Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Good afternoon Dr. Jenn Stephenson.

I am appealing for credit standing (CR) in BCHM 218 (summer 2020).

The reason for my appeal is extenuating circumstances beyond my control; in particular health issues. I understand that specific details are not necessary, but I do not have a problem sharing that my health has been very poor over the course of the summer, and I have been experiencing brain fog, low energy and extreme fatigue.

I first started experiencing the above-referenced symptoms in mid-July 2020. Initially, I hoped that the symptoms would go away, and that my concentration and energy levels would improve. However, this was not the case.

I first attempted to contact my family physician in Ottawa in early August. Unfortunately, due to the Covid situation, she has been hard to get in touch with. I made several attempts to make an appointment with my family physician, which were not successful. I was ultimately able to obtain a requisition for bloodwork, and I attended an Ottawa area lab for bloodwork on August 6, 2020. I am attaching a copy of my bloodwork results.

Given the problems that I experienced getting in touch with my family physician, I attended an Urgent Care clinic in Ottawa with the bloodwork results on August 14, 2020. Upon reviewing the results, the physician at the Urgent Care clinic suspected that my symptoms indicated a possible thyroid issue. However, as the clinic does not treat chronic conditions, I was referred back to my family physician.
I have now been able to schedule an appointment with my family physician by phone for September 14, 2020, which was the earliest available date.

As set out above, I have been actively taking steps since early August to address my health issues with appropriate medical personnel. However, given the Covid situation, I have experienced many difficulties along the way.

The health issues I have been experiencing, including brain fog, low energy and extreme fatigue, greatly impacted my results in BCHM 218 (summer 2020). In particular, my inability to stay awake and focus on the course material impeded my ability to absorb and learn the material on a daily basis, and made it extremely difficult to prepare for tests and exams. As discussed above, I hoped that the symptoms would go away, so I did not drop the course by the required deadline. Unfortunately, my symptoms persisted, and this affected my ultimate grade. It is noteworthy that the grade I obtained in BCHM 218 is well below the grades I obtained in my first year courses, which were taken prior to my health issues.

I also took another course during the summer 2020 session, namely HLTH 230. My ultimate grade in this course was not affected as much as BCHM 218, as I was already very familiar with the course material, and the course required far less concentration and focus on my part.

Going forward, I am hopeful that my appointment with my family physician will start to resolve my health issues. However, in the event that my issues are chronic, and cannot be resolved in a reasonable timeframe, I will look to reduce my fall semester course load prior to the cut-off dates to ensure that my course load is not overwhelming based on any lingering health issues.

Thank you for your consideration.
Avery Want