Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dean Stephenson, I am Shivani Zhivago, 3rd year, unofficial 4th year student at Queen’s University. This is my official letter request for an academic petition regarding my extenuating circumstance.
I am placing an official petition for several late course drops, due to an incident in 2021 which severely impacted my academics and overall health. The courses I am requesting to drop from my transcript are from second year. I also am requesting an official pause on my studies at Queen’s University for a minimum of 2 years, as stated officially by the faculty in case I choose to return to my post secondary studies.
The extenuating circumstances which took place after my first year at Queen’s University was a sexual assault. I was living off-campus, after failing to receive student housing in first year (2020). I lived alone on Princess street in an apartment, and the situation happened on June 24th, 2021. The second semester before the situation took place I had experienced numerous safety issues, including two masked individuals climbing my roof to the window. Living separately from the school student area was extremely difficult. I used the online therapy portal with Queen’s to deal with the issues I faced. However, after exams I was raped in my apartment (june 2021) by a fellow Queen’s student. This assault created the worst spiral possible for me at the age of 19. I immediately traveled home to Toronto to my Family Doctor (Dr. Stephanie Hudson) for testing (documentation proof) during the whole summer after first year. My second year at Queen’s is where I truly felt the trauma and negative impact associated with the situation. After attending my first week of classes, I crossed paths with my assaulter on the way to class. Ever since the encounter in September second year, I stopped going to classes and spent most of my days in bed and not eating well. Focus and productivity were nearly impossible, my mind was detached from my body. I was then also seeking mental health support for the very severe psychological damage the whole event left behind (2nd year). Initially, I sought help from Queen’s University, I was waitlisted for my appointment for the entire first semester of second year. While I was on the waitlist I did all I could to ease my mental pain all while balancing my student life. At this time my grades were suffering due to my utter disassociated state. I then sought out a mental health social worker and paid for sessions based in Toronto, as my situation was worsening. This was also around when I was connected with a Sexual Violence counsellor with Queen’s (Taylor MacPherson [2021] then transferred to Rebecca Rappeport [2022]) who were able to guide me. The unhelpful roommates at the time as well as the unexpected retraumatization bred an unbelievably unsafe environment for myself. I repeatedly found myself in bad situations; I would be followed home, I ended up in the hospital from excessive drinking and much more. The state of my mental health was at an all time low. I was truly losing all care in everything including my health. Throughout my second year I experienced a frozen state due to the trauma. I couldn't unpack any issues or sort anything out. At the time I managed to receive extensions for all my assignments beginning in October, as I had already enrolled in classes. The effort to maintain my studies was near impossible. I continually requested extensions and explained the situation to my professors and they were extremely understanding. I then connected again (December 2022) with my Doctor in hopes of finding a solution during the extremely stressful end of semester. I was prescribed medication for anxiety after scoring extremely high on the GAD-7 test, which I ended up being allergic to. This was when I realized the mental health issues I was dealing with are far graver than what I had expected. I wound up in the CAMH emergency room, and became an outpatient at CAMH in Toronto (January 2022). At this point some extensions were still in place and other deadlines had contributed to my failing grades after the holiday break. My first appointment was in the summer of 2022 with CAMH. My transcript is full of F’s or IN from all my second year classes. It can take several years to possibly complete treatment, and has an undetermined end date. I never enrolled in classes for third year (2022-2023) and spent the time dealing with my health. However, I had organized my living situation with my roommates for the third year in January of 2022 because I had believed I would be returning to studies, but wound up paying for housing for the year from Toronto. However, I understand it is necessary for me to be taking a pause from my studies for the sake of my health and safety.