Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: CISC235 Late Drop – Wasiq Wadud (20116547) – Petition Letter

** For clarity, I was going to drop my course by the last date to drop a course but missed the deadline by a week. It then took a few more weeks to find an open time with Student Wellness, then a few more weeks to finally get the courage to submit this letter that revealed my circumstances. While this petition should have been submitted in the first week of November, for the reasons I mentioned, it has been submitted in December. This can be verified by checking when my Student Wellness appointment was – back in mid-November.**

Dear Associate Dean (Academic),

Please see attached my petition letter to do a late drop for my CISC235 – Data Structures course during the Fall 2023 term.

**The Request**

I am petitioning to drop CISC235 – Data Structures (Fall, 2023).

**Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances**

I am going to provide a timeline of my struggles with my mental health disorders to help provide context on the current events that led me to request a late drop for this course this term.

Due to different traumatic childhood experiences and strained relationships with my parents due to different events growing up, I’ve always had depression and anxiety disorders growing up, ever since I was young, starting most preveniently in middle school.

This was exaggerated when I moved to campus in Fall of 2018 and booked a meeting with Student Wellness during my first year. It was then I was provided the resources and direction to take control of my mental health, and started clinical therapy the summer after my first year ended.

As I was slowly getting better, the pandemic hit. During the pandemic, unfortunate circumstances hit my family where we became extremely financially constrained. I had to help support my family, and my mental health deteriorated, in addition to the new nature of the pandemic which also caused a decline in my mental health.

When I came back to campus finally in Fall 2022, I chose to be a Residence Don in order to save money for my family. I was a Residence Don at Waldron Tower, and our floor was parallel to the Kingston General Hospital (KGH). One afternoon, an individual committed suicide from the KGH by jumping out the building which was witnessed by myself and other students. Due to this event and the adjustment to campus life with a struggling family back in Toronto, I chose to drop out that semester.

I finally came back this term in Fall 2023 to finish my remaining courses for my Computing degree. I did not choose be a Don due to my past experience and did not find a place to sublet due to my family’s severe financial situation. I have spent this semester commuting back and forth from Toronto to Kingston for in-person assessments. The travel, sleeping in cars for back-to-back days of tests, etc. has greatly deteriorated my mental health. In addition to still needing to support my family due to events during COVID-19, and some serious health issues with my mother, it has been a lot.

I wanted to push through to finish to try and save money for my family, but all these events have gotten to me and exaggerated my pre-existing struggles with mental health and realized I could not do it any longer.

I am humbly requesting a late drop for my CISC235, Fall 2023 course. I did not take the exam yet, I have just unfortunately missed the drop deadline by a few weeks and believe I have explained the extenuating circumstances I am experienced supported with documentation (Student Wellness letter). My family and I would greatly appreciate if this request can be approved.

Below are my answers to questions that are recommended to answer when writing a petition letter:

**Steps to Deal with Extenuating Circumstances:**

As mentioned in the above text, I have gone to clinical therapy before for around a year, which stopped due to the pandemic and financial constraints on the family. Due to the severity of my issues over the past few weeks, I have begun to book appointments for therapy again.

**Why this course only?**

I would still like to graduate by my target date of April 2024. If I were to drop more than one course, it may put that plan in jeopardy, and I do not want to add any extra years as I’ve already dropped out last year. In addition, I have fulfilled a greater percentage of the course load in other courses, making this one the easiest to drop. It is also the most time consuming for me, making it the most difficult mentally.

**Why didn’t you drop this course earlier?**

My conditions got the worst from the beginning of November due to personal circumstances with my mother. In addition, I underestimated how poorly the commute affected my mental health and after two months of doing it, I finally hit my breaking point. As mentioned, I tried to previously push through for financial reasons/to help my family, but just hit a breaking point.

Have your circumstances been resolved or are they now being managed in such a way that you are able to make a successful return to your studies?

As mentioned, I have had an ongoing struggle with mental health disorders that have been exaggerated due to current circumstances such as my family’s financial constraints, mother’s health and ongoing commute back and forth from Toronto and Kingston. As mentioned, I plan on returning to therapy, my mother has been provided the help she needs, and I am looking for a place to live in Kingston next semester.

**Future Plan**

I only require two courses to graduate next semester. CISC360 – Programming Paradigms, and this course CISC235 – Data Structures and Algorithms to receive my degree. Due to only having two courses remaining, I am very confident I can handle the course load next semester and graduate on time. In addition, to therapy support, finding a place in Kingston for next term, I am very confident I will be in a good place to handle my conditions and successfully finish my degree. I have a strong academic track record that shows I have the discipline and habits to finish up the last few remaining credits for my degree.