Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I started the fall term off with a very positive and a headstrong attitude to do my very best. I was quick to realize that might not be the case for me and millions of others struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was doing well mentally, with a few minor mental breakdowns throughout the semester (this is a regular number of breakdowns I experience during the school year so it¿¿s not too unfamiliar to me). However, when early to mid-December hit, I had been experiencing a lot of anxiety with the COVID pandemic and final exams coming up. I live in a hot-spot community, so we were in complete lockdowns during that time and that had impacted my anxiety, leading me to be more paranoid about COVID and potentially giving my immunocompromised father and sick grandmother the virus. With exams coming up, I was experiencing the average amount of anxiety any other student would have felt. However, after my STAT263 final exam I had received a failing grade which did not make sense to me as I had studied tremendously for the final since it weighed 90 of the course weight. After emailing my professor, he had informed me that the grade released might be an error. Hearing that had eased up my anxiety but at the back of my head I had kept thinking about whether or not if I had failed the course. I struggle a lot with perfectionism and failure has always been my greatest fear. I have had past suicide attempts due to failure back in elementary school, but I have immensely improved my mental health being since then, and now I am an advocate for mental health and individuals struggling with mental health. The night after the STAT263 final, which was also the night before my CHEM281 final, I had experience three panic attacks which led me to stay awake all night as my anxiety had tripled and I could not sleep with the overthinking thoughts wandering in my brain, of whether I had failed STAT263 or not. This had led me to do poorly on my CHEM281 and BCHM218 final as I was still recovering from my panic attack and immense anxiety. I hope my mental health struggles with this year, especially with fall 2020 term can be taken into consideration to credit the courses I have listed in my application as I hope to improve those grades and retake them so I can apply to medical schools in the future as these courses are prerequisites to many medical schools. I have also significantly done better in courses like organic chemistry as I went from a C- in CHEM281 to an A in CHEM282. I thank you for taking time out to read my application and hear out my story with the struggles of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.