Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the Associate Dean of Studies,

I am appealing to drop GPHY 209, GPHY 209, GPHY 242, and RELS 223 past the deadline. The reasoning for my request is because of my mental instability this semester, and how it has greatly affected my grades and motivation.
I am a second year student who struggles with multiple mental illnesses which made it very difficult to become motivated for school, and also made it hard to get out of my room on most days. I have been dealing with both depression and anxiety for the past three years now, but it always finds a way to come back. Since moving back to school this semester, something has constantly felt wrong, I was always very upset and I couldn¿¿t shake it off, this continuing sadness lasted until the end of November. At that point, I was struggling to get out of bed for class, and even when I finally convinced myself to go to class, my anxiety prevented me from feeling comfortable within the classrooms. I constantly wanted to be back home, with my parents and sisters but I never had the time to, so slowly my motivation faded and the deep sadness sunk in. I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety in the past, and when the medications weren¿¿t working for anxiety I was even prescribed an Emotional Support Animal (ESA), to help find a comfortable way for me to attend classes without breaking out into a panic attack.
In late October/ early November, my family doctor renewed my prescriptions to treat both depression and anxiety, along with seeking counselling on campus to help with the panic attacks. Although those will positively affect my mental health, my main stressor at this moment are my four classes that I¿¿m requesting to drop. The illnesses I¿¿ve been diagnosed with have affected my academic performances in these four classes because they¿¿ve kept me from lab sessions where critical information is shared, and has held me back from lectures where the information for assignments is shared. When my depression was at its worst, I could barely get motivated enough to leave my room, I didn¿¿t complete assignments and didn¿¿t study for quizzes because I convinced myself that I was a failure and didn¿¿t see a point in completing them. I didn¿¿t drop the courses before the the deadline because I didn¿¿t want to be seen as a failure, and I genuinely thought I¿¿d be able to return to my normal mental state within a week or so, unfortunately I was mistaken.
Since then, I have been feeling happier, more energized and motivated, but the anxiety is still stuck on these four courses because it¿¿s too late for me to make up my grades for them. I am asking to drop them for the sake of my mental stability, without the stress from the classes, I¿¿ll be able to focus on the other two that I¿¿ll need for my LLCU major, and get a fresh start next semester with a full course load. The reason I¿¿m not appealing my other courses is because I enjoy the content within them, and am passionate about studying these topics which has allowed me to be motivated for them and comfortable in classes.
Should my appeal be granted, I will have a long Christmas break where I¿¿ll be able to spend more time with my family, and focus on improving my mental health since my regular doctor and counsellors are back home. Once the break is over, I¿¿ll be excited to take a full course load which will be filled with LLCU classes that I am passionate about thus improving my grades and my overall GPA.
Thank you for taking the time to read my appeal letter.



Taylor-Rain Tabobandung/ 20053756