Petition Letter
Dr. Jenn Stephenson
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen¿¿s University
99 University Avenue
Kingston, ON. K7L 3N6
Step 1 of a 2-Step Appeal Process to reduce or remove my fees debt.
An Academic Appeal
My request:
I am appealing to have my outstanding fees debt significantly reduced or removed.
My introduction:
My name is Boma Jumbo. My student number was 06348456. I was an international student from Nigeria at Queen¿¿s University from September 2010 to April 2014. I came to Queen¿¿s at the age of 16 years old. During my time at Queen¿¿s I was faced with major health challenges and transition issues which I will elaborate on in the next section of this document. I was unable to graduate and due to poor grades and I was requested to leave Queen¿¿s University for a period of time. As a result of this request for me to leave, I did not return but had to pursue my education elsewhere. The decision to pursue my education elsewhere was made because as an international student studying in Canada on a student permit, I am not allowed to take leave from my schooling since my stay in Canada depended on my stay in school. I had outstanding fees when I left, and I have found it challenging to pay this debt off.
Explanation of extenuating circumstances:
I came to Queen¿¿s as an international student and I found the transition very difficult. My grades in the first semester of first year I believe where all together good. But in the second semester of first year I fell ill as a result of the difficult transition and culture shock and was admitted in the hospital for a period of about one and a half months from mid-February to ending of April of my first year. This resulted in me having to loss the whole academic year because I was unable to write my exams. The illness I was diagnosed with was of an ongoing nature and was triggered by stress. I was put on medication to control my symptoms and improve my health.
This experience of being hospitalized, away from family, friends and all that was familiar to me and having an extremely hard time coping with my new environment, feeling excluded and having a diagnosis of psychosis, made me feel emotional trauma which I had to deal with all my time at Queen¿¿s University and even afterwards. I felt isolated and not well oriented to my new environment, I did not know where to get help from, what resources I needed or would be useful to me, and I did not know how to utilize the resources I knew of and had access to to achieve maximum benefit for myself. As a result, I was mostly ignorant about my options; dropping a course, appealing, etc.
During my time in Queen¿¿s I was mostly overwhelmed, lacked motivation and confidence. This was due to the fact that I was struggling with mental health challenges. I had to repeat my first year and I did not perform well because I was still fresh out of the hospital and recovering. I did not have interest in attending classes and all I wanted to do sleep (mostly). I did not know what resources to help me, so I struggled alone. I took the standard course load and I did not do well because it was a lot to juggle. With time, I was introduced to some resources on campus through the campus clinic, international centre, and my doctors. This helped but it was a gradual process as I slowly started getting B¿¿s on my grade report towards the end of my stay at Queen¿¿s. But eventually I was asked to take a leave from school for I believe one year.
My bills were completely paid by my parents who did not find it easy to handle these expenses. They had to cover these expenses for myself and my sister as well as my other siblings. This lack of certainty in my funding for my schooling produced financial stress in me as I worried that I would not be able to finish my education and be asked to leave my schooling and Canada resultantly.
Please accept my academic appeal and kindly consider my request. I appreciate your time.
Regards,
Boma Jumbo.
06348456.
Associate Dean (Studies)
Queen¿¿s University
99 University Avenue
Kingston, ON. K7L 3N6
Step 1 of a 2-Step Appeal Process to reduce or remove my fees debt.
An Academic Appeal
My request:
I am appealing to have my outstanding fees debt significantly reduced or removed.
My introduction:
My name is Boma Jumbo. My student number was 06348456. I was an international student from Nigeria at Queen¿¿s University from September 2010 to April 2014. I came to Queen¿¿s at the age of 16 years old. During my time at Queen¿¿s I was faced with major health challenges and transition issues which I will elaborate on in the next section of this document. I was unable to graduate and due to poor grades and I was requested to leave Queen¿¿s University for a period of time. As a result of this request for me to leave, I did not return but had to pursue my education elsewhere. The decision to pursue my education elsewhere was made because as an international student studying in Canada on a student permit, I am not allowed to take leave from my schooling since my stay in Canada depended on my stay in school. I had outstanding fees when I left, and I have found it challenging to pay this debt off.
Explanation of extenuating circumstances:
I came to Queen¿¿s as an international student and I found the transition very difficult. My grades in the first semester of first year I believe where all together good. But in the second semester of first year I fell ill as a result of the difficult transition and culture shock and was admitted in the hospital for a period of about one and a half months from mid-February to ending of April of my first year. This resulted in me having to loss the whole academic year because I was unable to write my exams. The illness I was diagnosed with was of an ongoing nature and was triggered by stress. I was put on medication to control my symptoms and improve my health.
This experience of being hospitalized, away from family, friends and all that was familiar to me and having an extremely hard time coping with my new environment, feeling excluded and having a diagnosis of psychosis, made me feel emotional trauma which I had to deal with all my time at Queen¿¿s University and even afterwards. I felt isolated and not well oriented to my new environment, I did not know where to get help from, what resources I needed or would be useful to me, and I did not know how to utilize the resources I knew of and had access to to achieve maximum benefit for myself. As a result, I was mostly ignorant about my options; dropping a course, appealing, etc.
During my time in Queen¿¿s I was mostly overwhelmed, lacked motivation and confidence. This was due to the fact that I was struggling with mental health challenges. I had to repeat my first year and I did not perform well because I was still fresh out of the hospital and recovering. I did not have interest in attending classes and all I wanted to do sleep (mostly). I did not know what resources to help me, so I struggled alone. I took the standard course load and I did not do well because it was a lot to juggle. With time, I was introduced to some resources on campus through the campus clinic, international centre, and my doctors. This helped but it was a gradual process as I slowly started getting B¿¿s on my grade report towards the end of my stay at Queen¿¿s. But eventually I was asked to take a leave from school for I believe one year.
My bills were completely paid by my parents who did not find it easy to handle these expenses. They had to cover these expenses for myself and my sister as well as my other siblings. This lack of certainty in my funding for my schooling produced financial stress in me as I worried that I would not be able to finish my education and be asked to leave my schooling and Canada resultantly.
Please accept my academic appeal and kindly consider my request. I appreciate your time.
Regards,
Boma Jumbo.
06348456.