Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Johanne Benard,
My name is Ali Mumal (ST 10184110) and I am writing to appeal the Faculty of Arts and Science¿¿s decision to withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for one year.
First of all, I sincerely apologize for my late appeal as I have been travelling in remote areas of Pakistan and have not had access to the internet, including my Queen¿¿s email. I just found out about the university¿¿s decision last week on June 19, 2017, when my parents received a letter from OSAP detailing that I have been asked to withdraw from the University for one year. I am writing this letter and the academic plan at the earliest opportunity I have had in the past week.
I understand that I have not done well enough to meet the standards of Queen¿¿s University but that is due to extenuating circumstances. My family has been going through a very difficult time in the past two years. Two years ago, my mother started having difficulty walking as her feet and legs hurt a lot. The doctors still are not sure what is wrong with her but for the last year and a half, she had been bedridden. Slowly, she has been able to regain her ability to walk and has even started working again. During that time, I was visiting her at home on weekends and trying to keep up with school work, exams, and tests. Taking care of her, the rest of my family and being in school in a different city altogether was very difficult, and I believe contributed to my abysmal performance at Queen¿¿s in first year. Additionally, my dad in October of 2016 was diagnosed with Parkinson¿¿s disease. My grandfather also had Parkinson¿¿s disease and therefore, it was confirmed we have familial Parkinson¿¿s, which also means that there is a good chance I will develop it. Learning about that really turned my world upside down and it gave me severe anxiety and depression. In fact, I remember learning about it the night before many of my midterms, and I couldn¿¿t focus at all the rest of the month and did terribly on the midterms. That is the reason why fall 2016 was a particularly difficult semester for me, and it reflected in my grades. I understand that there will always be extenuating issues, and I should not have let them interfere with my academic performance. However, I believe I deserve a second chance and would very much appreciate the opportunity to do so.
Since then, my dad has finally started seeing a Parkinson¿¿s disease specialist, and the drugs have helped reduce the symptoms and have allowed him to conduct normal daily activities again. I have also come to terms with the potential of developing this disease. After learning more about it, I understand it¿¿s not a fatal disease, and while it can be debilitating in some circumstances, there are good drugs out there currently to help control symptoms and there is a lot of research going on to try and find a cure. Conducting this research into Parkinson¿¿s has eased my concerns. Furthermore, my mom¿¿s health has also improved considerably over the past year as she can now do most activities. I am also on a waitlist to see a government-funded psychologist who can help me deal with anxiety and depression if I experience those symptoms again. Once at Queen¿¿s, I will also start seeing a mental health professional at the university in order to be able to keep my anxiety and depression in check. In my first semester back at Queen¿¿s, I will also take a lighter load in order to ease myself back and allow myself more time to focus on those particular courses and have regular appointments with academic advisors as the semester goes on to make sure that I am on track to do well at the University.
I really appreciate the opportunity to appeal the decision. I really do believe that if I am allowed back to the University then I will do much better this time around. I have attached our family doctor¿¿s letter and my academic plan for the next year.
Sincerely,
Ali Mumal
My name is Ali Mumal (ST 10184110) and I am writing to appeal the Faculty of Arts and Science¿¿s decision to withdraw from Queen¿¿s University for one year.
First of all, I sincerely apologize for my late appeal as I have been travelling in remote areas of Pakistan and have not had access to the internet, including my Queen¿¿s email. I just found out about the university¿¿s decision last week on June 19, 2017, when my parents received a letter from OSAP detailing that I have been asked to withdraw from the University for one year. I am writing this letter and the academic plan at the earliest opportunity I have had in the past week.
I understand that I have not done well enough to meet the standards of Queen¿¿s University but that is due to extenuating circumstances. My family has been going through a very difficult time in the past two years. Two years ago, my mother started having difficulty walking as her feet and legs hurt a lot. The doctors still are not sure what is wrong with her but for the last year and a half, she had been bedridden. Slowly, she has been able to regain her ability to walk and has even started working again. During that time, I was visiting her at home on weekends and trying to keep up with school work, exams, and tests. Taking care of her, the rest of my family and being in school in a different city altogether was very difficult, and I believe contributed to my abysmal performance at Queen¿¿s in first year. Additionally, my dad in October of 2016 was diagnosed with Parkinson¿¿s disease. My grandfather also had Parkinson¿¿s disease and therefore, it was confirmed we have familial Parkinson¿¿s, which also means that there is a good chance I will develop it. Learning about that really turned my world upside down and it gave me severe anxiety and depression. In fact, I remember learning about it the night before many of my midterms, and I couldn¿¿t focus at all the rest of the month and did terribly on the midterms. That is the reason why fall 2016 was a particularly difficult semester for me, and it reflected in my grades. I understand that there will always be extenuating issues, and I should not have let them interfere with my academic performance. However, I believe I deserve a second chance and would very much appreciate the opportunity to do so.
Since then, my dad has finally started seeing a Parkinson¿¿s disease specialist, and the drugs have helped reduce the symptoms and have allowed him to conduct normal daily activities again. I have also come to terms with the potential of developing this disease. After learning more about it, I understand it¿¿s not a fatal disease, and while it can be debilitating in some circumstances, there are good drugs out there currently to help control symptoms and there is a lot of research going on to try and find a cure. Conducting this research into Parkinson¿¿s has eased my concerns. Furthermore, my mom¿¿s health has also improved considerably over the past year as she can now do most activities. I am also on a waitlist to see a government-funded psychologist who can help me deal with anxiety and depression if I experience those symptoms again. Once at Queen¿¿s, I will also start seeing a mental health professional at the university in order to be able to keep my anxiety and depression in check. In my first semester back at Queen¿¿s, I will also take a lighter load in order to ease myself back and allow myself more time to focus on those particular courses and have regular appointments with academic advisors as the semester goes on to make sure that I am on track to do well at the University.
I really appreciate the opportunity to appeal the decision. I really do believe that if I am allowed back to the University then I will do much better this time around. I have attached our family doctor¿¿s letter and my academic plan for the next year.
Sincerely,
Ali Mumal