Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: From- Anujan Poologaindran
Student - 06243113

July 2nd 2014

Dear Associate Dean,

I am writing in regards to dropping MATH 232 from Winter 2012. The following discusses the presentation of new documentation that provides timeline, severity, and impact of the medical circumstances that surrounded my inability to write my Math 232 exam.

In late Jan 2012, I learned my Guru had abruptly passed away. The Guru-Sishya tradition is a sacred bond in my culture and South Indian community. My Guru was not only a spiritual leader to me, but also a father figure, a person who intimately guided me through adulthood since my early teens. As a result of his unexpected death, my academic performance was directly affected and this became a significant psychological challenge for me to overcome.

This led to sporadic attendance to lectures in the majority of my courses. Prior to my Guru¿¿s death, I earned a 4.08 out of 4.3 GPA in Fall 2011. As a coping mechanism, I began abusing substances that had a significant impact on me. The severity of the substance abuse led to an emergency room admittance in March 2012.

My KGH emergency room experience for substance overdose, my psychological counseling for substance abuse and suicidal thoughts at HCDS, both serve as a direct connection between the extenuating circumstances outlined in supporting documents and their effect on my academic performance.

At the time of missing my MATH 232 exam in Winter 2012, I also missed my CHEM 282 exam. My organic chemistry professor allowed me to write a make-up exam in September 2012. Prior to my Math 232 exam, I had become ill but did not seek immediate medical attention, as I believed the underlying gastrointestinal problems were due to the combination of multiple substance usage and my regular food intake. Fearful of my unlawful substance abuse and implications to my future, I did not seek immediate medical attention to determine the underlying issues.

Furthermore, my final exam for that term was MATH 228 (complex analysis). Having missed two exams already, deferring a total of 3 exams would have placed me in even a bigger hole. This was compounded by the fact I was already battling through my on-going substance abuse problems and impact of my Guru¿¿s death. So, I decided to write the MATH 228 exam, however, my exam performance was an indication of the severity of the psychological state I was in, caused by my Guru¿¿s passing. As a result of the situation, I received a C on the exam before a class-wide grade adjustment.

A few days later, I was diagnosed with gastroenteritis by Dr.Hamideh and prescribed appropriate pharmacologic treatments. The physician can be contacted 905-897-0788 for further inquiries, in addition to the doctor¿¿s note. This underlined the severity of my substance abuse issues as it was now beginning to interfere with normal dietary habits.

So much time had elapsed between when the course was taken and when the appeal was filed because of the long-term implications and counseling I was receiving because of my substance abuse and suicidal thoughts. My abuse led to a strong dependence, which immediately resulted in severe withdrawal symptoms. My counselors worked with me over the next several months and my substance cessation only occurred by Winter 2013, and sufficient recovery was only made by the end of Winter 2013, when I first initiated the appeal. The timeframe for my substance recovery serves as a stark indicator of the severity and impact of my Guru¿¿s death on me, which is supported by my counselor.

One reason that my Guru¿¿s death had such a significant impact on me was due to the support I was receiving. My close friends and family were not a positive support system for me, furthermore, the stigmatization of mental health issues in my culture was overwhelming. During this entire time period, I finally came to the realization that I needed help outside of my inner circle of family and friends, which is why I contacted HCDS. Arunima Khanna, a cross-cultural psychologist, had a major role in my recovery as she understood the importance of my Guru and more importantly, the difficulties and stigmatization associated with having mental health issues in my culture.

The F in this course is significantly affecting my hope to enter the industrial setting of life sciences sector. Furthermore, my hope of pursuing post-graduate work is greatly affected by this F. My dreams of being a research scientist in a life sciences field I have yet to narrow is currently on pause. Since this psychological challenge, I have successfully taken multiple course overloads (Winter 2013 took 8 courses) in order to graduate on time for June 2014.

My future plan is to return to school in 2016 for a post-graduate degree. I am hoping this time off will allow me to recuperate in order to be successful in all my future undertakings. I have made personal and academic adjustments as evident in my successful academic history, yet the F in Math 232 is holding me back from many endeavors. During the time period in question, I maintained regular meetings with a medical professional and a psychological counselor and am still doing so today regarding the same issue.

I hope this new documentation further elucidates the circumstances I was placed in.
Thank you for your consideration,


Kind regards,
-Anujan Poologaindran