Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science,

I sincerely apologize in not making the deadline on time, this is completely due to occupying family issues related to my academic problems and concerning views on the world. When I was young, I was sexually assaulted by my uncle on a trip to Africa. Although this did not affect me much throughout middle school and high school as I was able to graduate at the top of my class in the IB program in high school (Regiopolis Notre-Dame Catholic High School), I can recall around the end of grade twelve and the beginning of my first year at Queen's it having a massive effect on me. For some reason, when I was young, this event flew over my head in a strange way, it did not have much of an impact on me for some reason. it was only at 17 years of age, where I recall deep emotional distress striking me as a result of this, my grades slightly dropped toward the second semester of grade twelve but I was still capable in getting a 94% average which was enough to ostensibly secure me a spot in your life sciences and biochemistry program, which was a lifelong dream of mine. Despite my family not having too much money, I always wanted to go to Queen's. I have grown up in Kingston, Ontario my entire life and since a young age I have had a keen interest in Neuroscience, I have wanted to become a neurosurgeon since I was in grade five. I was extremely happy when I was able to get a Major Access Award funding my time at Queen's which was a relief on my family as they would not have been able to pay for my education had that not been the case. During the first semester of my first year in university, I felt my feelings of anxiety and emotional distress creeping in reminding me of being sexually assaulted at a young age, which significantly disturbed my studies. I felt unable to study as I felt a weird kind of buzz in my head that would not go away. Allegedly, as I have been told by medical professionals, PTSD can emerge years later in life, which in this case is 10-11 years from the incident (which although uncommon, is possible, notably if the person was quite young, which I was only 7 years old). This likely played a partial role in the development of my ultraconservative views. I submitted a paper in my philosophy elective which now looking back on it was quite irresponsible which consisted primarily of slurs towards different groups (racial, sexual orientation, etcetera). Additionally, in my Pathology and biology classes, I submitted papers completely unrelated to the class content which were just racist garbage. Now, I normally never do such things and it is completely uncharacteristic of my character. I am usually a very kind-hearted person but when my distress and anxiety gets the best of me (which has been the case for the past year), I sometimes do such things. My family is depending on me for my academic success and I am getting aid to stop my thoughts. Please, I plead to you that I may return to this school year so I can not only complete the credits I did not do last semester (failed) and also catch up on credits this semester to graduate on time. I promise that if I am given this opportunity, I will never squander it again. I plead to you, please, may I return to this school year, I will give it my all and never give up and forget all my ridiculous notions.

Sincerely,
Rizal Anderson