Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies,

My name is Julia Mashaal and I am a Sociology Major and Psychology Minor in fourth year at Queen's University. I am appealing my final exam grade for Developmental Psychology (PSYC 251) in the Winter term of 2015. I have been granted my request to waive the 21-day deadline to request to drop PSYC 251 (W 2015). In light of this, I am now appealing to drop PSYC 251 (W 2015) after the academic deadline. This Developmental Psychology exam was on April 13, 2015 at 9am. During my psychology exam, I experienced an episode of acute anxiety. During this time, I started experiencing physiological symptoms, such as shortness of breath, tightening of the chest, and elevated heart rate, among other symptoms beyond my control. Throughout the examination, I tried to calm myself down by going to the bathroom and getting a drink of water. This episode was extremely overwhelming and I did not know how to handle the situation. My mind was constantly wandering and I was not able to concentrate on the examination. I tried to provide the best possible answers I was able to come up with at this time. These circumstances were beyond my control and affected my abilities to perform to my academic standards. I was not able to focus on the exam, as I was experiencing overwhelming feelings of anxiety. While I have always had feelings of anxiety, I have never experienced symptoms of an anxiety attack before. This psychological challenge prevented me to perform to the best of my ability. I think it is important to highlight my strong efforts in all other components of the course. I am a good student and a very hard worker, which is reflected in my transcript. My average going into the exam was an 87.8. I did well in all other components and evaluations of the course. The final exam was not a true reflection of my knowledge of the class material. In order to pass the course, a grade of 40 or higher had to be achieved. This, however, was not feasible due to this psychological challenge I experienced at this time. Fortunately, I did not experience any other episodes during my other course evaluations.

Due to my academic record prior to this examination, I did not know how to handle this type of situation. It was extremely out of the ordinary. In the summer, I was not in Kingston and I did not have access to regular services provided on campus. I did not feel comfortable disclosing this information with my parents or friends. I did not feel like I could talk about it, as this grade had a serious impact on my self-esteem. This feeling of embarrassment was very overwhelming for me during this time. Receiving this grade completely took over my thoughts and resulted to continue affecting my anxiety levels throughout the summer. My Mother started to notice a change in my behavior and affect, which led me to open up about the situation at the beginning of the school year (Fall 2015). After discussing the situation with my Mother, I decided it would be best to see a health-care professional. When I went to see Dr. Singer, we discussed my episode of anxiety and how it affected my abilities during the examination. We discussed ways to cope with my symptoms and feelings of embarrassment. Currently, I am finding ways to cope with my psychological challenge. I am going to see a psychologist in order to ensure these feelings and symptoms do not impact my grades in the future. I have taken on exercise, meditation and changed my eating habits, which have already helped me in many ways. These future plans will support my academic goals, and help me maintain the level of academics I have achieved throughout my undergraduate career. I am confident my academic plan will ensure I am successful in my current studies.

Thank you for your consideration.

Regards,
Julia Mashaal
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