Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern:

I am appealing to request a credit (CR) standing in the following courses: BCHM 218 from 2018 Fall (D-), CHEM 282 from 2018 Winter (C), PHGY 214B from 2018 Winter (C-), and MICR 221 from 2018 Winter (C).

Even if just two of the courses could be credited that would still help me immensely. The reason why I am asking for this request is due to extenuating circumstances relating to family problems. My father committed suicide, which came as a huge shock to me and was very traumatic. I had never experienced a death like that so close to me before and didn¿¿t understand or know how to deal with the trauma and loss. Due to this, I decided to continue attending school for the upcoming 2018 Winter semester and not take a leave of absence. I thought that returning back to my ¿normal¿¿ life before this happened would help me cope. Looking back now, I can recognize how difficult it was for me returning to school to focus and learn different subjects while still processing this major life event. At the time I didn't understand why my grades in several subjects were being impacted so negatively. After the death of my father, I began exhibiting extreme anxiety and depressive symptoms which only enhanced my problems and continued the trend of bad grades I was getting. Because I had a full course load, I found myself only able to keep up certain courses, while the ones mentioned above kept slipping behind. This made me feel even worse about myself, as I had been a straight A student in high school, and wanted the same for my University career. The 2018 winter semester was a difficult one for me to get through. I went home for the summer semester following this and I began to feel better with my Mom¿¿s support, however when I returned to school again for the 2018 Fall semester, the same cycles began again. I was able to manage more of a course load this time, but unfortunately this still meant that my BCHM 218 course mark was a substantially lower grade than all the rest. By the next semesters, I had learned to self-manage my anxiety and depression surrounding this and was able to function with a full course load relatively well. It wasn't until I reached out to my doctor to get clinical help that I really understood what I had been going through. I was put on an antidepressant/antianxiety medication and was enrolled in counselling. Through my work with my counselor I identified the shame that I felt surrounding this life event and the reasonings why I didn't ask for help while in the courses or after completing them until now. I am now using these resources among others to help and support me become healthier and stay that way. I just started to look at masters programs for the 2022 school year and all I can think of is how this episode of time might affect me in my applications. I am very passionate about public health and I want to be able to help others who have experienced adverse experiences like I did. I have so much drive and hope for my future career and I just don't want this to hold me back. Thank you for your consideration and for hearing my story.

All the best,

Anna Logan