Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I hope this letter finds you well. I'm writing to formally request a CR for my previous academic performance from the 2023 fall semester. I think that throughout this time, I was not able to execute to the best of my skills because of uncontrollable extenuating circumstances.

During the semester of Fall 2023, I faced severe challenges that affected my academic performance. These challenges mostly came from a combination of both physical and psychological health issues. I was diagnosed with sleep issues that led to chronic fatigue and affected my ability to concentrate effectively on my studies. I would become so overwhelmed with all of the material that needed to be covered every night when I tried to go to bed to the point where I would not sleep before every exam. There was one week where I only slept 12 hours in the 5 days leading up to my 271 exam. This was upsetting to me because I had put so much effort into studying and knew the material but with the lack of sleep was incapable of achieving full potential. Additionally, I was struggling with depression, particularly worsen during the exam period. This emotional strain further affected my focus and academic performance. The depression came from locking myself in a room from 8am till 9pm to be able to study for an extended period of time. I felt as though I was unable to do anything else during this period of time because in my head I felt like I could only study and if I left I would be distracted and not be able to refocus. This affected not only my mental health but also my physical health. I normally workout everyday so that I keep a somewhat clear head but did not during this period because I was extremely ill with some sort of flu and felt as though I only had time to study. I also rarely saw my roommates because of the way I decided to study which impacted my energy levels and happiness since I am an extrovert and gain energy from contact with others. This led to a downward spiral during this time period. There was also an incident where I left my bottle of ADHD medication out on my desk during the exam season and my roommates had taken all of it. When confronted they all denied which caused issues for us. This not only stressed me out but affected my ability to study and added extra tension to the house during exams.

Since then, I have made significant changes in managing my health. I have attended therapy sessions from different therapists. We work on different ways to deal with these situations and take time to think before we speak or act. We have worked on different breathing techniques to calm myself down before bed. I also received support from medical professionals, including doctors, psychiatrists, and social workers. I took advantage of the services at Queens and spoke to a social worker and the psychiatrist. I was given sleeping medication for my next exam period and attended group sleep therapy. I worked with the SASS team as well in order to obtain better studying strategies and different ways to cope with the inability to sleep during these times and how to effectively communicate with my roommates about different issues. I am still working on different coping skills with a therapist and have another psychiatrist appointment booked in August with hopes to get another perspective with everything that has been going on before school starts again in the fall.

Please take these situations into consideration when looking at my academic record, and keep in mind that I've made lots of effort to try and improve things and will continue to improve my habits throughout the upcoming school year. Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Emily