Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Bénard / Dr. Horton,
I write to you appealing to drop PHIL452 (Current Issues in Metaphysics) from my academic record well after the 21-day appeal deadline has passed. Though I attended every class and did all of my worksheets, I was unable to submit the final paper in which was worth the majority of my grade as a result of some unfortunate family and personal extenuating circumstances.


Over the Christmas break before the winter term I took PHIL452 in I let my parents know that I would be dating men in the future whereas I had previously only dated women. Their reaction was less than accepting due to their firm belief homosexual attraction/relationships are sinful and against God's plan. I was asked to leave and consequently cut my break at home short to return to Kingston. Following this things were strained between us and I was also financially cut off from their support both of which added significant stress, along with the fact that my parents were the first people I had told apart from my best friend (and being a private person did not really want to mention it to others who it was either not relevant to or who may have reacted as my parents did). When Reading Week came a condition of me returning home was attending an Exodus International (Ex-gay group since disbanded that was often pejoratively associated with pray the gay away ideas) conference in Atlanta called 'Love Won Out' (corroborating thank-you for attending attached). After attending this conference I was allowed to see my friends for the remainder of the week. Though my parents and perhaps even Exodus International had the best of intentions and in their eyes were trying to help me I felt and feel that they were wrong in their goal and caused significant mental pain. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.


I did my best to not let this constant disapproval get to me but my grades slipped considerably and my focus was shot with a high stress level, as well as receiving lots of literature such as You Don't Have To Be Gay, Crisis in Masculinity, Growth into Manhood, and many others that I have simply not kept or was unable to find (corroboration attached). I was able to successfully complete most of my courses but did fairly poorly in comparison to the previous term as a look at my transcript would show. The one course I got an A- in, PSYC480 (Special Topics in Psychology 1) was primarily due to it being on Gender and Sexuality (which was obviously quite relevant to what I was going through and of special interest) and the great support and teaching of Dr. Chivers.


The other courses excepting PHIL452 all had their finals quite early or before the exam period while the final paper for PHIL452 was quite a bit later which allowed me to finish them while in Kingston. After finishing these I returned to my parent's home as my lease was coming up and I had nowhere else to go, but this proved to be a mistake. After returning I found myself unable to not only write the paper but quite nonfunctional. Though my parents wanted (and want) the best for me living with them caused be to mentally shut down. I knew the paper was due but found myself shut in my room either in bed or trying unsuccessfully to write the paper. I felt trapped and ashamed for my failure to shut up and deal with living with people who simultaneously loved and rejected me, and too embarrassed reach out to Professor Laycock or the school administration about the issue. I consequently stopped any correspondence with the school and was surprised to get my diploma in the mail months later. I only knew I had missed my own graduation when I saw other people posting their Facebook photos and cannot even remember applying to graduate. Missing graduation proved to be another source of disappointment for both me and my parents.


Since then my parents and I have repaired our relationship for the most part after I got a job and moved out of their home, both of which helped get me back to normal functioning as well as seeing a therapist for a little while (unfortunately cannot attach corroborating letter at this time as I no longer see him, but can get back in touch with him if required or request my parents confirmation on my attendance). I thought I could let the F mark stand if I would not be going back to school and simply continuing in the workplace but since then have become invested in going to law school (of which Queen's is my top pick) and am hoping this mark will not get in the way of that. This mark was not representative of my academic potential and were it not for the extenuating circumstances of the living situation and added stress from the rejection, I know I would have been able to complete it more than satisfactorily. Thank you for the consideration.