Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Hello,

My name is Benjamin Nicolucci, and I am an Undergraduate Economics/Politics student at Queens University.

In the summer of 2021, I was offered a job to run my own painting business through a company called Student Works Painting. I started work while in school over the 2021 winter semester and into through the summer. I was adamant I would succeed at running a business as I was a mediocre student and wanted to prove to my family I was a hard working person. during this summer as my therapist will summarize in his documentation, I worked 10 hour days 7 days a week for June 1st to August 27th when I closed my business. The stress, long hours, and labour is went through burnt me out mentally and physically, I never felt so deflated and lack luster. Through the fall semester I found myself to have zero motivation, increased amounts of brain fogg, and increases in stress/anxiety, affecting my sleep and mental well being. during the fall semester of I lost 15 pounds due my lack of food intake and my abnormal sleep schedule. As you will see from my transcript, my grades began slipping with two failed grades. Over the Break my anxiety and stress increased as I worried I would not be able to work my painting job the following summer and complete my proper classes. blindingly and stupidly I believed I would be able to toughen in out and be fine. as the winter semester went on I fell into a perpetual cycle, unable to sleep I sometimes found my self passing out until the early hours of 5am I would then miss classes and fall farther behind on work increasing my anxiety attacks and high amounts of stress. By April I begun having suicidal thoughts, because I was always asleep when the wrest of the world was awake, I wondered how life would be for my family if I was just gone. Once these thoughts began I looked for help through student wellness and outside sources. I used student wellness a couple of time but was then able to find a therapist I could visit weekly. Slowly through the summer of 2022 my sleep schedule started to normalize. I believe I was fine and stopped seeking help. Once school begun again these same anxiety and insomnia affected my ability to participate in class and complete work on time. I began seeing my therapist again weekly in the hopes of normalizing my life. This summer I was able to find solid mental ground and catch up on all the personal things I never attended to during this time, including paying my taxes, renewing health cards, drivers license. Even wit all these classes pulling my GPA down, using the Queens Grade calculator and what if options on solus I believed I could complete two more semesters with grades i could be proud of and finally graduate. Unfortunately this past month I spent with my grandmother in the hospital. I have submitte another petition due to those extenuating circumstances. I my goal is to complete my undergraduate degree this May and move onto further education or start a carreer I could be proud of.
Thank you for your time.
Ben Nicolucci
He/Her