Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Respected Associate Dean(s),



My appeal application is to request the drop of my summer 2020 CHEM 281 course. Unfortunately, I have failed the course and it is the only time that I have failed a class in my entire life of 34 years. Deciding to go back to school has been the best decision of my life and I am excited to continue learning and enter dental school next in 2021, hopefully. However, this summer has been extremely difficult for my mental health due to Covid-19 related life changes. With increased responsibility of helping both my children with their studies- grade 8 and grade 3- my own studies, work and housework, my mental health suffered extremely. My anxiety reached to a point that I was unable to perform well at school and at my job and required a break from it all. I talked to my doctor and took a leave of three weeks in the beginning of June 2020. During this time period, I thought I would be able to manage my mental health and be stabilized enough to manage my studies, but I was unsuccessful.

I have been diagnosed with depression for a few years and have been managing my mental health through medication and lifestyle changes, but this summer has been extremely challenging and has had an impact on my education and life. When the CHEM 281 course began, I thought I could manage it but as time progressed and the course got intense I was unable to keep up with it due to my declining mental health. As I am planning to apply for dental school before December 2020 deadline, I do not wish the low mark of CHEM 281 to have an impact on my GPA as I am a great student otherwise and have performed extremely well in most courses. I am motivated to learn and succeed in the rest of my courses and school year.

I would appreciate if my request to drop the summer CHEM 281 course is accepted. I am currently enrolled in another summer course which I feel I will be able to manage as my life is less stressful due to the schools of my children being off and by making some further lifestyle changes that have helped a little with my anxiety. I am looking forward to your response to my request.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Tarandeep Malhi

Student 20085488