Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

I am contacting you regarding my request to appeal to drop my 2019 winter semester courses. These courses are KNPE 255, KNPE 227, HLTH 237 and ANAT 316.

An unforeseen event occurred in February that was beyond my control which directly affected my academic performance. On February 15th, 2019, my Aunt Wendy took her life. My Aunt Wendy and I were very close; she was like another guardian to me. There have been times throughout my life when I lived with her. Up until her passing, I would spend many weekends with her, including when I was studying at university. My Aunt Wendy was someone I looked up to. She taught me many valuable lessons. My Aunt Wendy was a 1988 Queen's graduate, graduating at the top of her class in commerce.

In order to cope with the event that happened, I applied and was granted academic consideration from February 15th to May 15th. I also dropped one of my courses (KNPE 254) to lighten my course load. Unfortunately, that was not enough. Because of the close knit relationship I had with my Aunt Wendy, daily tasks became difficult. School was not manageable.

Prior to my Aunt Wendy's passing, I have struggled with my own mental health. Since high school, I have been seeing a counsellor from Quinte Counselling Services in Belleville. I also have been taking medication for my anxiety since 2016.

After my Aunt Wendy's passing, I had appointments with my counsellor Tanya from Quinte Counselling Services. These appointments were a safe place for me to vent about how I was feeling during this time. I continued to take my anxiety medication, as well as I was prescribed medication for my depression. I had been thinking about taking medication for my depression prior to my Aunt Wendy's death, but I wanted to rule out every natural thing I could do on my own before deciding if I really needed it or not. At this time in my life, it was a no brainer. I also started seeing a counsellor on campus at the La Salle building. Her name is Martha. In addition to seeing counsellors, I spent a lot of time with my family. I lived with my Uncle Dave for about a month after my Aunt Wendy's passing. Spending time with my family, especially my Uncle, comforted me during this very difficult time.

Because of the severe impact that this event had on my life, I was unable to complete any of my 2019 winter semester courses to further my knowledge in my Kinesiology Undergraduate Degree.

Moving forward, I am going to continue managing my mental health by meeting regularly with my family doctor and counsellors. Academically, my goal is to further my knowledge in health studies; at some point transferring into an Undergraduate Degree in Health Studies as Kinesiology is not a program of interest to me anymore.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Lynsey Corbin
2nd Year Kinesiology Undergraduate Student
20070194