Petition Letter
On September 24th, 2016 my mother passed away while I was attending week 2 of my 2nd year at Queen's University. I flew back home to California on the 27th to attend her funeral held on the 29th and my dad, thinking he was doing what was best for me, had me and my little brother go back to our respective schools the day after the funeral. Without anyone to grieve or process what had just happened in my life with I quickly fell into a heavy depression, no longer attending classes and rarely leaving my house to socialize. Being the older brother, I spent the remaining months of the 2016-2017 academic year pretending to be alright whenever my family would call because I thought I'd make them worry. My grades dropped and my social life for a while became nonexistent; I was in a foreign country alone after my mom passed away with no one to talk to (It got to the point where I started experiencing panic attacks for the first time). The 2017-2018 academic year went almost the same way because I never thought of getting the help I needed. In the year previously mentioned, I had lost, or perceived a loss, of all social skills study habits. However, the winter semester (2nd half of 2017-2018 academic year) I finally started getting help to combat my demons and finally restart my life. I went to the student wellness center enough times to realize I was in control of my emotions and actions and I could start rebuilding my life at any time I so choose. So, I started relearning things I used to find basic and easy like study habits and social skills (by practicing repeatedly). However, because I only started to get my life back together last winter semester I found I was conscious of the fact that I was not prepared to take on the finals of some of my courses. I had those courses deferred so that I would have the adequate time to study and ace the finals. Unfortunately, the most recent roadblock which is the reason this appeal is necessary, was going home (or lack thereof). I found out this summer that I basically don't have a viable home I can go back to. My dad who's in his mid-70s is traveling around the world, sometimes for business, sometimes for pleasure. We no longer have a home that's our in California because my dad canceled the lease, and our only owned property in South Africa is being rented out. So, this summer my little brother and I were made to live with my Aunt. Living under someone else's roof is not easy, it's hard to be yourself and focus on your own needs without crossing the boundaries of the host. It didn't help that this aunt is known for her inability to rationalize and has on more than one account used my mom's name in an angry tone to prod me in simple disagreements. What's more, this summer I was tasked with being my younger brother's caretaker after he dropped out of Guelph due to falling grades since the death of our mother. My dad wasn¿¿t even around all summer to help my little brother transition through that frightening reality of dropping out of school and going to live with a relative. I was tasked with trying to make my brother feel better, but a lot of our conversations would just make me feel hopeless because he went through the same things as I did, so how could I lecture him when I was barely hanging on All these variables made studying for my courses over summer extremely difficult, the anxiety of my situation was just too much to balance with studies. However now that I¿¿m back in a place of study, with my own space and property, and reestablished life skills/ habits, as well as a schedule to continuously see counselors at the student wellness center, I know I can focus on my studies. So I¿¿m appealing to have my Incomplete status extended to give me enough time to study for 3 courses¿¿ finals as well as keep up with my current studies. Thank You.