Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am hoping for my debt to Queens University to be reduced or forgiven.

I was looking forward to the opportunity to pursue my Bachelor of Health Sciences online, however was met with significant difficulty in my personal life. Due to extreme stress, anxiety and depression I was forced to make the difficult decision to drop the classes I had signed up for. I will not be returning to studies at Queens University.

I am the mother to two little boys, ages 3 and 5. My eldest son has Doose Syndrome which is a severe and life threatening form of Epilepsy. Shortly after classes began at Queens my youngest son began having seizures. My then husband called me crazy and said I was losing my mind, but I couldn¿¿t let it go- I knew what I saw- I¿¿ve witnessed my eldest son have literally thousands of seizures. I began having anxiety and panic attacks as I put them to bed at night for fear that I may lose them to SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy).

I could feel myself falling behind, I¿¿d pull out my text to read at night and be falling asleep as I tried to read, but was reluctant to admit that I wasn¿¿t going to be able to handle the stresses of my life as well as work and school... Shortly after the course drop date, my husband physically abused me for the first time (strangulation). I was even more hesitant to admit my failure when I would may face abuse as a result. Now I can see my confidence was also at an all time low due to years of emotional abuse.

I began having anxiety when I thought about Queens- the pile of work- the money- I stopped using my email account that Queens emailed me on because I couldn¿¿t handle the reminders. I effectively gave up, but was unable at the time to handle the situation appropriately.

The health of my children further deteriorated, and my 3 year old was officially diagnosed with Epilepsy- that has not yet responded to medication.

My then husband physically abused me again- this time lifting me off the ground by my neck and screaming in my face that he was going to kill me. I took my boys and left the house, taking on the full responsibility of a single mother with two critically ill children. Admittedly, a lot of responsibilities fell through the cracks... bills left unpaid, etc.

I am having Sara Dobiech who is the social worker at Kids Inclusive (who also has been my counsellor over this past year) write a letter to support my statement.

Thank you for your consideration,
Meghan McMillan