Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am appealing to request Aegrotat (AG) standing in the course DEVS 492-004 Global Governance (Winter Semester of 2018), taught by Professor Susanne Soederberg. My appeal for an AG is due to an extenuating circumstance beyond my control which has directly affected my academic performance, namely, my attendance in seminar.

In the third week of the winter semester, I walked in on my partner of three-years in bed with a close friend of mine engaging in sexual relations. The following day I got a ride home to Mississauga, and after taking a step back from academics for just under two weeks, I returned to Kingston to resume my classes. I believed I was ready to continue on with my scheduled classes, however, I found that I developed some psychological barriers that I continued to confront throughout the semester.

This traumatic experience had no major affect on my classes or grades overall (as I was able to keep up with work from home and when I returned), with the exception of my DEVS 492 Seminar, as it is the only class I had this year with a formal participation mark of (30). I found it hard to attend my DEVS 492 seminar because I know the majority of the class personally, with two of them being my (now ex)-partner¿¿s very close friends.

The prospect of being in the same environment of these people (specifically the one¿¿s associated with my ex-partner) and conversing with them in a small setting made me extremely anxious¿¿my chest would tighten up, I would start to feel extremely hot and nauseous, I would feel light-headed and on edge¿¿to the point where I had justified in my head that it would be better to lose the participation marks than to put myself in that uncomfortable position. My main fear was having a mental breakdown or panic attack in class from an unforeseen trigger (something that occurred quite regularly for me earlier in the semester), being embarrassed and not having anyone really understand what I was going through.

My first attendance back in the DEVS 492 Seminar was in Week 9 and although I had discussion points and questions prepared to share with the class, it felt as thought my throat had seized and would refuse to cooperate with my intent to participate. I spoke with Professor Soederberg after class to briefly explain my absence, and she was extremely understanding about the situation. However, feeling anxious that I would be rendered incompetent in the following seminars, I did not attend the final two classes of the semester. I understand that this is an irrational and irresponsible decision on my behalf, but I continued on with the course material independently throughout the year. The reason I did not drop the course before the March 2nd deadline is because I need this course to complete my major in Global Development Studies and graduate on time. Moreover, I am starting the Consecutive Education program at Queen¿¿s in May of 2018 and a failure to pass this class would result in my offer of admission to the program being revoked.

Though there were ample resources to reach out to at Queen¿¿s, I opted to keep to myself to deal with my personal issues, feeling slightly embarrassed, guilty, and angry about the whole ordeal. However, after the March 2nd deadline date to drop a class I sought out the services provided at the Student Wellness Center and spoke to a Regulated Healthcare Provider named Allison, who is the new Arts and Science Counsellor in the building. We spoke for about an hour¿¿the first time I had opened up about the entire ordeal to anyone outside of my family. Together, we came up with strategies to deal with small panic and anxiety attacks, as well as dealing with grief and anger. The attached documents were written by Allison, which briefly outlines how she assessed my previous and current condition. In the future, should I ever run into an extenuating circumstance that inhibits my academic participation or ability to work, I will immediately seek an outlet for help.

In summation, I am appealing to request an AG (which was suggested I do by Professor Soederberg) for the course DEVS 492-004 Global Governance due to extenuating circumstances that have resulted in a lack of attendance. I am disappointed in myself for not handling the situation better¿¿there is no excuse to not pull yourself out of a depression when unexpected circumstances in life get you down. With that being said, I can only pray that this situation does not jeopardize the next few years of my life. I have learned from this experience and hope that it acts as a minor setback for greater things to come.