taking POLS 264 which had a focus on History, I decided that I wanted to major in History. I started doing more work and was very intrigued by this course. I no longer feared getting bullied I saw a goal and went for it. At the beginning of March, however, I felt a really sharp pain in my back and had to be hospitalized. I could not walk and did not know what it was. I was on heavy medications at the hospital for a few days but the pain did not go away. I was on a lot of painkiller medication and could not attend any lectures or seminars for a month. I was feeling very lonely and scared because my family was away, and I never experienced such a traumatic pain where I had to go to the emergency room multiple times. The medications made me very numb and did not let me focus on my academic work which led to my diminishing attendance and grades. I ultimately went back to Toronto to see my family doctor who told me to go to North York General Hospital where they discovered I had kidney stones. This was absolutely the most painful thing I have ever experienced and it took me over a month from that date to recover. I obviously missed a few key lectures and assignments that I believe could have significantly improved my academic situation.
This coming year, I am prepared to be very active towards my academic success and overall campus life activity. I want to prove to myself that I can become successful in academics, I am willing to put in all my effort towards getting good grades and being a standout student. ¿I will do this through always keeping in touch with an academic advisor, working with tutors, and always attending classes and lectures while actively participating in them. During my second year, I noticed a substantial improvement in the way I study and my overall grades. In my third year, I want to improve upon this even more and show Queens that they did not make a mistake by taking me in. While the decision is obviously up to you and I will accept whatever you decide, I just wanted to provide some context regarding my grades this year and to let you know that this is not going to continue. If required, I can provide proof of my medical situation from my doctor and the hospital. Unfortunately, I did not file a police report regarding the assault but I can provide further details regarding the individual and the event if so required.
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Truly, my only goal is to graduate from Queens and I am willing to do anything to achieve this goal. I finally feel I have found my passion with History which I think has helped me become a more motivated and dedicated student. While it took me some time, I do feel I am at a place where I can truly be successful at Queens. This letter was very difficult for me to write because I am never one to blame events for my circumstances. This time, however, I feel that both incidents were beyond my control and affected me adversely.
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I please ask you to take these events into consideration to reverse your decision regarding my standing.
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Sincerely,
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Jason Chigrin