Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. J. Stephenson,

My name is Kenzie Paterson and I am writing this letter of appeal to express why I believe my recent academic performance was adversely affected due to my mental health and ask that you consider my extenuating circumstances to support waiving my requirement to withdraw for one year.
In late July of last year, I lost a very important person in my life, my grandmother. Being the only grandchild to Marlene and Dennis Merkley allowed me to be so lucky to have a strong and close relationship with them. In early June my grandmother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and being the healthy woman we all knew her to be, this came as a very big shock to my entire family. During her illness I would visit her often and seeing her in the state that she was in it was very hard for me. When she eventually passed, we did not realize how soon it was coming, as she was diagnosed on June 7, 2018 and passed away seven weeks later. My grandmother did not wish to have a traditional funeral but instead a gathering of close friends and family to celebrate the wonderful life she had lived. I left school in mid-September to return home for my grandmother's celebration of life. When I arrived back at school that is when it all hit me that she was really gone.
Throughout my life to date I have always been the person people come to for advice or even just a laugh, and I felt when I came back to school I did not have anybody there to reciprocate that for me. I am a private person when it comes to my feelings so I had a hard time opening up to anybody I am close with about my situation. My parents are a huge support system for me but I felt as if nobody would understand what I was going through, so I kept my feelings to myself.
My first few weeks back at school after the celebration of life were very hard. I found when I woke up, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep and make all this sadness go away. While doing my best to attend classes, I found that some days I could not pull myself together to attend because my mind was always wandering in different directions. Unfortunately, I never went to anybody for help which made my situation continue to get worse. I was falling down a darker path every day by keeping it locked up inside and trying my best to be happy around the ones I love. When away on a trip with my mother during reading week, I tried to tell her what was going on with me but felt as if it was the wrong time to bring it up. Little did I realize that there is never a good time to bring up to somebody that you are hurting, you just have to do it in order to receive the help you need.
Upon returning home from school in April, I broke down to my parents and told them what I had been experiencing this past year. Since then I have been in contact with my family doctor and nurse practitioner who have helped me seek therapy. I am currently receiving the help I needed all year and starting to become comfortable expressing how I really feel.
Education means the world to me and I am so fortunate to be able to attend Queens University and I feel that withdrawing for a year would not positively benefit me at this time. I ask that the request to withdraw be reconsidered as I am confident that with the support systems I have put in place I am on the right path forward.
Thank you for considering my appeal and I look forward to hearing from you. Should you have any questions please contact me at 17kkip@queensu.ca.

Sincerely,

Kenzie Paterson