Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Board of Studies,

I am appealing to remove my BCHM 315 (Fall, 2020) mark from my transcript to replace it with a CR (credit received).

Although the course is not required for my Life Science degree plan, I took BCHM 315 because I have a passion for the field and want to pursue medical school following graduation. With that being said, I did not know that extenuating circumstances would arise and therefore affect my performance in this particular course. In April of 2020, I was diagnosed with a learning disability and spent the summer figuring out which medications worked for me. In September 2020, my family doctor referred me to a specialist as she noticed my blood work showed signs of subclincal hyperthyroidism, which worsened the symptoms associated with my learning disability. It worsened my sleeping habits, ability to focus, and even my ability to clean my room. I wasn't able to contact SAS services until later that September, in which I finally received accommodations in mid-October. I wanted to receive these accommodations before my midterm, but unfortunately, my counsellor had to cancel the first appointment. For my BCHM 315 midterm 1 on October 7th, I couldn't receive these accommodations, but my professor assured me that I would have enough time. I picked the last time slot available and didn't understand the consequence of that until later on. My Examity proctor was late to my appointment and experienced technical issues, which took 30 minutes off of my midterm 1. This left me with an hour left to complete the exam. Under extreme stress, I was able to complete the exam but felt horrible about it. I then emailed my professor explaining the situation, and he explained how he was willing to move the weighting of my exam to Midterm 2 and the final.

As the semester moved on, as expected, the material became more challenging, but my physical and mental health became worse. I visited the emergency room on September 30th for extreme abdominal pain, but they only found a small ovarian cyst. The pain lasted throughout the course of the semester and got worse with stress. With learning to manage my learning disability, new medication, hyperthyroidism, and lower quadrant pain, managing my schoolwork became extremely challenging. I would only have enough energy to work on assignments for my other courses hours before they were due, which is why I was able to do ok in my four other classes. BCHM 315 only consisted of 5 (2) quizzes, 2 midterms and a final. This made it very hard for me to keep up with the course as other assignments from other courses were taking up most of my energy. I didn't want to give up on the class as I loved the material and found it very interesting, and therefore did not drop the class. I received a bad grade on my second midterm and therefore contacted my professor, who was very willing to go through my exam. As we went over the exam, I realized that I understood the material; however, I was incorrectly reading questions or going off track, which can be attributed to compiling unresolved issues. I tried to work on this and really push during finals, but unfortunately, my stomach pains impeded my ability to do so effectively.

I understood and enjoyed the BCHM 315 material, which is why I continued to take the course despite mental and physical issues that seemed to hold me back. Unfortunately, my decision to stay in the course will now affect my future medical school applications, and I am very concerned. I have been working with academic counsellors and ADHD specialists to improve and continue developing strategies that work for online school and me. I am working on finalizing medication and treatment for my hyperthyroidism as I had an appointment with a specialist this past December. The gastrointestinal specialist called me on Jan 14th, 2021, to inform me the abdominal pain was a result of 80 percent of my colon full of stool. This lead to impaction involving the cecum and terminal ileum, which caused fluctuating intense pain over the course of 3 months. Since then, I have been given proper treatment and have a follow up in 3 months. I believe that the addition of hyperthyroidism and extreme abdominal pain to my ADHD really affected my performance in BCHM 315. If this experience has taught me anything, it has taught me to look out for my body. It has taught me that dropping a course does not make me less of a successful student if I am dropping it for health reasons.

I hope you consider the request in this appeal letter. Thank you.

Anastasia Messina