Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Whom It May Concern, I hope this letter finds you well. I am reaching out to appeal to drop two outstanding incomplete courses. They are PHIL 151 - Great Works of Philosophy and PHIL 203 - Science and Society taught by Mark C. R. Smith in the Winter Term of 2022. At the end of this Winter Term, QSAS and the professor graciously provided me with an accommodating extension through the Summer Term. The extension was pertaining to my diagnosis of anxiety and major depression which I had received at the end of the previous Winter Term. However, while seeking treatment throughout the 2022 school year, my physician recommended an ADHD assessment. Upon completing clinical testing, I received my prognosis of Adult ADHD from the Springboard Clinic in April 2022. This was parallel to when Professor Smith granted the extension and the required course work. I now know that taking on this responsibility was a decision I made in a state of weakened judgement. My decision was clouded by an overestimation of my ability, and more importantly a lack in awareness of the extreme variations in functionality I would later experience throughout the summer. In present, I am still learning to manage my mental well-being and physical health to work towards my academic aspirations with the help of medical professionals and family. Therefore, I kindly request to drop the above-mentioned courses in consideration of the following circumstances which unexpectedly curtailed my academic performance. Since being diagnosed and starting my course of treatment, I have continued to experience the consequences of my mental disabilities which further hindered my capacity to complete coursework in the required timeline. My physician has observed that like many students I struggle with anxiety and depression in related to academic validation. At the beginning of the Summer Term the codependent nature of my academic performance and mood disorders left me in a state of debilitating emotionality where I struggled to act as my own agent. Fortunately, with the help of my support system I began going to therapy and ADHD coaching and was instructed to place my entire focus on this, while my mother handled my personal responsibilities. Most importantly, she took over my daily scheduling and booked regular appointments so I could be monitored while on different ADHD prescriptions. I would describe the first half of this summer as a period of crisis and my lowest point as I felt exhausted, doubtful, overdependent and fearful when confronting my greatest known obstacle. Additionally, over the last few months, I have been placed on multiple attention-deficit drugs with varying side effects and still have not landed on a suitable medication. As such, my entire support system (doctor, therapist, coach and mom) has advised me to utilize the entire summer or longer if needed to focus on improving my mental well-being through therapy and to accommodate myself and my environment to my disability through ADHD coaching. Evidently, this also meant little to no consideration of my performance in university, especially since it is one of my largest stressors. I now thankfully see positive results in well-being as well as confidence in my future academic performance. I naturally account these improvements to the medication, coaching, therapy, personal effort and support which I continue to depend on and work with. Nonetheless, I feel an evaluation of the circumstances I encountered condone my request to drop the above-mentioned courses. Additionally, please excuse any inconvenience which resulted from my initial request for an extension. I hope that my recent developments assure you of my competency in responsibly advocating for myself and apologize for this lapse in judgement. Please advise at your earliest convenience. I can be contacted through my Queens outlook or by telephone at (647) 938-4380.

Warm Regards,
Abarna Muruganantham.