Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: First Level Petition Letter

Dear Dr. Stephenson,

My name is Aurora Vona and I am submitting a first-level petition letter to drop one of my courses this semester, ITLN 111. Please find all of the necessary information below and I thank you in advance for taking the time to consider my request.

The Request

I am petitioning to drop ITLN 111 Beginning Italian (Fall, 2023) due to immense mental health setbacks and the re-triggering of past events.

Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances

Last year, I was in a physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive situation that was manageable at the time as I had not processed the situation I was in, however, now that I have, alongside my therapist of almost three years, I am experiencing triggering flashbacks, specifically related to the months of September, October, and November. Last Thanksgiving, a near-fatal car accident nearly claimed the life of an individual who I was very close to while I was on the phone to witness it and it took a huge toll on my mental health. This was a very confusing situation to process at the time and I have worked through it gradually with my therapist, however, this year during the week of September 25th (a week before going home for Thanksgiving and reading week), I began to have severe flashbacks and retriggering episodes that began to compromise my academic performance. I submitted documentation signed by my therapist, who was aware that this time of year might be triggering for me, for academic consideration that was submitted to 3 out of my 4 professors who were all incredibly understanding and provided me with accommodations. However, ITLN 111 is a language course, compared to my other politics and global development courses, and I began to realize that the level of commitment to consistent memorization, practicing, and weekly work and class times was becoming unattainable and not something that could be extended to a later date. This is why I have requested that only ITLN 111 be dropped. I have reached out to my professor as well who has been extremely accommodating and she has agreed that dropping this course is in my best interest and that she is happy to provide a support letter if necessary. I did not drop the course earlier in the semester because I believed that I would have made a full recovery by now, which I am on the road to doing, but it has been a slower process than expected. Moreover, as previously stated, my professor was very accommodating to my situation and because of this, I was pushing myself to try and catch up rather than taking a step back and realizing that I am juggling too much right now for my health. I was also unaware that you could drop courses this late into the semester and only found out on the last day to drop courses. I immediately reached out to the DEVS undergraduate academic programs assistant to ask her opinion on the matter, but I did not get a response until the following day after the deadline had passed. I have since spoken to her, and she said that she can confirm that she was out of her office that day but I did attempt to reach out when it was still within the timeframe to drop courses. I am unable to finish the course at this time as I think I should focus on the 3 courses I have remaining that are more susceptible to extensions rather than continue to fall behind in ITLN 111 which requires a much greater time commitment for me personally as I have no background in the language and know that no matter how hard I work over the next few weeks to catch up, I will continue to be behind.

Future Plan

I have met with the DEVS undergraduate academic programs assistant and we have outlined a plan regarding how to move forward since being a DEVS major requires 6 language credits. I am currently enrolled in both FREN 118 and SPAN 111 for the Winter 2024 semester, however, I only plan on taking 1. FREN 118 is my preference currently, but I am waitlisted. If I get off the waitlist, I will take that course but if not, I will take SPAN 111. Furthermore, I will be taking ANSH 111 next fall semester 2024 to complete my credit requirements. Taking a lighter course load this semester will allow me to make a quicker recovery and succeed for the rest of the semester as well as semesters to come. I also plan on continuing to meet with my therapist on a weekly basis to not only work through my current issues but also set goals and obtain tools that will allow me to tackle this issue if I find myself in a position where I am re-triggered again.