Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Bérnard,

I will begin with the request I have:
I am appealing to drop PHIL247 for the term of Winter 2018.
I am making this request because:
I have issues with overload due to the ADHD, learning disability and anxiety from which I suffer. Because of this for my first 3 semesters here I was cautious of that and I only took three or four courses per term. This semester however I decided to try 5 courses because (a) I was feeling mentally healthy last semester so thought I would be able to manage the larger load, and (b) one of the courses I planned to take did not seem too difficult while the rest seemed to be of similar difficulty to others I have taken before, so the overall difficulty seemed reasonable.
It wasn't until about two weeks ago that I realized I was really struggling with this load. The first indicator of this was that I had become increasingly distant from friends, with a lower mood and increasingly intense spikes of anxiety as well as a general underlying feeling of worry. A few days after I really started noticing all those signs I also received my first feedback in PHIL247 on March 7th (after the final course drop date). I had received a B on my first essay for that class, which is out of character for me. About two days later I received my first essay back from another course I'm taking on which I was given a B+. I recognize this is not an objectively bad grade but is one that I never would normally have received in that course (PHIL257) as it is central to my major and I try to put my best effort into those core courses as they are incredibly important to my future (hopefully in grad school). That's when I realized that I was sacrificing my efforts in that course, and likely others as well, to try and make time for my fifth course, PHIL247, which I've found to be extremely demanding.
Taking this extra course has resulted in a degradation of my mental health, which has in turn been reflected in my physical health as I have now been quite ill with a head cold for a week and a half. Because of this sickness I have been struggling lately to go to class, which is only adding to my anxiety. Essentially, I'm now stuck in this holding pattern of anxiety reducing my immune system's efficacy, getting sick, and then that increasing my anxiety. It is not an ideal situation, one which I hope to avoid in the future.

Which brings me to my future plans:
I hate how I am feeling right now, and I don't ever want my grades to suffer because of overload again. I have already promised myself to learn from this experience and not take a 5-course load again, as it obviously is not the right structure for me. In the past a 4-course load was has worked very well for me, its what I took last semester and I did well in all my courses, I did experience stress, but only that which seems normal during the course of a university education. I do not intend to ever exceed this load again as it has detrimental affects on my mental and physical well-being as well as my performance in school.


I would like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to hear my case. I hope that I have shown you (a) that I had no graded indicator of my performance in this course until it was too late, (b) that I fully recognize my limitations in terms of course load, so that (c) I will stay within these limits for the rest of my time in school and avoid future episodes like the one I am currently experiencing.


Thank you again for your time,

Hallie Jones