Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

Thank you for taking the time to consider this appeal. I am hoping to obtain an AG standing for my summer course WRIT 120. Unfortunately, over the summer, I was met with a challenge that has crippled me in the past. I have an addiction and health issues, and it overran my life due to a combination of medication and a bad mental state. I struggled to finish my final courses, and WRIT 120 is the last 3 units I need to graduate. I am 98% complete with my degree.
Dr. Kinderman was kind enough to support me through the summer, as I expressed my struggles with my health. She offered me an IN grade with time to finish my work. I was sadly not in a state to follow through with that commitment. Dr. Kinderman has agreed to support this petition and to review my work, which I will submit to her. She has also agreed to make the class a pass/fail (which will be a pass) should the aerogat standing petition fail. I am very grateful for her support, and hope it shows the Associate Dean that this is incredibly important to me, and the people around me know that and believe in me.

Throughout my 6 years at Queen's, I have been exposed to the most incredible educators and peers. This has been the most meaningful and challenging chapter of my life, and I am sad to leave Queen's but ready to be finished. Over these 6 years, my parents divorced, which left me to support myself and work full time throughout school, all while dragging me through a depressive mindfeild. I understand that this is general, but specifically in the summer, I was diagnosed with a mix of Bipolar and ADHD, adding to a previous diagnosis of depression and anxiety, for which I am accommodated. I received medication, which reacted very badly with my anxiety. It drove me to smoke and drink, and I could barely keep up with my schoolwork, full-time job and living alone in Kingston. My addiction is what pulled me down further. I was paralyzed with anxiety, and it was only 2 or 3 assignments that I could not bring myself to submit. Towards the end of the semester, I was unable to access counselling or any support. I felt like a failure who would never finish school. It was all easy to ignore when substances were numbing you away; now all I feel is regret and guilt. The reason I did not reach back out to Professor Kinderman is that, over the past few months, I have been rehabilitating myself. I sought counselling and have stayed clean. I've balanced my medication and am in a stable place. The counsellor has promised to provide me with documentation. I do not want anyone to think I see this as a reasonable excuse; it is, unfortunately, my reality. I've learned I need to take my health as seriously as my schooling, and that they are symbiotic. I may struggle with depression and ADHD, but recovering from my addictions has completely changed my motivation and optimism. I am now in a position to complete whatever work, additional as well, that I need to make this happen.

I want to celebrate like every other alumnus. I want to make this school proud as I move on to law school. I know this chapter must end, and I am determined to do whatever it takes to prove that I deserve to graduate from such a prestigious school. I am not asking for shortcuts; I just want the chance to have my work reviewed and marked before the end of the term. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to appeal this issue. Everyone at Queen's has always been supportive and helped me through these challenging periods. My GPA is good, and I have worked hard to keep it as such in hopes of pursuing law. I want to help people, and the resources and network I've made at Queen's have already helped me drastically. You will see on my transcript that I have dropped courses and have taken large gaps, all because I value what is on my transcript, and I care about going to law school. I knew that these circumstances would be temporary, but my transcript is forever.

If I am granted the AG standing, my work will be marked, and I can graduate in June. Nevertheless, I promise I will make this school as proud as I am to attend it.

Thank you,
Anais Wickramasinghe
20176507