Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,

I am appealing to drop HIST282 (Fall, 2020). I understand that it is very late in the course and I would like to explain the extenuating circumstances that occurred which prevented me from being successful in this course. I was unable to manage my time effectively for most of the term resulting in me missing important online deadlines such as discussion posts and essays. Moreover, all of the content was given in online modules and readings where I was overwhelmed by the amount of self-taught content which led me to struggle with understanding the learning objectives. I struggled specifically with this course as it is set up in a way that is dependent on a lot of online learning and self-discipline where success is achieved through maintaining organization and time management skills. I did not drop the course at an earlier time because I enjoyed the content of the course and wished to try and succeed. I used the opportunity of having all online classes to finally take a physics and astronomy course to get another teachable and I chose to take more units than required and it was hard for me to alternate between learning sciences and history as well as my major, fine arts.
After a full term under these new learning conditions, I understand what I need to do better in my academics. I have been seeing my life coach, an ADHD specialist, who helps me organize my time and break up tasks. We cover how to prioritize different tasks, allocating time to school work, and get to the root of my anxiety over submitting work. I have also started tutoring because I realized I need face-to-face teaching to be fully engaged in the content and need someone to hold myself accountable to.
I acknowledge that my execution in this course was poor but I am optimistic with the new support I have put into place and the time management strategies I have implemented. I should assess my performance in my courses by the drop deadlines and perhaps carry a lighter load to be successful in my future studies.
Please let me know if there is any further context, information, or academic assessments I can provide to help with this consideration.

Sincerely,

Katherine Marshall
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