Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dr. Stephenson,

I hope this reaches you hastily and that you are staying safe and protected during these uncertain times. Unfortunately, uncertain times have fallen upon my academic career. I am currently writing in hopes of you accepting my request to drop POLS 261, hopefully without academic penalty.

I am a second-year Political Studies student who suffers from a learning disability (ADHD). My supporting documents, which includes a full comprehensive diagnosis, can be found with QSAS. For an individual with my specific diagnosis the current format of learning, that being through OnQ and Zoom, is absolutely disastrous. I struggle greatly with tasks others would find simple, such as self-regulation and time management, which has ultimately lead me to struggle greatly with keeping my head above water this term.

These struggles, as well as many others I face, amplified greatly in mid-October (October 19th), when I was prescribed a new medication for my learning disability due to the ineffectiveness of my previous medication. These transitional periods between medications cause moments of chaos within my life, as these medications take time to build up within my system before beginning to take effect. In previous times, my psychiatrist, Dr. Eileen Smith, would prescribe Ritalin to help bridge the gap. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, she only sees patients virtually and will not prescribe me this drug as it requires physical monitoring.

As one could imagine, this is not very conducive to learning, my focus, attention, and concentration truly reached an all-time low. During the apex of this dilemma, I was assigned three term papers, each worth 40-50 of my term grade. These papers, due on the 4th (later extended to the 6th for the entire class, worth 50-POLS 250), 11th (worth 40-POLS 243), and 20th (worth 40-POLS 250) presented a significant hurdle for me to overcome.

I worked towards meeting this deadline, however soon it became clear this would be impossible. Still, I persevered. Convinced and determined in my abilities, I underwent sleepless nights as more work and stress piled on. Ultimately, the closer I got to reaching the first deadline, the further the destination seemed. I even worked tirelessly after the deadline to submit my paper for POLS 261, which at that point would have been penalized 20, but my efforts were in vain. By November 8th, I had realized that I was overworked, facing an insurmountable amount of stress, sleep-deprived, and was both physically and mentally unable to function. This is when I attempted to drop the course on SOLUS, without realizing the course drop date to avoid academic penalty was November 2nd. I then reached out to my accessibility advisor, Meghan Hall, who promptly responded on November 9th directing me to an academic advisor.

Without the aid of medication especially this virtual learning environment I have found myself in a vicious cycle whereby I am unable to find my way through. I am uncertain if I will be successful at meeting the next two deadlines, but I can assure you I will make every effort to do so within my current capabilities. I am not seeking any sympathy nor financial compensation, I only request to be able to drop POLS 261 without academic penalty in an effort to lighten my load as I am doing my best in a difficult situation.

Respectfully,
Jakob Louhikari