Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean,

My name is Bianca de Sousa (20348631) and I am writing to appeal the decision to be a part-time student for the next school year. Before I present reasons for my academic results I want to express my graitude to be given the opportunity to explain myself.
I would like to state that I am thankful that my academic dismissal was waived and I understand why I am placed on a reduced course load for the coming school year. I appreciate the Univerity’s support with my degree and the plan that was set for me. However, I would like to highlight extenuating circumstances from the past year; my late grandmother's health and my poor mental health, which caused me to be in this position.
My first year hit me hard, in high school I was a very independent academically driven student who was able to get by on my own. I never needed extra help and grew attached to this method of learning, which I used during my time at Queen's. During my first year I would receive marks that were less than the ones I was used to the year prior and I could not understand why I was receiving them. My mentality at that moment was that I could only improve by pushing through and working harder with my methods. I had always gotten by on my own and I felt like I didn't need anyone else's help. I realize now that this started causing me anxiety and extreme stress but it also made me delusional about my future at Queen’s University. I thought that if I just kept working on my own I would somehow bounce back and every result I received from first year did not make me want to seek help but made me want to hide the student I became. I did not want anyone to know how far I had fallen so I continued on my own, telling myself that the only person that could help me was me. This led to my academic probation after first year and I had my first panic attack driven by academics.
During May of last year I was not in a good place mentally, I didn’t realize how much it truly affected me and it only got worse moving forward with the news I got about my late grandmother's health. In that month my mom and I went to Poland to see my grandmother who was 91 at the time. She had developed vascular dementia, which we could see in our visit. My grandmother was my last grandparent alive and was the only external family I was close with, so seeing her in that condition was hard for me. By September, when my second year started, her condition was gradually getting worse. She became incredibly weak during those few months and started having visits to the hospital regarding health concerns. This went on throughout the entire year as she got worse and developed more issues. I know I should have sought out help and talked to someone about what was going on as the state my grandmother was in took up a lot of my mind. In the moment I decided that the best course of action was to push through and work as hard as I could in the state I was in and get by on my own.
As the year went on I overwhelmed myself and it felt like so much was on the line, I second guessed every decision I made on my assignments, midterms, and exams. I feel like my mentality of having to hide how I was doing while worrying about my family member, and trying to make sure I got back to my original grades was not the right combination to have when tackling a low GPA. Any grade I got back that didn't meet my expectations made me panic and just stress about the next one and how it must be better.
At the end of November my grandmother suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage and was unconscious in the hospital. I had another panic attack, worrying about her state, about how my mom was doing after hearing it, and then how I couldn't help this situation especially with my low marks. This was one of the worst scares I received about my grandmother's health and the doctors at the time told us to understand that with her age that this could be it. With that information all I thought I could do was push through, even through my exams that semester which was absolutely not the right decision.
Further, when I finished the semester as I received my marks I was in denial, I thought I could just do better if I kept going and so I retook one of the courses right away and decided to do the other as soon as I could over the summer while I was already going to take another course. I was all over the place with no real plan on how to do better. I continued to spiral as I couldn’t focus properly on my work even with the effort I put into it. My grandmother's health continued to deteriorate and my stresses just kept getting worse. In the end of March my grandmother was sent to the hospital again with a blot clot in her brain and everyone was saying that this was the end for her, again. I thought about getting an appeal for exams as I was starting to think of how this was affecting me but at the moment I thought because she was still alive and fighting that I wouldn't need one. I believed that because she was still with me that it didn't affect me. But it did, her condition over the last year sent me on a rollercoaster thinking she would be okay, wondering if she would make it through the week. It wasn't until after exams where the reality of my mental state hit me. I had another panic attack and all my thoughts on my grandmother's health and my academic stress and anxiety from my performance this year took up my mind and when I calmed down I finally realized that I needed help.
I have attached my academic plan in the space provided and I believe that it demonstrates my vision to succeed in the coming year. I am confident that without the external stressors of my now late grandmother's health and my own personal anxiety I can excel at Queen’s University. Thank you again for giving me a chance to explain myself and for considering this appeal.

Respectfully,
Bianca de Sousa