Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: During this academic year, I experienced significant extenuating circumstances beyond my control that negatively impacted my academic performance. Throughout the semester, I struggled with low motivation, which I believe was connected to heightened anxiety and symptoms of depression. This made it difficult to maintain consistent focus, study effectively, and perform to my usual standard on major assessments.

In addition, my family situation was a source of ongoing stress during the semester. While my parents' separation occurred more recently, that being the end of April 2026, there were already significant underlying tensions and challenges within my family throughout the academic year, primarily in the Fall 2025 semester. This created a difficult home environment that contributed to my mental health struggles and affected my ability to fully engage with my coursework.

I was also dealing with the emotional impact of my grandmother being diagnosed with cancer early on in the fall semester, around early October 2025. This added further stress and distraction throughout the semester, during which I was in a prolonged period of distraction. Oftentimes, I was hyperfixated on my family situation back home, which drastically lowered my academic focus and created an unstable period for me during the Fall 2025 semester.

These circumstances directly affected my performance in ECON 241, particularly on the 3 essays and participation component that were weighted towards the entire course grade. These assessments occurred during periods when I was most impacted by these challenges, when my family situation and mental health challenges were intensifying. The final essay, which was weighted the heaviest out of the three assignments, occurred at the end of the term, during a period when these difficulties had persisted without improvement. Given that the course placed the entirety of the grade weight on the three essays and participation, my final grade of B- does not accurately reflect my understanding of the material or my overall academic ability.

These difficulties persisted throughout the semester, including the periods leading up to both major evaluations. During this time, I attempted to continue attending classes and completing coursework, but I recognize that I was not able to perform at my usual level. There were days when I was not able to study or even open my computer, often not reaching the levels of focus required to attain my academic level, specifically in ECON 241.

Since the end of the semester, I have been taking steps to better address these challenges and improve my well-being moving forward, to return to my normal academic performance, which I believe is reflected in my Winter 2026 grades. However, it was clear to me that I was not able to reach my usual academic level in ECON 241.

Given the circumstances and their direct impact on the most heavily weighted components of the course, I respectfully request consideration for a CR designation in ECON 241.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.