Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am asking to drop ARTH 250, from the 2022 Fall term and HIST 299, HIST 275 and ENGL 200B from the Winter 2023 term, as well, I am requesting to drop HIST 260, HIST 252, and DEVS 220 from summer 2023. I am also hoping to receive credit standing for HIST 243 from 2022 fall and ENGL 162 from the winter term of 2023. I began having severe headaches at the beginning of the 2022 fall term, around September which I went to my family doctor for help with in October of the same year. These headaches were coming on daily and caused serious pain that left me unable to complete regular tasks as well as schoolwork. This only got worse throughout the term leading to me having migraines that lasted significantly longer (days at a time sometimes) by the beginning of February. These would leave me bedridden and came along with many physical symptoms including vomiting. This period in time left me with many negative effects on my mental health, as I had no motivation to do anything, and the bad grades I was getting back as a result of this would only exacerbate the issue by adding stress. Time looking at my laptop and trying to complete class work would almost always leave me with a bad headache, and so I felt very trapped in an endless cycle of pain and disappointment. I also felt that I couldn’t take time off school because I would fall so far behind of everyone else I know, but looking back on it I should have stopped taking courses and focused on my health so that I wouldn’t have to appeal all these courses, but my logic and reasoning during this time period were not functioning at full capacity, and I felt incapable of making the right decisions for my personal and academic journey. Throughout this time, I was in regular communication with my doctor and trying different treatments to no avail. At the end of the winter term (around April) I started to feel a bit better, hence starting the summer courses but not completing them successfully as I had another series of bad headaches part way through that term. This past fall of 2023, I have made changes that have been helpful in reducing my pain greatly, allowing me to return to my previous academic standard. These steps include regularly seeing a counselor for my mental health through Student Wellness Services, getting glasses, having emergency medications for when I have a migraine and reducing my course load to 4 courses per term. These changes have allowed me to return to a fairly normal standard of living and although I will most likely keep having headaches and migraines for the foreseeable future, they are far more manageable now and I will be able to complete my class work and continue on the path to earning my degree.