Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academic):
My name is Tracy Cui and my student number is 20175123. I am appealing the Faculty??s decision to change my D-grade for MUTH 331 (Musical Theatre Direction) to a CR grade for winter, 2022 term. I know I didn??t drop it before the deadline but the extenuating circumstances are as follows:
MUTH 331 was the last choice in my winter term plan but I had to take it and could not drop the course in question by the drop deadline. There are reasons as below: right before the week of winter term, the course of MUSC 438 in my plan was cancelled all of sudden. I had to select MUTH 331 instead in a hurry, and found myself felt anxiety-related symptoms in this course right after I got two consecutive C grades for the two course works. I can??t drop the course because I need MUSC or MUTH courses at 300 level or above for my graduation plan. Hence I tried to manage to swap to other MUSC courses but the swapping deadline was already passed as well. As a result, I had no choice but to stay in this course. In order to succeed in the course during the rest of the term, I immediately involved my accommodation advisor to address my course- related anxiety and ask her assistance to coordinate with the professor for support who agreed to drop one of the lowest grades for weekly course works by the end of the term.
Also I tried to communicate with the professor in order to understand the course materials and knowing why I got C grades. However, all these efforts still did not alleviate my course-related anxiety and depression at all. Despite how hard I tried, I cannot understand the course materials to the level that I need to succeed, as a result most of my assignments were either a C or a D grade or even F grades. I felt severe anxiety for the course because of the deteriorated grades, and I could not help dreading the failure of the course.
At this time, my family members got Covid-19 infection, and I was severely anxious of getting infection myself. I cannot help feeling extraordinary anxious whenever I am close to someone who got or close to getting the infection. I got the worst assignment as a Zero grade at the time and started skipping the class in relation to the fear of Covid-19 infection as well as the worsening anxiety because of the course. I have a long term history of anxiety and depression that was heavily stimulated when studying in this course and got worse especially when it was in relation to Covid-19 infection by the time. I felt severe course-related anxiety symptoms (ranging from nausea, stomach upset to sweating, heart racing and urine urgency) whenever participating in class and working on the assignments that all contributed to the dreadful result that my final exam of MUTH 331 ended up as a fail.
In view of my situation in the future, it alerts me to carefully look into the course plan that suits me better so that it does not evoke my anxiety and distress during the study. I would not touch Musical Theatre Direction course anymore because it was my nightmare. I have been seeing counselors at school and will maintain meetings with them. Also I would take a treatment program recommended by my family physician recently. I believe the plan would help me to manage my anxiety level during studies and achieve my academic goals.
To help explain my situation better, I have attached medical documentation that supports what I have addressed here.