Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To begin, there are two main points I would like to make regarding my extenuating circumstances. I believe that since these courses were in the winter term of 2022 and it is now the beginning of the summer 2023 term that I have just missed the deadline. My reasoning for a petition being delayed are the same as my reasonings regarding the petition in the first place. Thus, I will address both at the same time. The first extenuating circumstance that I experienced within this term was a lengthy bout with Covid-19 that had significant side effects. To elaborate, I ended up having to visit the urgent care clinics and hospital in Kingston on more than one occasion. Between a reoccurring fever of approximately 104 degrees farenheight along with other side effects such as a shortness of breath and a lack of energy, I did not have the physical resources to apply myself to the level which I needed. This resulted in minimal time to study and apply myself as my main priority was focusing on my health. Furthermore, due to Covid-19 restrictions, I could not attend any in person material until these issues were sorted out. These issues began in February of 2022 when I developed Covid-19. While there was no unanimous decision of what happened from the multiple practitioners I saw, a consensus was that I was either experiencing pneumonia due to Covid-19 complications or I had developed some form of long Covid. These symptoms lasted for months well into the summer. While I do not remember the exact time frame as there was no specific date where I suddenly felt better, I would place the improvement at around the time of June of 2022. Because of these circumstances, I could not only attend class, but I was not well enough to apply myself in school as my condition was bad enough where I had other individuals taking care of me for months at a time. If needed, I??m sure there are medical records available I could obtain to prove the legitimacy of this claim. Because of these issues, it delayed me from applying for any circumstances as I was not well and when I did regain health, there was so much in life I fell behind on that I did not know where to start.
The secondary issue is a lot more personal to me so please bear with me. I struggle to talk about issues such as these so if further elaboration is needed, I would be more than happy to elaborate. Essentially, throughout the year of 2022 and onwards, mental health played a big factor in my life. During this time period as well, I was suffering from a low mental health where I was told I was experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression that were significantly impacting my life. During this time period, I was put into therapy as well as prescribed anti depressants. The medication I was put onto more specifically is known as Citalopram. This affected my ability to perform in class the way I would have liked as I was already dealing with health issues as elaborated and it was only further worsened by my mental state. I found it significantly difficult to muster any type of motivation towards many aspects of life. School included. This is also the main reason as to why I am applying so late for this petition. It was not only until recently where I found substantial improvement that were not just temporary fixes. While this issue still exists within my life, I have been working on bettering myself. I took a lot of time to work on myself and naturally aspects such as school and extracurriculars fell into the background. While I still have my ups and downs, I am attempting to put back the life I had beforehand as I now feel as I know myself enough to work harder to put my life back on track. I recently have been discussing my options academically using the resources provided to me. I was not aware that this petition existed until the other day after my conversation with Anja Wilke, the academic advisor and assistant to the undergraduate chair in the department of psychology. Through the time mentioned, I have been attempting different ways to ensure this does not happen again. While I have not found a medication that works for me yet, I have developed support and have been finding ways to improve my lifestyle. I recently have found enough improvement where I believe I can tackle my course work effectively. I have been taking two 6 credit courses this summer to catch up and so far, I am happy with the results which has shown to me that I have improved with both my skills surrounding schoolwork and overall, in life.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to review my case.