Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am appealing the one-term appeal timeline to request credit (CR) standing in CHEM 281, taken during the Fall 2019 term. I am appealing the one-term timeline due to ongoing extenuating circumstances I faced during the Winter 2020 term which were beyond my control.

The Winter 2020 term was a rollercoaster; it was very physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. Due to a mental health crisis I had during the Fall 2019 exam period, I had three of my exams postponed to January 2020, including the final exam for CHEM 281. As a result, I did not see my final mark in the class until late January. During the Winter 2020 term, I was so overwhelmed with taking care of my mental and physical health, catching up with my missed classes and schoolwork, and dealing with the uncertainty and stress associated with the pandemic and transition to online learning, that I missed the timeline to submit my appeal.

During the end of December 2019, I had a surgery that required a longer recovery than I could have ever anticipated. During my recovery, in early January of 2020, I developed an excruciatingly painful and chronic infection which affected all aspects of my life including my ability to attend classes, to do my schoolwork, spend time with friends, and dedicate time to my extracurriculars. After two weeks of taking two different kinds of antibiotics, (only to realize that they were not working), Dr. Lee, a Kingston dental surgeon, told me that I needed to have immediate emergency surgery to clear out my infection. That same day, on January 21st, I left the surgery in immense discomfort, pain, and feeling very fatigued. It took me until the beginning of February to fully recover. During this time, Dr. Lee advised me to focus on my recovery to reduce the chances of developing another infection. Based on Dr. Lee¿¿s advice, I spent a large portion of my time resting during my recovery. As a result, I missed class frequently and I required extensions and additional time to complete much of my schoolwork.

When I recovered from my surgery in February, I was faced with catching up in over four weeks of material in five classes. It was incredibly overwhelming. I spoke to many supports on campus, including a counselor at Student Wellness Services, a private social worker, and my Occupational Therapist, Tess Grant, who advised me to drop a class to reduce the stress I was experiencing. I took Tess¿¿s advice. However, even after dropping a class, I was still incredibly overwhelmed, as I had to catch up 160 missed hours of school. I reached out to different supports to help with the stress of catching-up in my classes, including Student Academic Success Services (SASS) and meeting with my professors and TAs. However, despite the help I received from SASS, my professors, and TAs, I still had to work tirelessly every single day until my last final exam in April to catch up in my classes and to achieve the grades I had been aiming for.

In addition to the challenges I faced because of my surgery, in December 2019, a childhood friend of mine passed away unexpectedly ¿¿ they were shot and murdered on their university campus. This was very traumatic for me. As a result, during the winter semester, I was not only dealing with the physical excruciating pain of my two surgeries and a chronic infection, the overwhelming feelings of anxiety and stress regarding catching up in my courses, but I was also facing grief ¿¿ a complex emotion that I had never experienced before as this was the first time someone close to me had passed away. I was so engulfed by grief, that many days throughout the winter term, I found it challenging to do anything besides lay in bed and cry.

The pandemic and shift to online learning were also immensely anxiety-inducing for me, especially as someone with a diagnosed mental illness and who is registered with Queen¿¿s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) for a disability. My father has diabetes, hypertension, and a history of cardiovascular disease ¿¿ making him very high-risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Ever since my friend, Yafiet, passed away in December, my anxiety surrounding my health and the health of my loved ones has increased drastically. When COVID-19 started to become a greater concern in Canada, I became constantly preoccupied with worry about my father¿¿s health and about whether he had contracted the virus. In addition to the anxiety experienced regarding the health of my loved ones, the transition to online learning was also very stressful by having less of a routine, not having my usual supports in place, and experiencing the lowering of my grades caused by changes in course grading schemes. The stress from COVID-19 caused me to experience many anxious tendencies such as inability to sleep, feeling constantly on edge, irritability, and nausea, causing me to be less focused and productive.

I was expecting my mental health to improve after April exams. However, I was proven wrong. After my exams, I realized that school had just been acting as a distraction from my grief and my anxiety surrounding my heath. Because of this, I soon found myself in a dark place as I, again, experienced many anxious tendencies such as vomiting, pacing, low appetite, and reduced ability to focus. I experienced this level of significant distress until early May, when I finally realized something needed to change.

Currently, I am on my way towards recovery. I have just found out that my therapist in Kingston is offering phone appointments. I am going to start having phone appointments with her regularly to ensure that I can maintain my mental and emotional wellbeing. I am also practicing my communication skills and healthy coping mechanisms by meditating, writing in my gratitude journal, and being open about my feelings of anxiety and grief with my loved ones. I am finding that having open communication has been immensely helpful because it helps me realize that I am not alone in my thoughts and feelings.

I truly apologize for not being able to meet the one-term timeline. I hope that you understand my ongoing extenuating circumstances which prevented me from appealing for credit standing in CHEM 281 from late January, (when I first saw my final grade in the class), until now (during my recovery).

Attached to this letter, I have included my Verification of Personal Health Condition Form, email correspondences with professors and TAs regarding my extenuating circumstances, documentation regarding the passing of my friend, Yafiet, and appointment confirmations with my private therapist in Kingston and Student Academic Success Services. If you have any questions regarding my documentation or explanations of the extenuating circumstances that I presented in this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me at any given time.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Sarah Bahreinian