Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Since early October, I have been experiencing conflict in the house I had been living in, causing me an extreme amount of stress. I was constantly being bullied in my home, to the point where I had become unwell. I was excluded from all conversations and interactions with all members of the house, and felt unwelcome or unwanted in my own home. I had not provoked a situation, but the other six girls living in the house had targeted me and picked on me constantly. I would receive text messages during class, people would spread rumours amongst themselves in the house and mistreat me intentionally. This not only disrupted my ability to learn, focus and study, but also my mental health and well being. I would leave for home to be with my family every weekend, coming home completely distraught and unwell. Near the end of October, my mother came up for a week to see what had been taking place in my house and to provide support and encouragement as I tried to study and catch up. During this time, I kept trying to refocus myself and get myself back on track with my studies. However, it was impossible as I felt trapped in my room, constantly worrying about all the conflict in the house, and overwhelmed by how behind I was. My housing situation and stress escalated with my mom's prescience in the home, as they felt as if they were unable to pick on me. They had then stirred up more conflict and even went as far to threaten to destroy our car tires. The next day, I had to inform my professors that I had been unable to meet deadlines or attend class, file a report at the Police Station and I accessed resources at school, namely Student Affairs, Counselling Services, Student Accessibility Services and the Undergraduate Rector. It was here where I had reached my breaking point, as I needed to leave my home, pack up all my belongings and try to find a new place. Upon speaking with multiple individuals about my situation, they all advised me to focus on moving out of my old residence and finding a new one. It took me about 5 days to find a new home and settle into it, which immediately alleviated this stress and helped me to appropriate get refocused on my studies. The following week I had met and spoke with most of my professors about extending assignments and assessments because of this situation. They were very accommodating and we had come up with a plan to get me back on track with my studies, and I felt very confident that I could continue to succeed in my courses. In the middle of the following week, I had a close relative pass away which was devastating and completely threw me off balance. I had decided that despite my need to grieve, I would stay at school and continue catching up on my studies. However, I was unable to focus and despite my efforts to complete my assignments, I could not do so. I had spoken with my family who encouraged me to take the time to come home and be with them during this difficult time. After taking this time at home, I feel very off track and almost unable to refocus to begin catching up because I feel very overwhelmed by all the class time missed and assignments that I have not been able to complete. For this reason, I have decided to drop my course load and take time to recover from this time of stress, instead of trying to face it head on. My studies at Queens and fully understanding everything that is being taught is very important to me. In the future, I do plan on pursing a masters degree and continuing education, and so I would much rather drop these courses than end up with a bad grade. Ultimately, the learning process is too important to just complete assignments for the sake of finishing the semester and my courses. I have placed a lot of thought into this decision, which has not been an easy one. Ultimately, I want my grades to be a true reflection of my learning, knowledge, hard work and ability as a student. At this moment, the class material I would need to catch up on in combination with the approaching deadlines I would need to meet, causes me much anxiety. By dropping these courses, I can focus on healing and restoring my mental health and well being, while continuing some studies, which would set me up to have a fresh start in the winter.