Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern,

I began my academic journey at Queen's University with hopes of studying Music and English. Within the my first year there, I had the unfortunate experience of not only having vocal chord damage from some irresponsible behaviours on my part, but being assaulted and my dorm room ransacked by the assailant, who had been engaged in a sexual relationship with my roommate, unbeknownst to me. As you can imagine, this was extremely traumatic, and while I did speak with a student support person at the university, I did not get the therapy I required for healing.

In the summer of 1992, I met (was hired to work for) my future husband. I left Queen's after 2nd year, married in the fall of 1993, with the intention of finishing my original degree in the near future. I was able to sign up for a distance course, Selected Women Writers II. However, before I got too far into the course, my new husband had a psychotic break and began a descent into the world of schizophrenia. It is almost 30 years later, and he is now living on the streets in Oshawa, alone.

After raising my 2 children alone, and an unsuccessful attempt in 2012 to return to my studies (I ran out of money), I was finally able to gather enough confidence and finances to work towards the biggest regret of my life, not finishing my degree. While I would never be able to attend full time, Queen's gave me that opportunity with the online degrees they offer. My own experience, age and my permanent vocal damage led me to complete this degree in the field of psychology and it was with great pleasure that I was able to study the available courses, even in the midst of my family being attacked by COVID in the summer of 2021 and consequently losing my dad to this horrible disease, just a few days before my 3 finals in August 2021.

It has been a long, hard road and I want to end it on the most positive note as possible. Removing this blemish from my transcript would go a long way in helping mentally and emotionally close the door on a difficult past and hopefully face the future with a much brighter ending.

Sincerely,
Kimberly MacLean