Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am appealing the Faculty's decision that I must withdraw for one year from the Faculty of Arts and Science of Queen's University.

In mid-November, I had received a call from my brother saying that my parents have decided to get a divorce. There have been a myriad of problems in my household for as long as I can remember, however this came as a shock to me. No kid wants to hear that their parents are no longer going to be together. Last year, when my uncle passed away, I attended counseling sessions at the HCDS so I returned again this year to see if it helped. They were very comforting and told me what I needed to hear, but all in all it didn¿¿t change the fact that my family was going to split up. My results in my December exams were extremely poor and I have reason to believe that this directly affected it.

When I returned to Queen¿¿s on January 5th, 2014, I wasn¿¿t feeling to well and though it was psychosomatic from the stress from my poor academic performance in December. However, it got worse and worse, and I eventually went to the walk-in clinic as I was essentially incapacitated and bedridden in pain. The doctor said I had contracted Influenza, and I should be in bed for at least a week. When I called my parents, they suggested that I come home for that week and return the next week. I took their advice and returned home merely two days after arriving, on the 7th of January. However, when I got back home to Toronto, I was getting worse and still couldn¿¿t get over the sickness, so my parents took me to the doctors and I was properly diagnosed with a bacteria in my system called Campylobacter, and I was hospitalized for nearly 10 days. I was very weak and in pain so I couldn¿¿t even attempt to do any work while I was admitted. I received a doctor¿¿s note and didn¿¿t return to school until Monday, January 27th, so I had missed a very crucial first month of second semester.

That same week, on Friday January 31st, I was travelling with my friends back home and I was involved in a near-fatal accident on the 401 where the Jeep we were in had hit the guard rail and rolled over multiple times. Somehow, we all survived which I am very grateful for. I had never been in an accident before and it was terrifying. The roof of our jeep had torn off and hit me in the head, resulting in a very serious concussion along with other various but minor injuries. We had gone straight to KGH in the ambulance and we were immediately treated. We then went to the HCDS where we were given notes to give to our professors and TAs saying we were not able to partake in any academic activities until after reading week at the earliest. Due to this, the first two months of my second semester were a write-off. The effect of this accident was traumatic to me. I rarely slept for the ensuing weeks and struggled with emotional issues.

I as very determined to pick up my act and get back up to speed with my course, though it was unsuccessful. I spoke with an academic advisor who suggested that I drop all my courses, but I wanted to try my hardest to get my marks back up in the little time I had left. I lived at the library, day and night, trying to learn as much as I can. However, it only stressed me out to a whole new level. I took course crams for all of my courses before finals and pulled numerous all-nighters. My mental health was in shambles and I was stressed and worried at all times. The night before my first exam, I couldn¿¿t sleep so I was trying to cram as much as I could, and I experienced my first panic attack. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Needless to say, my exams did not go well. Between then, I attended another counseling session where I was given articles and self help techniques in relation to panic attacks which I still carry around to this day.