Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean (studies),

I would like to request an appeal of my grades listed below:
Chem 282 - C
Phgy 214 - D
Micr 221 - C

In addition, I would like to request an appeal for a fall course (and appeal to appeal past the deadline for the course from Fall 2015)
Chem 281 - C-

The reason I didn¿¿t appeal for this course by the deadline is that I didn¿¿t know that it was possible to appeal until a few weeks ago, while expressing my stress to my friend. This is why I did not ask for an appeal for Chem 281 until now. In addition, I was still in a depression and was having side effects during the deadline to apply for appeals from the fall.

The reason I am requesting an appeal is because I have been suffering from major and generalized depressive disorder. In addition, I have been on a drug ¿¿Lexapro¿, from the beginning of October 2015 until the beginning of April 2016. Not only was this drug not doing what it is supposed to do, and I was still suffering from depression during my entire school year, but the drug also gave me many adverse side effects, such as oversleeping, constantly being tired, and a impeding lack of motivation.

The reason I stayed on this medication for so long was that I was unsure if the side effects were just due to the transition period, and after that I was scared to go off the medication in case things got even worse. When I finally realized that my symptoms were not just depression, but bad side effects of the drug, I asked my doctor how to wean off of it and that took another 4 weeks, ending just two weeks before my exams.

The constant tiredness, extreme lack of motivation, and oversleeping due to the drug as well as having depression during this time caused me to shy away from my friends, and sometimes get into fights with them over little things, and also I would just sit in bed most of the time, and didn¿¿t have the motivation or energy to do any work. I managed to hand in things like labs, and quizzes because I had help from my friends and housemates who were very supportive of me, and helped me to get the energy to finish these assignments. Without them, I probably would have failed. I saw a counsellor during this time. She helped me with my mental health, despite having little to work with due to my circumstances. My mental health was still sub par because of the side effects from the medication.

The reason I am only appealing some of my courses and not all is because although I did much worse than usual, the marks didn¿¿t fall below a C.

I was seeing a counsellor (Carrie Watson) throughout this period, and she will be able to attest that what I am saying is true.

Future Plan:
I am currently starting a new antidepressant, and also am doing yoga and meditation in order to control my depression in as many ways as possible. I also know now, not to stay on a drug for so long if it isn¿¿t working or giving bad side effects, as I now know the consequences of doing this. I will continue to see my counsellor as she helped me get through the year, and will be able to help me succeed without the drawbacks of the medication.