Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whomever it may regard,

My name is Lauren Spencer, I am a current second year arts and science undeclared student, and I am reaching out to you today through this appeal in regards to wishing to drop a course past the academic deadline from this year. I would like to start off by acknowledging, as I am sure it is on my file, that I indeed did appeal to drop another course past the academic deadline last spring, as I was struggling immensely, and I wanted to begin by showing my appreciation and gratitude for the appeal being granted. I am aware that another appeal request may seem daunting and repetitive, however my circumstances then are different from now, and unfortunately have greatly affected my success and focus in my ENGL215 course at hand, negatively. As referred in my appeal documentation from my student wellness services counsellor, I began having a very difficult time with my mental health and well being in the beginning of February and March, which took an immense toll on me, and unfortunately led to the downfall in this classes course work. I have and do struggle with anxiety and depression, and have been seeking help and advisement for it for almost my entire life, however in the middle of our second semester it took a huge turn for me as my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I was having to travel back in forth from Kingston to Toronto to support her and be with my family, several times throughout the semester. This circumstance took a larger toll on me and my mental health than I would've hoped, however was inevitably unavoidable and unfortunately led to a lacking in focus and drive in my ENGL215. I am at the point in this course, due to my circumstances I have battling unexpectedly for the last few months, where I am confident that I will not be able to finish this class with a passing grade, therefore why I would wish to be able to drop ENGL215 past the academic deadline, to ensure it will not penalize my GPA and academic standing status. I recognize that despite my circumstances and effects they have had on my mental health, that I should have tried to put my mental health issues aside and try to put my attention towards this classes course work, however throughout the various situations, my mental health was at a low where nothing else but this situation had my attention. As stated in my documentation, I have made the plan to make up the credits I will be losing from dropping this class in the summer semester, as well as have begun to start the process in reaching out for assistance from QSAS for the upcoming years, as it will greatly help me in my courses when times like these occur. I ensure, with both the assistance I will be receiving in the future from QSAS for my mental health within academics, as well as the awareness I have now of when and how to control and put my mental health first, that this downfall in a course will not happen again, as I am prepared to use the resources I am given, in order to prioritize both my mental health and academics. This appeal to drop my ENGL215 full year course from the 2021-2022 fall/winter semesters, being granted, would take an immense weight off my shoulders, and I know will benefit my academic success in the future. Your gratitude and consideration is and will be greatly appreciated, and I truly thank you for the opportunity to submit my appeal to drop this course passed the deadline. If there is any other documentation or materials I can provide to support my appeal being granted, I will happily do so.

Many thanks,
Lauren Spencer