Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am appealing to drop ECON 232 (Fall, 2020) and requesting credit standing for PHIL 318 (Fall, 2020).

I understand that this decision is extremely late in the semester. An earlier appeal letter could not reasonably be produced during academic, family-related, permanent disability, and mental health-related pressures and challenges. Prior to the drop deadline, I was struggling with only pressures related to academics (increased number of assignments in some courses compared to the same courses on-campus) and my permanent disability (specifically in relation to the online format). At the time of the drop deadline, I felt I could still succeed in my courses, so I decided not to drop any courses.

The reason for my late appeal to drop ECON 232 (Fall, 2020) is due to extenuating circumstances resulting from events after the academic drop date and my inability to cope with these extenuating circumstances in combination with pre-existing academic and disability-related obstacles I faced earlier in the semester. Due to my traumatic brain injury (used interchangeably with permanent disability), I am already more susceptible to being overwhelmed. The challenges I had overcome before did not prepare me for the new set of difficulties I have faced and continue to face in this semester. I will attempt to explain my extenuating circumstances in the next few paragraphs.

Three major events in my family resulted in my abrupt departure from Kingston to my family home. The first event occurred after my mother returned from overseas to her shared home with my father (I do not live with them). My mother struggles with a severe mental disorder and upon her return, had an emotional outburst while carrying a knife. I could hear the fear in my father's voice as he called me to ask what he should do. I could hear the ambience of my mother screaming at my father and banging pots. For the next few nights, I booked hotels for him to stay in while my mother self-isolated and came to a more peaceful state. This situation occurred two nights after the academic drop deadline on November 2nd. Anxiety, paranoia, loss of sleep, restlessness, and mental breakdowns persisted after this event.

The second event was my sister and brother-in law's move from their old home to a new house. I moved into their home when I was 16 to escape the constant unrest in my parental home. The guilt associated with not being able to help pack while I was in Kingston started to eat at my conscience. The third event was the announcement of my sister and brother-in-law that their baby was due in a week. This placed the date of the baby's arrival anywhere from November 26th to December 3rd rather than near the end of December as originally mentioned. In my culture, it is normal¿¿expected even¿¿for a sibling to put a hold on their life to help family members with a newborn and the maintenance of the house. This move into my (new) family home entailed a lack of privacy, and thus, weekly virtual sessions with my psychologist came to a screeching halt for a month and a half. The above events coincide with a gut-wrenching break up (October 23rd), the shattering pain of my wisdom teeth growing in (since November 20th), and the lack of any social support from friends because I have been absolutely terrified of anyone seeing me as I truly am: weak, fragile, and incapable.

I have not had a session with my psychologist since November 18th. After the birth of my niece on December 2nd, I have been juggling cleaning and sanitizing the whole house, being on baby duty when my sister and brother-in-law are exhausted, and completing the mounting pile of final assignments and exams. The negative effects of the above events lead to a constant, persistent vicious cycle. These mental health-related challenges have led to the loss of sleep, which exacerbate symptoms of my traumatic brain injury such as poor executive functioning (poor attention to detail, adaptable thinking, planning, self-monitoring, self-control, working memory, time management, and organization). The increased severity of my permanent disability's symptoms impose substantial limits on my ability to manage and perform well in school (more than they already do). Poor performance in school, in turn, depreciates the state of my mental health. The worse the state of my mental health, the less sleep I get, the more anxiety I have, the more severe symptoms of my disability are, the less I am able to manage academic demands (of which there are many, thanks to online school), and the later is the submission of my appeal letter for late drop of a course.

The reason I am only dropping ECON 232 and not my other courses is that in ECON 232, only three assignments account for my final grade: a 20 midterm exam, a 40 term paper, and a 40 final exam. The midterm exam occurred on October 16th. The due dates for the term paper and the exam were this month: December 2nd and December 14th. In contrast, my other courses had a flurry of assignments throughout the year¿¿forty assignments to date, to be exact. Those were courses I did not fail because I performed quite well in the first half of the semester. The reason I am requesting Credit Standing for PHIL 318 is, the bulk of assessments worth a higher percentage of my final grade were due during the beginning of my extenuating circumstances. ECON 232, however, is a course that I will almost certainly fail due to the reliance of a final grade based on few assessments.

In January, I will no longer be required to be at my sister and brother-in-law's home. I am still struggling with severe mental health issues, but will be able to resume sessions as normal with my psychologist. My entire family is now aware of the situation with my parents, and thus, I will not be the only one handling crisis management. In the winter term, I have only registered in three courses. I believe these remedies will alleviate my state of being overwhelmed in the new year. I plan to take ECON 232 when it is next available, likely in the Fall semester of 2021.

I hope that this letter will suffice to justify dropping ECON 232. Thank you for taking time to read this slightly verbose letter.

With gratitude,

Mahdi Kabir