Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

My name is Priscilla van het Hof and I am currently a 4th year Biology major. In the fall of 2019, I had performed poorly in nearly every class I took due to familial circumstances and a declining state in my mental health. In September of 2019, both of my parent's health was severely compromised as my Dad was awaiting surgery due to a very serious infection in his bowel due to Cron's disease. My mom was struggling with fainting spells and extremely high blood pressure, often leaving her bed ridden alongside my Father. While this was happening, I was 7 hours away from home here in Kingston trying to do my schoolwork. The overwhelming worry about my parent's health began to take a toll on me and I began to fall into a deep depression with constant panic attacks. I have had an anxiety disorder and depression since about the age of 13, but it was not until the fall of 2019 that it began to take over in a way I haven't experienced before. While struggling with my mental health and the health of my parents, I also fell ill around November of 2019 for about a month. I had a severe cough, chills, body aches, and could not lift my head out of bed. It was the sickest I have ever been and now looking back it may have been an early variant of COVID. With all this said, by the time final examinations were occurring, I had little to no energy to focus or properly study for my courses, leading to an awful semester due to my grades. As you can see in my transcript the semester after, I achieved all A's and B's, significantly improving from the semester before as my Father had his surgery in December 2019 and recovered, and my depression began to subside. This comparison in the two semesters is proof that I can perform well in classes and if the circumstances had not been present, I would not have performed so poorly in Fall 2019. I also began treatment for my anxiety and depression via naturopathic doctor and my family practitioner which significantly improved my mental state. To conclude, my GPA was tarnished in the Fall of 2019 which will have a great impact on my future as I have dreamed of attending medical school since I was a young child in hopes to one day become the doctor that treats patients like my father. If I am granted the chance the appeal these grades, I will hopefully have a better shot at achieving my future goals by mending my GPA.

Thank you for your consideration,

Priscilla van het Hof