Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard,
I am appealing to request AG standing in the course PSYC397 (Summer 2017).
The extenuating circumstance that affected my academic performance is my struggle with leaving an abusive relationship.
I had been in a relationship with my abuser since summer 2014. I didn't quite understand that my partner's treatment of me was abnormal in a relationship. I knew something was terribly wrong, but I could never quite express what it was. It was finally in June 2017, 3 years later, that I admitted to myself and others that it was abuse, and I decided to leave the relationship. I was admitted to the Ottawa Hospital Sexual Assault Partner Abuse Care Program. It was incredibly challenging -- I had longstanding depression and anxiety, I had to face the reality of my abuse that I had been avoiding for so long, and I felt incredibly scared and alone.
Suicidal thoughts started getting the best of me. I questioned everything; I thought that maybe I deserved the abuse and never should have left. I constantly fought thoughts such as you're such a burden on others that you should just kill yourself. At the same time, I was terrified that I would give in and return to the relationship because I didn't know what to do with myself. This skyrocketed my anxiety.
Additionally to the challenges of transitioning out of an abusive relationship, I started being harassed by my abuser in July 2017. This led me to defer my exam for PSYC397 from July 2017 to September 15th, 2017, supported by Queen's Disability services and the Sexual Violence Prevention & Response Coordinator. However, my transition from leaving the abuse continued, and it started manifesting itself in frequent debilitating panic attacks. This became post-traumatic panic disorder, and led me to miss the deferred exam date in September 2017.
I was able to complete the assignments throughout the semester from May - June 2017, which comprised of 70 of the course load. It was when I left the relationship in July that my circumstances became particularly challenging, and this coincided with the final exam, which was why I was unable to write it. After this, the subsequent medical circumstances that arose from the abuse prevented me from writing the deferral. At this point, I have not been able to review the material without having post-traumatic panic attacks.
An Aegrotat would help me move on from this period of my life and kickstart my recovery hopefully without penalization of my academics. I sought out abuse therapy starting in August, and now that I am back at Queen's, I am seeing a psychiatrist for the post-traumatic stress as well as a GP-psychotherapist at Student Wellness Services to address the panic attacks. I have also consulted Queen's disability services and my regular physician to set up a plan to manage my academic performance this semester. My psychiatrist has contacted the Ottawa Hospital and is waiting to hear back from them to try and come up with the most appropriate treatment plan. He has also given me medication to hopefully ease the anxiety and panic attacks. I have also been referred to the Kingston Sexual Assault Partner Abuse Care Program. I am maintaining regular meetings with this support team and plan to continue this recovery with hopefully a minimal impact on my future academics. I want nothing less than to be a normal student, and I feel hopeful with the possibility to appeal that I can leave this obstacle behind me and pursue a successful academic career even with a history of abuse.
Thank you greatly for reading. I greatly appreciate it.
Bonnie