Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: The request: I am appealing for a late drop of SOCY 210 (Fall term, 2015).
Explanation:
There have been a few events which have directly affected my academic performance throughout this year, all of which I will discuss throughout this appeal. Firstly, late in the fall semester, my grandmother was hospitalized for close to a month, causing emotional distress. I went to Toronto to visit her during this time and missed a bit of school. Overall it was not the greatest time to have these negative personal feelings at a vital time in the semester. Secondly, both my back and right knee have had serious problems. As of right now I am waiting on results to find out what is wrong with my knee but it has had the largest affect on education in my opinion. There are many days when I wake up and can hardly walk or I will need crutches to slowly get around. This has been occurring since the beginning of October, making it extremely difficult to get to class when in excruciating pain. Not only has my knee affected my physical capabilities and lecture attendance, it has also taken a toll on me mentally. There have been many sleepless nights as a result, as well, I find it tends to cause a lack of focus. I have found it very difficult doing an assignment while being in as much pain as I am on a daily basis. I have taken many steps to try and deal with said extenuating circumstances, yet I haven't received much information from the doctors as the results have so far been inconclusive. To deal with my physical pain I have used crutches to try to get places but it is difficult to travel long distances in the snow. My knee injury has one hundred percent had an impact on my second year education. It has hindered my ability to make it to class on certain occasions and has caused a lack of sleep. I received a deferral for the SOCY 210 final exam because I was getting no sleep leading up to it and I could hardly walk. When it came time to write the exam during week 3 of second semester, I was in crutches again having extreme difficulty physically functioning. Overall, my injury and grandmas state hindered my ability to do as well as I had wished. As much as I wanted to get my knee fixed I had to stay in Kingston in order to not fall behind too much.

Future Plan:
Should my appeal be granted, I plan to retake the course as it is mandatory for my program. I really want to succeed in this program and get past this last semester. I honestly think I have been held back from my full academic potential because of injuries and personal issues, all affecting my school work in the end. Other ways to fulfil my goals to succeed are applying for queens accessibility services and potentially some sort of distance studies. In the meantime with my injury, I have been sent for testing and more will be necessary. If the appeal were to be granted I could figure out both my mental and physical health, in turn allowing me to succeed at a later date with this course. It was quite unfortunate that no doctors were able to figure anything out during the first semester. This ultimately hindered my ability to get to class especially in the winter. I believe if I was able to walk every day, then I would have had no problem succeeding in the course, as I wish to do in the future.