Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Over the last few years I have significantly struggled academically because I have bipolar disorder. In my fourth year I failed a number of courses because depressive episodes prevented me from completing course work or attending classes. The weight of these failures hung over me as I began my fifth year last September. The year started well, in fact I had an A+ in my ENGL389 course at the end of the semester, but I was still struggling and beginning to fall behind. While I did not experience any significant bipolar episodes last year I was still struggling to deal with symptoms of bipolar disorder and anxiety. In particular, I struggled with concentration, so completing readings and assignments took me significantly longer than peers who are not dealing with such issues. I would also have the occasional bad day where I struggled with mood and motivation. As a result, I sometimes missed class either because I was struggling with my mood and was unable to get up and go or I would occasionally miss a class in which I felt I was doing okay because I needed to use the time to catch up in a course where I was falling behind. In the winter semester these issues began to snowball. I was missing class constantly because I was overwhelmed with how much catch up work I had to do and because I was so anxious again after having missed so much. It got to the point where I was so anxious about going to class that I would be physically ill. Consequently I missed some midterms and other evaluations that required my attendance. Additionally, as a history and English student, participation and attendance make up a significant portion of the grading scheme, and all the courses I am appealing are seminar courses. Professors expressed to me that when I was in class I made valuable contributions and participated at a highly satisfactory level, but did not attend often enough to attain a satisfactory grade. Additionally, as more assignments piled up I became more overwhelmed with the amount I had to do. I spoke with my professors and have worked very hard over the summer, writing eight essays while working full time because I was determined to succeed and overcome the challenges posed by my mental illness. However, because attendance accounts for such a significant portion of my grades I received either low or failing grades, so I am applying for AG status. While the past year did not go as well as I¿¿d hoped, I¿¿m very proud of how I have persevered and improved on my performance from the year before. I had lost a lot of confidence in my abilities, but completing enough work to be eligible for AG status has proven to me that having bipolar disorder has not taken away my ability to complete academic work. I am also committed to continuing to strive for improvement. I was seeing a counselor at SWS but his roster was so full that I was only able to see him twice in the winter semester. As such, when I met with him we mostly worked on keeping me from falling into a depressive or hypomanic state rather than on developing coping skills to deal with the issues that were having an impact on my academic performance. We were doing damage control, not working proactively. I have spoken with SWS and both they and I are committed to me seeing a counselor once a week for the upcoming year so that I can work on developing coping skills that will help me deal with the anxiety, empower me to attend classes, improve my ability to prioritize when I do have a heavy work-load, and concentrate to improve my efficiency as much as possible. I would really like to move forward and make progress and I feel the success of these appeals would go a long way to making that possible and I would truly appreciate your support in this matter.