Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Austin Daya, I am entering my fourth year at Queens studying Global development and playing football for the Gaels. I apologize in advance for the late notice but my situation regards my irregular class performance towards the end of my most recent fall semester in 2020.

To provide some brief context, I was officially diagnosed with pretty severe general anxiety a couple of years ago, resulting in my need for daily medication to help me function somewhat normally. My anxiety can stem from various sources, with my life consisting of avoiding panic attacks through various outlets such as sports, reading, video games, meditation, etc. It is hard for me to place an objective outlook on how anxiety affects my daily life with the certain environment creating worse or better situations for my condition. High-stress times of the year such as entering final exams is one environment that provides an especially tough strain on my anxiety. Seeing that it wasn't my first time writing exams, I had prepared various outlets to help me deal with the tough times ahead, however, as per usual, my anxiety was still constantly present.

Upon receiving my final grades following exams, I had noticed that I had failed two of my classes (LAW 201 and GNDS 212) which sparked much confusion about my academic performance leading up to writing said exams. Upon further investigation, I had been notified by my pharmacist when I returned to campus for the following winter semester that the machine which measured my medicine had given me half of my original dose for the length of 3 months. The medication is imperative for my daily function aiding in my daily struggles with general anxiety. It has been difficult adapting to the lifestyle of a student-athlete on the football team with the addition of Covid-19 creating an especially anxious environment.
The result of the wrong medication was out of my control and my coaches and academic advisor Milana have both advised me to follow up through the appeal process to see if I would be eligible for help. I have been nervous about the appeal process as a whole, feeding my hesitation to send this email, with procrastination being a poor coping mechanism to address issues that directly affect me.
Understanding that there was a larger issue at hand than my usual heightened anxiety entering exam season was difficult to wrap my head around. Dealing with daily anxiety has forced me to adapt to the various physical and mental impairments, leading me to attribute any symptoms to my general condition, ignoring possibilities for things out of my control. When talking with the pharmacist to note any differences I had not yet received my grades so I had no idea that my anxiety would have had such a larger than normal effect. The best piece of evidence can be shown with my much better academic performance in the following winter semester, following readjustments to medication upon returning to school.

As well, I really appreciate everyone's time and help through this tough situation.