Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Hello,

My name is Phoenix King, and for the past 4 years I have been dealing with the passing of my father. When I lost him, I was 14. I won't go into great detail but I will note that these circumstances have led to the rest of my high school years, especially with covid being apparent as well, being immensely difficult. this circumstance has caused family issues and separation, including me moving out of the house to live on my own by the age of 16. during my first year of university starting in 2021, everything changed. I was sent away from my family and friends which were my support system and embarked on my journey at queens. I did not know truly how hard it would be, and for that reason, I struggled a lot to the point where I was alone in my residence room, trying to gain the motivation to pick a pen and paper. Even though I did not want this for myself it was clear that I could not handle the pressure. In October of 2021, I dropped almost all of my courses. by the winter term of 2022, I had no courses left, or so I thought. I tried to drop ENIN 140 during those winter months before the drop deadline but could not. At this point,I had not done a single shred of work for that class and once I tried everything to drop it I felt weak that it would sit on my report card as an F. I did not think anything was possible to remove it, I asked an academic advisor about it this fall if there was anything I could do and they told me that unfortunately I could not. At this point, I had gotten help for my anxiety over the summer and took a break from everything and so I embarked on my journey again for the fall semester at Queens. I started with 5 classes however to not overwork myself and to take it easy, I dropped a course so that I only had 4 courses. even with only 4 courses I still Failed EMPR 100 because of my circumstances as it was too much to handle. this semester is no different, as I am only taking 4 courses to lighten the load and take it easy on my anxiety as well and I plan to take 5 again next fall. As of my last academic advising appointment last Tuesday, I spoke to a woman named Spring, and I mentioned ENIN 140 to her and my circumstances of why I was not in the right space to complete it. She mentioned to me that, in fact, there was something I could do about removing it from my transcript. I don't want this grade to hold me back, I am working so hard now to get myself back on track and everyday I think about ENIN 140 and EMPR 100 I feel that weight it has on me over my shoulder. The death of my father will never fully be healed, as it will forever be a scar on my body and can always be re opened, yet, everyday I try to do my best for him and for me.