Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am writing this appeal to request AG standing in CHEM 112. My reasons for this request stem from 2 recent events.
1. The suicide of my close friend Gil Orbach in Hong Kong early this month.
2. The attempted suicide of my close friend Chris Dorsch (Gil's ex boyfriend) this October, just days before the anniversary of my dad¿¿s suicide which occurred in November 2014.

This school year was the first time since my dad died that I felt back to normal academically, and even when Chris attempted this fall I managed to hold it together. He came to for help, I got him into addictions counselling, and I put him up at my house for a bit. I have been monitoring him ever since. This impacted my work, but I was able to handle the situation up until this month when we lost Gil. Her suicide has made things exceedingly difficult. I am grieving the loss of my friend, watching Chris go through the same intense grieving process I experienced 2 years ago, and am being constantly reminded of my father¿¿s death just when I thought I could move on. Currently I am taking care of/ monitoring Chris, confronting my own waves of grief, and trying to remain composed enough to graduate this June. I can't lose another member of my family or inner circle to suicide, and I can't have my graduation delayed again because of suicide. I am very stressed, I am sad, and I still have her funeral to attend. It has been hard to find the time or the emotional stability required for me to excel academically. CHEM 112 has been especially challenging as it is quite demanding. It was suggested by the faculty of arts and science that I apply for AG in this course. I have completed over 60 of the work and if I could have the credits awarded through AG it would be so helpful.

I have taken steps to manage the situation. I talked to the Chaplain Kate Johnson who instructed me to arrange meetings with student wellness and arts sci for myself. Through these meetings, I have received academic support via extensions, exam deferrals, and instruction on how to make appeals. I received emotional support through 3 counselling sessions thus far and have a 4th scheduled. Academically, I have now completed one course and have deferrals for my obligations in the rest. I also made sure Chris worked out a plan with Kate Johnson to get him through his last course. I have been encouraging him to seek counselling with student wellness, to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and have made sure he has strong social supports. I am currently helping to coordinate things for the funeral while also chipping away at my academics whenever possible.

My next steps are to write the exam for GEOL 104 on April 24th, coordinate a time to write my lab exam for GEOL 104, write my KNPE 331 exam in late April or early May, submit final lab reports for CHEM 112 this Monday, submit this appeal for AG status in CHEM 112, and graduate in June.