Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Sue Blake,

My name is Sofia Melendez and I am currently in my first year of studies at Queen's University. It is with great sincerity that I write this appeal letter to you, as these past few months have been some of the most difficult and trying times of my life. On December 3rd, about a week before December exams started, my younger brother Xavier was admitted to the hospital after attempting to commit suicide 13 times within 3 days. He was diagnosed with clinical depression and remained at the hospital for nearly a month. He then went into a youth transition group home with Keystone Youth Services for another month before going home. He is still struggling today, and his doctors have not yet found the right balance to his medications and therapy.

These circumstances were beyond my control, and adversely affected my performance during the December exams. I tried my best to study, but I was placed under extreme stress and my own mental health suffered. I was not able to focus at all, I could not eat or sleep, I would cry for most of the day, and I was frightened that I would come home after exams and not have a brother anymore. Even with my parents support and love, Xavier always chose to call me when he was suicidal, so I would have to leave the library and my studies to call the hospital and my parents, and talk to him until he received medical attention. This took a lot of time and completely drained my energy. I would force myself to study and be efficient, but I was not able to retain information under my mental state. It was a horrible time because I wanted to go home and be with my family, but I live almost 6 hours away from Kingston, I do not have the money to pay for extra travel expenses, and I had four exams to write.

I was extremely worried about my academic performance and my own mental health so I reached out for help from my roommate, my supervisor for the Social Issues Commission Alex Chung and a professional counselor. I made an appointment with Nadia Sawaya Fehr, the residence outreach counselor, and I asked her about types of coping mechanisms and options for deferring the December exams. She suggested I go through with them and get them over with. I believe this was a mistake on my part because I was not in the least prepared for my exams. My Math 121 exam was the worst, at a 55, and that is the mark I am most worried about. I am beyond anxious that I may not be able to be automatically accepted into the psychology major because my GPA will be dragged down by Math 121. I also do not want this event to burden my GPA for the rest of my academic career. My goal was to make the Dean's Honour List and to have good marks first year so I can be properly grounded for future years and enable myself to enter graduate school with ease. This is a very difficult situation for me because I am trying my best, but my brother's mental health and safety are out of my control even though they affect my academic performance.

I spoke to Dr. Alan Ableson, who is a professor for Math 121, and he directed me to this application process. Being granted credit standing in Math 121 would be a relief like none other. I know that if the circumstances with my brother were different during the last few months, I would have been able to earn much higher grades in all my courses, as I am a diligent and studious individual. I look forward to hearing back from you about this matter.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Sofia Melendez
14sim1@queensu.ca
519-321-9816
Student number: 10179465