Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Emma Black, and I am writing this letter with the hope to be granted the Aegrotat Standing petition. If I am not eligible for this, I would like a late drop to be applied to my records.

The winter 2023 classes include CLST 405, taught by Fabio Colivicchi, CLST 303 taught by Cristiana Zaccagnino, and CLST 314 led by Daryn Lehoux. These are all of the courses that I have enrolled in this past semester.

The reason as to why I require these options is because of an event that was out of my control that had occurred in the fall, that has made my life extremely difficult in relation to my physical and mental health. To this day I am still healing from the event, and I still require help in all of the areas available to me.

I have attended countless doctor's appointments in the fall because of this, I have had to take extremely strong medication, I am on anti-anxiety medication to help me cope, and I have had to have many blood tests done. Because of my health and these appointments, I missed a lot of lectures in the fall, I was barely able to complete my assignments, and this past semester has been incredibly difficult for me.

Since the event I have continued to seek help and support from friends and family, along with psychological help from two therapists in order to help me on my healing journey, but this has affected my ability to complete tests, attend class, complete assignments, and be mentally present in class because I get triggered sometimes. Overall this is not something that has been easy to recover from, it is a process that is different every day and takes a lot of time and work.

I am new to applying for accommodations this serious, but as a result, I have been late in proving to my professors that I need more time this past semester, or if they could please weigh my assignment or test differently because I missed them. I have reached out to them, but they all said that it would not be fair to other students, and or it was not possible for them.

If I had gone into detail about exactly what I had experienced both physically, mentally, and emotionally, and how this was the worst thing I have experienced in my life, I would have hoped that they would understand, and granted me the help I required, however this is classified information that I am not comfortable with sharing to anyone other than my mom, sister, only one of my friends, and doctors.

This kind of event has made it extremely difficult for me, because I have not been able to put all of my energy and effort into my courses as I normally would have done. It has saddened me to the core to have received emails stating that my professors cannot do anything for me, or that it's unfair to other students, because only I know what I went through, and the help I need, and I would much rather be in my other classmates shoes and not have experienced what I went through. I would honestly give anything to not have gone through this, it's something that I will always heal from.

I didn??t drop these courses earlier because I hoped that I would be able to be a normal student, that would be able to complete everything on time, but this was not successful for me.

I am currently managing my mental and physical health with doctor visits, therapy, and I am living at home with my parents of whom are a great support system and will allow me to heal and be there for me. I plan on returning to my studies in the fall, and I have accommodations for that semester put in place. For my future, I will continue these activities that I know help me. I have attached documentation from my therapist.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Kind regards,

Emma Black.