Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: 3/23/23

Dear Academic Petitions Committee,

Hello, I am a second-year student here at Queen's University studying Kinesiology and my student number is 20287769. Last semester (Fall 2022), I suffered a knee injury. I had a bucket handle meniscus tear and was unable to bear weight on my knee or walk sufficiently enough to attend class. In the beginning of my injury, I had fairly significant knee swelling, knee pain and was unable to bear weight on my left leg, as noted by the emergency report from the Kingston hospital. Due to my history of knee complications, previously an ACL tear and bucket handle meniscus tear, I traveled home to Sault Ste. Marie Ontario to recover and meet up with my orthopedic surgeon for a proper assessment and diagnosis. This doctor provided me with a doctor's note that stated I would be off of university for the next couple of weeks due to difficulty ambulating. During this time I tried to tackle my school work online from home, however dealing with the uncertainty of yet another knee injury put a strain on my mental health. I was concerned about whether or not I would require surgery soon and remembering how difficult my first knee surgery was (I was on crutches and could barely walk for 6 months), I feared the worst. I stayed home for an entire month, from the beginning of November till the end of November, and during that time, I was able to obtain an MRI scan for my knee, which showed a bucket handle meniscus tear. I was informed by a doctor that I will need surgery in the near future (surgery is planned to occur this summer). Apart from the mental stress and physical stress that came with re-injuring my knee, I found myself struggling to keep up with my schooling at home, especially with Anatomy 315. As a course, the grade that is received in Anatomy 315 is made up of five assessments, two tests, two lab exams, and a final lab exam. Therefore, it is especially important to attend lectures and weekly labs to examine the specimens and consolidate the knowledge that is learned. Being off campus for an entire month therefore, had a detrimental effect on my learning because I was unable to attend lectures (completed lecture notes were not posted on ONQ in this class) and I was unable to attend weekly labs to examine real-life cadavers and specimens. To try to rectify my situation, I applied for longer-term academic consideration. This, however, had no effect because, throughout the duration of the academic consideration, I had no assessments or exams. Furthermore, as soon as I returned from recovering at home, I had two assessments in Anatomy 316 within a relatively short period of time. Additionally, even when I returned to campus I still had occasional knee problems, occasional knee instability (I would hear my knee click and the piece of floating meniscus in my knee felt as though it was shifting) and there were days even back on campus that I could not walk to class. This caused a lot of stress and anxiety to my mental health as I knew that I had missed out on a considerable amount of learning opportunities (both lectures and labs) and I did not feel that my marks reflected my true scholarly potential. Therefore, I am asking for my anatomy grade to be considered a late drop.

Thank you for your consideration,

Julia Opryszczko