Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am appealing to request a late drop of ASTR 101 (Summer, 2018). I believe that I failed the course due to an extenuating circumstances, which resulted from an incident during the final examination. I have struggled with mental illness for many year. In 2013 I was diagnosed with bulimia, depression, and anxiety, and most recently I was diagnosed with ADHD (2017). To decrease my course load in the hopes of stabilizing my mental health, I decided to partake in the online courses that Queen¿¿s offers in the summer. I chose ASTR 101 based off of my curiosity of space and the intriguing course description. Over the duration of the course my interest for it maintained, which I felt was evident in my consistent grades and submissions. However, my hard-work was all retracted after a miscommunication at the examination.

I wrote the exam at McMaster University, on Thursday August 3rd at 1:00 p.m. I can recall the time well, because I remember feeling extremely frazzled walking into the exam. Due to the fact that my commute from my shift that morning had taken longer than expected. As a result of my feeling of discomfort from walking in after the exam had commenced, I quickly dropped my bag at the front of the class and sat down. It was not until mid-way through the exam that I heard my phone go off that I realized I had left it in my back-pocket along with my car keys. I now recognize that alerting the proctor at that time would have been the correct thing to do. However, in that moment instinctively grabbed my phone and attempted to put it on silent. In the midst of this commotion, the proctor had noticed me holding my phone and began to walk over. Thus, when I looked up from my phone before returning it back to my pocket the proctor was already standing at my desk. In the hopes of avoiding making a scene, I proceeded by mumbling a halfhearted explanation and handing her the phone. She explained that she would have to document me for utilizing my phone during the exam, which made me feel completely defeated and ashamed. These emotions translated into my anxiety and ADHD tendencies, by redirecting my hyper-focus onto the situation and inducing racing thoughts. An overwhelming influx of negative thoughts and anxiety took over, to the extent where I was convincing myself that I was going to be kicked out of Queen¿¿s. These aforementioned explanations resulted in a full blown anxiety attack, that I feel made me too incompetent to complete the exam with success. Shortly after, I found myself unable to cope and left leaving most of the test blank. I was aware of the fact that if I failed the exam I failed the course, and that walking out would mean that I would either fail from being accused of cheating or as a result of incompetent work. Yet, my severe anxiety took the reins, and I followed it as it pulled my out of the classroom.

I understand that this detailed explanation may sound dramatized, or seem unnecessary. That being said, I felt as though it was important for me to articulate the exact situation. Thus, you can somewhat resonate with the rollercoaster of emotion the accusation put me through. Looking back, I can think rationally and accumulate many different ways for me to have successfully cleared up the situation and written the exam successfully. Yet, in the moment I was incapable of that due to my severe anxiety and ADHD. I have written a few appeals over the duration of my past three years at Queen¿¿s, and worry that you may identify this as a reoccurring issue. However, I have taken on my action plans for improvement mentioned in previous appeals. For example, lightening my course load, analyzing and modifying my medications, and increased check-ins with my psychiatrist and therapist. These changes have improved my grades and overall wellbeing at Queen¿¿s, and proved helpful in my consistent success over the duration of the ASTR 101 course. Moreover, I want to reiterate that this was an isolated situation that was not caused by my mental illness, but my mental illness was induced by the situation. Hence, resulting in a negative outcome in the course caused by extenuating circumstances.

If this appeal is granted, I hope to re-do the course and prove my obtained knowledge from the ASTR 101 course. I understand that this is a larger request, but I genuinely feel as though this isolated situation negated all of my hard-work throughout the course and caused me to fail. Thus, I refuse to not at least attempt to speak on an issue that my mental illness inhibited me from overcoming at the time. Thank you for your kindness and consideration, and for taking the time to read this. I can also provide additional references if need be.

In addition, I did not provide references since this was an exclusive situation that neither my therapist or psychiatrist were present for. However, if their references would be helpful in your decision please let me know and I would be happy to provide that.

Best,

Rachel Samson