Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Naaman,

I am writing to request to waive a petition deadline, and to appeal a request to withdraw for one year that I received in May 2026. I faced extenuating circumstances beginning in June 2025 which continued until June 2026; I have taken steps to address these and have an academic plan to succeed in my studies.

I am from Tumbler Ridge, BC, and between May and August 2025 I was working at the Tumbler Ridge Golf & Country Club as an attendant. In June of that year, I faced workplace harassment from my supervisor. I filed complaints to the union but nothing came of it. The incidents themselves and the challenges I faced with the board caused me distress that continued as the school year began in September 2025. This was compounded due to my persistent mental health challenges which began in 2022. I am aware of these challenges and have taken steps to address them; I first contacted Student Wellness and QSAS in September 2022. My mental health challenges as a result of the harassment caused me to miss lectures and due dates for assignments, which contributed to me not performing as well as I hoped in the Fall term. Aware of this, I dropped two of my courses that semester, but was unable to pass the other courses. These challenges have slowly gotten better but I still feel some effects today.

In February 2022 there was a shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. This is where I attended high school, and as such this was a traumatizing event for me. This was again compounded by my mental health challenges. In the following weeks and months, I spent time connecting with loved ones and friends back in Tumbler Ridge, and healing from the event. This event affected me to the point where I missed lectures and due dates for assignments, and in general prevented me from doing well in the Winter term. I dropped a course to focus my efforts on the other two courses, and this paid off as I passed both. My situation improved slowly but I still felt the effects in May and June 2026. This also prevented me from submitting my appeal by the deadline. Today I still feel some effects but I believe it will not significantly affect my ability to pursue my studies moving forward.

My academic plan is listed below.
- I will use the support available to me in QSAS and Student Wellness to manage my mental health challenges.
- I want to switch into the Chemistry Major plan. I was already on the way to doing this in 2025-26 by taking CHEM classes. This is a subject I am passionate about, and I believe in my ability to work harder to finish a Chemistry degree.
- I will contact Academic Advising if I encounter further extenuating circumstances.
- I will seek more help in my courses by going to office hours.
- I will use the ATC in Stauffer Library to study, as I found towards the end of the Winter term that I worked well there.

I would be grateful for the opportunity to return to Queen’s in the Fall.

All the best,
Kokoa Fujimaki