Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Johanne Bénard,

My name is Madison Bryer and I am currently required to withdraw from the Faculty of Arts and Science, for the upcoming school year. As discussed in the email, students who have extenuating circumstances may submit an appeal. Therefore, I would like to express what has happened in the last two years, which has lead to this point.
Similar to a lot of first year students, I struggled adapting to university and Queen¿¿s itself. I found it challenging to make friends, stay motivated, and it quickly became a place I did not want to be. Early on into my first year at Queen¿¿s, I looked into transferring schools, but decided to finish my first year before doing so. As the year went by, I slowly began to adjust to life at Queen¿¿s and decided to stay.
Academics has never been of major importance in my family, so all motivation to get into Queen¿¿s or succeed in school, comes from myself. I had very poor mental health in my first year, and it had a big impact on my grades. However, at the end of the year I made a promise to myself to make Queen¿¿s a place I wanted to be and succeed in all aspects. That following summer when it came time to pick courses, I spoke to a guidance councillor about my options. She mentioned that with my grades it would be best for me to major in Geology, and switch to a more desirable major once my grades had improved. At the time, I discussed switching into Biology, which we both thought was one day possible with my new attitude.
Around the time of course selection, something happened in my family that has effected me to this day. In late June, my step father took his own life in my home, leaving me to find him. My mental health since that day has suffered greatly. Due to the overwhelming feelings of P.T.S.D, I spoke to a therapist soon after my step father¿¿s passing. I felt that our time was unproductive and ultimately left me feeling frustrated. She discussed the idea of not taking a full course load and prioritizing time for my mental health. However, since she was not giving me a clear answer to my problems, I did not listen to anything she had to say.
I truly believe that one of the things that contributed to my step fathers passing, was his job. He worked somewhere he felt he had to, not because he wanted to. With this all happening at the time of course selection, I felt that I owed it to him to chase my dreams and do what I knew I loved, Life Science¿¿s. I decided to shadow the program and hoped that my grades would be high enough at the end of the year to switch in seamlessly.
Going to school at first was a good distraction. I was sleeping through the nights and found myself thinking less of what had happened. However, I have learnt that ignoring your mental health issues does not mean they will go away. I found that it took me a long time to be truly ready to talk to someone. Unfortunately however, high academic stress sparked high emotional stress, further harming my academics. Due to the unfortunate timing, it was difficult to find the time or motivation to speak to a professional. Reflecting back at the end of the year, I knew that I should have spoken with someone sooner. I learnt that despite everything, Life Science¿¿s was not a perfect fit for me and I needed a change. With witnessing how strong the ripple effect was in regards to my mental health, I knew it was time to talk to someone and start from there.
When I moved home from school, I discovered something that ruined my new found motivation. My family had received a letter from the federal government of Canada, saying my step father was under surveillance, only shortly before his passing. With just being at the point of accepting an illness that took over his mind, and eventually his body, this news erased a lot of progress I had made.
The day after I was made aware of this news, I received the email notifying me that I was required to take a year off from school. Although I was extremely devastated, I knew I could appeal the letter. That night I began to write an appeal, but it was just too much and I could not get the words out. With everything going on, I decided to take some time to process everything that had recently happened, and write the appeal later on.
At first, I wanted to wait until I had proof that I was working on my mental health and was in the process of finding a councillor that was right for me. I wanted to ensure my appeal was taken seriously, but I struggled with what and how much to include in this appeal. When I sat down to read the email, I noticed I missed the deadline.
Since moving home from school, I am mostly alone for 5 days out of the week. Additionally, my job requires me to work outside for 10-13 hours a day, 5 to 6 days a week. After working 12 hours, I struggled with putting the words together to explain what had happened and often put it off. When I did have the time, I was often home alone. Every time I would begin to describe what had happened, when I was in the house alone, I would begin to feel fearful and would often stop writing to ensure I was able to sleep through the night.
I know my appeal is very late and I do apologize, but I am begging you to reconsider. I am willing to switch to a very general program and see a councillor on a regular basis if needed. I am aware that I still have a lot of issues I need to work through. If I am able to return to school this year, I will ensure that my mental health is held to the same priority as my academics. Being at home this summer has been quite difficult. My mother and I do not have the best relationship, so being at home is quite challenging. I hope to be able to return to school this year, to continue building my own life and return to a place where I have a good support system. I have grown to love Queen¿¿s and the community I have made, and I would do anything to return to that this upcoming school year.
Thank you for taking the time to read my appeal. Please let me know if there is any documentation you may need that may help my appeal. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Madison Bryer.
20015307.