Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean Dr. Jenn Stephenson
I am writing to you to appeal my course from the latest Fall 2021 semester (MUSC 156), and all courses from the Winter 2021 semester. I'm writing with the hope that you will assign the courses a pass with no letter grade assigned. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to explain myself and the reasons for my inadequate performance.
Obviously, everyone is having a rough time with COVID, and I would be lying if I said it wasn??t a big contributor to my extenuating circumstances, but that is not the whole picture. Last year, at the beginning of my university career, I had begun to struggle with my mental health, losing motivation, interest in things, connections to friends and family, everything became bleak and grey. Things might have been better if I had decided to take a spot in residents, had the opportunity to become familiar with campus, meet new people. But I decided not to, receiving heavy pressure from family members and friends, each telling me to do something different. As someone who has struggled with anxiety all my life, I was stressed out of my mind, not knowing what decision would be best for me, too concerned about what other people would think. I obviously chose wrong because spending my first year of university still at home, working on my computer for 8 hours a day, did not work out well. My mental health took a big hit, because I didn??t do well the first year, I thought I wasn??t good enough, university wasn??t for me, which was not a good motivator to keep up with school. I didn??t know what I wanted to do, I was exploring all options, army, firefighter, just getting a stable job and figuring it out along the way, I was unsure about everything. Thankfully I squeaked past the first year, although with minimal success in the winter semester, still wondering if I even wanted to continue. As well, the summer in between then and now was spent working a solo job with no one to talk to, 12 hours a day, which didn??t help my mental health. Thankfully, I decided to give University another go, however this time I was going to be living on campus for the first time. The semester did not go well at all. I was only able to find a place at the last minute, far away from campus, with guys that were already in fourth year or finished, and they were very anti-social and hard to get along with. Again, no one to talk to, still wondering if university is for me. Alcohol and cannabis consumption went up, motivation and drive went down, as well as my grades. However, after weeks upon weeks of contemplation, I realized the only thing that truly made me happy was music, and that without university to help, my chances of having a music career are very slim. From then on, I worked tirelessly, got academic consideration, trying my very best to get caught up with my courses, all while trying to climb out of the deep whole of depression I dug myself. However, due to a communication error in the logistics of how the consideration would work, I ended up failing one of my courses. When it comes to something I truly care about, I am a very hard worker and getting my GPA back up as well as earning a music degree is something I really truly care about.
Fortunately, I have been meeting with advisors so I can strategically plan my next course of action, as well as regularly getting in contact with student health and wellness councilors to help improve my mental health. I do not want university to end anytime soon, and I promise to work smarter and harder, now that I know what it is I truly desire. I would be truly very grateful if you made the journey getting there a little easier by appealing to the courses I mentioned above. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Thomas Morton