Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean Kawaja,

I am appealing to receive a credit standing in PHGY350. The morning on the day before my final exam, I received news from a distant family member that my only grandmother had passed away. The way in which I found out was very insensitive, as it was an accident. My immediate family had actually tried to keep the news from me, knowing I was still in my exam period, but was unsuccessful in reaching every member of our extended family. With this news, I was distraught, confused, and grieving. Time is precious during the examination period and not only did I lose a full day of studying, but I also spent the following night grieving as well. During the exam the next morning, I was completely unable to focus. There were only three, single assessments in this course, with the final exam being significantly more heavily weighted than the other two. The final exam was worth 55 of my mark and I was not emotionally or mentally stable enough to write the exam. Afterwards, I went straight home to continue to grieve with my family. As my grandmother lived in Ethiopia, it was not financially feasible for us to fly there, so we remained in Canada.

The circumstances surrounding this exam were completely out of my control, but because of which, I was unable to perform as well as I had expected to nor as well as I normally do. As these extenuating circumstances were temporary, if something like this should every happen again, I would look talk to student wellness services or my professor and have my exam postponed if I believe I am not capable of performing as I normally would.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal.

Sincerely,

Maclite Tesfaye