Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: May 30, 2017

Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen's University
99 University Avenue
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N68

To Whom It May Concern,

This letter is to appeal the requirement to withdraw based on extenuating circumstances. . I also request a credit status in
DEVS 100B and late drops in ENGL 100B, GNDS 125, GPHY 101, MUSC 289 and HLTH 101.

This year was a very challenging and difficult time, having experienced things that go beyond difficulties many first year students are expected to go through. Prior to beginning my studies at Queen's, my mother and I had been caring for my grandmother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Thankfully, at first the disease moved fairly slow in the case of my grandmother. My grandmother and I have always been very close, because she was like another mother to me, and since she used to live in the same building as us, I spent nearly everyday with her. However beginning in October, she became very sick, and I began to spend more time commuting between Kingston and Toronto, hoping that I will have the chance to spend those few moments by her side. During that time (especially right before the beginning of the winter semester) things took a turn for the worse, and the decline of her health became very rapid. At that point I was going back and forth very frequently because her doctor had told us that she had very little time left to live. Most of my thoughts consisted of my grandmother, worried about her health, and worried about the amount of time I was spending away from home because I wanted to spend whatever time she had left with her. Throughout the year, I was enrolled in full time studies, and I thought that I would be able to balance both my schoolwork and my visits home. I should have been mature enough to understand that juggling both my school work and my personal life would be difficult but, when I was going through it all I could not see very clearly. Needless to say, even when I was at school, I became distracted by what was going on at home with my grandmother, and truly was unable to focus on my schoolwork or in my lectures. On April 5th of 2017, my grandmother passed away and I returned to Toronto immediately to be with my family, and attend her funeral service. Afterwards, I came back to Kingston without really understanding the loss of my grandmother. I returned a week before my final exams began, thinking I could ignore my feelings and focus on studying for my finals, I tried to push through it, but I was wrong. I have learned now that in situations such as the one I have experienced, it would be appropriate to have taken a leave of absence, or at the very least, communicated my situation to my professors, and figured out an alternate plan. 2017 was a year that I experienced a great loss, and I have no choice but to live with it, but the impact of losing the opportunity of an education, that is something that I am not willing to give up on, and will do everything in my power to learn from my mistakes and to rise above it all, if given the opportunity.
If my appeal is approved, I want to be a full time student focusing on global development studies and sociology. I plan on doing this by re-taking DEVS-100 in order to get a higher mark, and by taking the first year sociology class in order to have my prerequisites to do continue in those areas of study. I also intend on planning my time effectively and getting school work done ahead of time as to improve my academic performance. I have realized that utilizing the various resources that the school provides would greatly contribute to my success. When dealing with issues that may not necessarily be related to academics, I now understand how contacting the counselling department at Student Wellness Services and making an appointment may help me manage grief and balance the impact on my academic performance.

Despite my poor academic performance, I hope that you will give me a second chance to show you that this year is not a reflection of who I am as a student, but a reflection of someone who just happened to have a difficult year. Thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal.

Sincerely yours,

Blane Gessesse


If additional documents such as a physician's letter further confirming the situation is required, I will be able to provide it upon request.