Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academics),
I am appealing to late drop HIST 122 (Fall/Winter 2018-2019), HIST 125 (Summer 2019), CLST 150 (Fall 2019), CLST 200 (Fall 2019), CLST 285 (Fall 2019), and HIST 122 (Fall/Winter 2019-2020). In addition, I am appealing for credit standing in PHIL 111 (Fall 2018-2019).
I am appealing several classes over the past year due to the impact of my mother¿¿s health on my ability to participate in academics. My mother suffers from manic depression and the nature of her health condition can fluctuate significantly. I came to Queen¿¿s optimistic and performed well in Fall 2018, but my mother¿¿s health had worsened greatly by December 2018. Over the past year, she has had several paranoid episodes and we¿¿ve had to commit her to the psych ward twice. She had her first episode when I was 3 years old but, prior to last winter, she hadn¿¿t had one since I was in high school. I took for granted that she was getting better and the news came as a very difficult shock. I fell into a deep state of depression which ultimately culminated in February of last year when I attempted suicide. After that I became a shut-in at my dorm, stopped attending classes and my circumstances only seemed to get worse. My sister and I came home that summer to find out that my mom had been diagnosed with lobular carcinoma, breast cancer. I didn¿¿t know what to do with myself. I didn¿¿t eat, shower, sleep, or take care of myself for weeks. Even now, I¿¿m 50 pounds lighter than I was last year. I felt so defeated. For as long as I can remember, I¿¿ve been trying to separate my academics from my personal life, but now that the two had caught up, I was scared that I might never get control of them again.
In Winter 2019, I realized how far I¿¿d fallen behind so I dedicated the month of April to completing all of the course work that I¿¿d missed, which at that point, had been the entire term. I wrote 12 tests in 9 days but there simply wasn¿¿t enough time left to finish them all. I did as much as I could, but I was still feeling broken and I wasn¿¿t able to complete all of the classes to the best of my ability (especially given that some classes did not post detailed notes that I could use to catch up). In addition, by the time I started working on course work, it was beyond the drop deadline and I wasn¿¿t in a position to be able to reach out for academic support.
My plan moving forward is to consider a reduced course load, respective to my family circumstance, and ease back into my academics with a summer course. I have been meeting with a counsellor in the community for a few months now and we've been making a lot of progress together. I am also connected with Student Wellness Services at the university, who have helped me restore my academic confidence.
I will include supporting documentation from Student Wellness Services and my counsellor.
Thank you for considering my appeal,
Ryan