Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am composing this letter to ask the appeal committee to drop three courses from 2020-2021 fall and winter semesters ENIN140, STATS263, ECON110B. I am asking for this detrimental decision to be made due to various covid complications I faced which can change my academic trajectory. To begin with the timeline while I was going into my first year, I had really underestimated the challenge of online learning accompanied with no social life and limited physical interaction had perpetuated me into a state of constant frustration and loneliness which led to academic repercussions. Yet I believed that taking a busy course load would distract me from my misery yet it did the opposite. The only thing on my mind would be how can I get out of this phycological prison. For winter term I had to move back home which completely took toll of my mental health. However due to my persevere nature I never reached out for any help, as a matter of fact I??ve only seen my doctor twice in the last 5 years once for breaking my collar bone and the other for cutting open my hand.

In contrast this year having the ability to work and collaborate with other students had allowed me to succeed in two highly competitive classes one PPEC which is a specialized program for students interested in post-secondary law where being exposed to many intellectually driven students had allowed me to grasp upon complex topics and pushed me to be able to finally enjoy learning. The second course was ASCX where I felt like a fish in the water, I loved the competitiveness and the team aspect of the course which was quite draining in terms of work load yet I was passionate about it. However, the other courses this semester ended up being second interest which thus shows in the marks. Yet I??ve learned that it??s better for me to take less courses but having a greater passion for them. Thus, this semester I am only taking two courses that I am highly interested in, to ensure my academic success.

The greater reason behind me needing to take those courses off my transcript is that I finally found something I want to do with my life. Since I was a young boy, I was sure I will be become an architect, yet as some childhood dreams, they tend to vanish. However, two months ago I came across an undergraduate architecture program at UBC and it was like love at first sight. For the past month I??ve been working hard to build my architecture portfolio, yet without a higher GPA I won??t be able to get into a program.

I hope the committee can understand my first year struggle due to covid and, help in setting myself up for a brighter future.