Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean of Studies,

My name is Bradley Burtch-Timmons, and I am appealing to drop KNPE 459 (Fall, 2015) and PSYC 251 (Winter 2016) from my transcript without academic penalty. I received a failing grade in KNPE 459, and I expect to receive a failing grade in PSYC 251.
I am asking for this appeal because since September of 2015, my life has deteriorated as result of a severe marijuana addiction that has compromised my mental health. My addiction has effectively dismantled almost every area of my life (my academic performance, my family, and my own psychological health). At the beginning of third year, I was using marijuana at a high frequency to escape my emotional trauma and stress; however, over the course of two semesters this reliance has snowballed into a debilitating addiction.

By November, I was in consistent denial of my substance abuse. I had received two bad grades on two important tests in KNPE 459. Without exception, I was constantly using from the moment I awoke to the moment I went to sleep. My grades in that course ultimately suffered. After receiving these grades, my substance use began to tailspin out of control. I was smoking 5-10 times a day, usually behind closed doors, and mostly unbeknownst to my girlfriend, friends, peers and family. I intended on dropping the course after realizing my studies for that course were not sustainable alongside my smoking habits. By December I realized that the drop date had long passed. My vision for academic success, my desire to care for my body and my will to communicate my problems with my family and girlfriend was consumed by addiction. My online PSYC 251 course demanded independent completion of weekly quizzes, forum posts and periodic mid terms that were easy to ignore amongst my addiction. I failed to complete a midterm in the course, and it was beginning to dawn on me that I was becoming more of a full time drug addict then a full time student. Reflecting upon these semesters, the only reason I got through my other courses was because most were heavily weighted on group projects and peer relationships that forced me to act like everything was okay. Those partnerships held me accountable and although I did not care for my own success, I did not want to look bad in front of my peers by not attending meetings and letting them down.

My tipping point was April 7th after my first exam. My girlfriend of two years, who has been away on exchange since January, informed me that she no longer felt the same about our relationship. This destroyed me. I realized I had rarely spoken to my parents, to my sister who is developmentally handicapped and living away from home, or to my girlfriend. With essentially the weight of the world on my mind during the exam period, I was not able to study for PSYC 251. I was having mental breakdowns every hour of every day, and I finally reached out to friends who were completely unaware of my situation. They recommended I see a counselor to get help. I met with Carol-Anne at counseling services on April 11th and told her everything. On April 12th I went cold turkey. I decided enough was enough - I want to get better. I wrote my two exams on the 19th and 20th (after deferring my PSYC 251 on the 12th), and on the 21st of April I went back to see Carol Anne. I was 10 days sober at that time, and I told her that I wanted to come clean to my parents, I want to face my academic catastrophe head-on and I want to seek further counseling to maintain my sobriety. I've had several phone calls with Carol-Anne since, and I have aligned dates throughout this summer to see another professional therapist in Toronto. I have had multiple appointments with an academic advisor (Cindy) to assess my damage and implement a plan of action to get my credits back on track. I recently decided with the support of my parents that the process of studying for and writing my deferred exam for Psych 251 was not conducive to my mental health or my recovery at this time.
I am so ready to do better and prove to myself that I am not this type of person. I want to realize my true potential as a student without this debilitating addiction holding me back. I wish to reconcile with my family and with myself, and I believe this appeal is an important step for me in doing so. I am asking you to consider my request as part of my recovery process.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Bradley Burtch-Timmons