Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (Studies),

My name is Sarah Monnier and I have been a student at Queen's University since 2014. Over the course of the last semester, I have faced insurmountable obstacles due to significant health changes. I am appealing for Aegrotat standing in HIST 400-002: Hunger in Modern European History (Winter, 2018).
At the age of 19, I became very ill. After many months of testing and suffering, it was determined that I suffered from a rare chronic illness called Rheumatoid Arthritis. Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease which means the body's immune system becomes confused and begins attacking the lining of the joints causing severe swelling, pain, inflammation and joint destruction. The inflammation makes any movements with those joints very difficult and painful. This condition results in chronic daily pain. With proper treatment and daily pain management, my condition previously has been under relative control with common, yet less frequent bouts of pain. Throughout my first three years at Queens, my rheumatologist and Queen's disability services helped me overcome my physical limitations and be successful academically as reflected in my official transcript. Based on my past success, I had never expected my condition to worsen beyond my control during my fourth and final year of my program at Queen's.
Starting in January 2018 and over the course of next few months, my current medication and methods of treating daily pain became less effective, resulting in more common frequent flareups with bouts of chronic pain. To accommodate these changing conditions, I have sought ongoing treatment with my rheumatologist to change my medication in order to properly regulate the disease. But this process of switching medication is difficult and slow as each new medication causes new side effects, such as severe nausea, migraines, and fatigue. In the 2018 Winter Semester, the side effects of my new medication and increasingly constant flareups slowly began impacted my ability to function normally in school. Despite struggling with my health, the Winter Semester was my last semester of my bachelors degree with only the credits for five courses necessary. I did my best to keep working in an attempt to complete my final courses. Throughout the semester I worked with my professors and Queen's disability services to accommodate these health changes in exams and assignments. Through this help over the course of the winter semester, I completed the course work for three of my courses and maintained my GPA.
This brief success came at a cost since by April, my flareups began lasting days and weeks at time which could not be accommodated. At the end of the semester, I became mentally worn as my body physically broke down. Yet I foolishly and optimistically remained determined to finish my final semester. Consequently, in History 400 and History 405, I took an incomplete standing until August 15 to complete my final two long research essays within each course as these projects were required more labour intensive work. Over the course of the summer, I managed to finish the longer final 20-page assignment in History 405. But in History 400-002, I could only complete 65 of coursework with the final research essay being outstanding.
Throughout my years at Queens, I have tried to be honest with others about my struggles with chronic illness. But I have not been honest with myself as I have ignored my pain and overestimated my own ability to cope with this extraordinary bout of illness. In the last four years at Queen's I have always challenged myself to successfully complete each course, but as long as my illness remains unmanageable I cannot responsibly estimate when or if I will be able to finish this final assignment. As I continue to seek treatment for my Rheumatoid Arthritis, I believe that Aegrotat standing in History 400-002 will allow me the final credits necessary to graduate, while reflecting my efforts I have put into the course allowing me to overcome this illness with confidence.

Thank you so much for your consideration,

Sincerely,
Sarah Monnier