Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom this may concern,

I am writing to appeal to you to allow me to drop the course BCHM218 past the deadline to drop.

This has been the second time I have taken this course, in which the first time was during the Fall 2021 semester. For context I will have to write about the Fall 2021 semester. During this specific period, I was experiencing severe depression and anxiety as a result from social isolation and difficulty transitioning to on-campus university life, as I was back home for the duration of my first-year, which was online. My gender dysphoria played a significant role in my social anxiety, as I was marked as visibly queer and trans in all of my classes, though I do not know to what extent this may have factored in my other experiences. As mentioned, I was taking BCHM218 during this time, and although at first I was doing alright in the first half of the semester, I had difficulty in the second half which on its own, is natural. However, I attempted several times to seek out help when I experienced difficulty during this time. My professors nor TA were helpful, and my peers that I reached out to ridiculed and further isolated me, which further contributed to these feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. I turned to counselling to address my depression and anxiety, but it did little to help, and combined with a series of microaggressions, I decided to stop. Eventually, I gave up overall: I stopped seeking help as I learned that seeking help was useless and a waste of time. I stopped completing my assignments, and evidently failed the course.

These experiences in the Fall 2021 semester shaped how I would perceive and experience my second time taking this course in the Winter 2023 semester. I would like to highlight that while I was doing well academically in my other courses and was proactive and heavily engaged in them and enjoyed them. Yes, I struggled at times, but I would not resort to avoidance and would attend class, complete assignments, and participate consistently. However this course was different. Once again, the course content was heavy, but although there were support and resources available, the past experiences from Fall 2021 for this course still heavily affected me and prevented me from seeking out those resources. Although I had made progress in terms of study habits and was able to better manage my courses in the Fall 2022 and Winter 2023 semesters, this course specifically brought back those experiences of isolation and hopelessness from that time, which heavily affected me and prevented me from seeking out the resources and support that were available. I ended up in a cycle of avoidance and mentally shut down when it came to the assignments in this course. By the time I realized how deeply my experiences in the Fall 2021 semester had impacted me, I had essentially failed the course (hence the appeal).

As of now, I am attempting counselling again, with a different counsellor, which has changed my mindset. I have a better support network and community I can fall back on, and although I still struggle, I have hope that I can overcome these challenges. I hope that you can consider my request favourably.

Best regards,

Laurent