Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Barbara Crow,

My name is Michelle Ehrlich, and I am a third-year Political Science and History Major student. I greatly appreciate the time you are taking to review my case. I am requesting an appeal for a late drop of my HIST 320B course for the school year 2021/2022. I am requesting to remove the F from my transcript.

This appeal is due to my experience with multiple uncontrollable circumstances that negatively impacted my mental illnesses and learning disability, resulting in completing assignments later than my program-allotted time.

School has always been extremely challenging as my mental illnesses (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Social Anxiety) increase the pressure for me to succeed at school, causing extreme panic attacks and a lack of focus when completing assignments. My recently diagnosed learning disability of Dyslexia has caused additional time required to complete assignments, keeping a reasonable pace with reading and writing, and a failure to comprehend material properly.

Through all this, I have always valued my education. To compensate for my learning disability and anxiety, I worked endlessly, staying at the library for up to 10 hours a day to achieve my goals. My efforts were shown by my overall first-year GPA of 3.5.

In the second year, a lack of proper learning strategies to support my Dyslexia combined with traumatic circumstances led to an increase in my mental illness, spiralling me into a depressive state, unable to complete work.

At the beginning of the first semester of my second year, I unexpectedly lived alone and travelled home due to family health concerns. In addition, all the while interacting in a post-COVID world where my OCD was highly triggered. Despite these challenges, I did well in HIST 320B, actively participated in every class and went to Dr. Berthelette on how I could succeed in his class.

Unfortunately, in the middle of the year, my best friend was sexually assaulted, and I was her only support to help her through this terrible incident. She lived with me for a week, and we figured out the proper help she required. To properly support her and ensure I could complete the work, I received Academic Consideration due to Extenuating Circumstances. I worked extremely hard during the entire winter break to finish as much work as possible. I finished the first portion of that class with 83 percent in participation.

In January, I had eight classes of study due to my previous semester course load now spilling over into the winter term. The amount I had was overwhelming, especially for someone with a learning disability and mental illness. Despite that, I completed the book report assignment?? notorious for being challenging for students due to its complexity?? and received an 85 percent. As I started to get back into my second-semester courses and was looking forward to catching up over the reading week, I, unfortunately, contracted COVID-19. After recovering from an extended case of COVID, I became sick again with bronchitis in March. This resulted in me going to the hospital and requiring antibiotics for a diagnosis of pneumonia. My severe inability to breathe led me to visit the hospital three times. As a result, I could not communicate with Dr. Berthelette or work on my final assignment. I was recovering from pneumonia from mid-March to mid-May, and I submitted another Academic Consideration due to Extenuating Circumstances on March 25th for HIST 320B.

In May, I felt physically well enough to complete the final assignment for Dr. Berthelette's course. However, the countless traumatic experiences caught up with me, spiralling me into extreme anxiety and disassociation. Completing my final five assignments was impossible as I could barely sit down for five minutes to do work without having a severe panic attack or cycle of OCD compulsions. Despite this, I tried to complete my final assignment for this course; however, it took a long time to complete. When I tried to access the Onq course page to complete my assignment, the portal was closed. Then I emailed the professor, and he said I wasn't allowed to submit my assignment, so I failed the course.

In the fall of 2022, I tried to submit for an aegrotat; however, I only finished 55% of the coursework. The minimum for an aegrotat was 60%. What prevented me from reaching that 60% was not being able to submit the assignment. I understood the professor's perspective; nevertheless, I was defeated as I worked hard in the course. School was always a massive part of my identity, and the fact I failed this course led to a depressive episode lasting for five months. Due to my mental state, I am requesting this drop outside the one-term deadline for a late drop.

Through this depressive episode, I decided to work on myself actively to succeed at school. I took the 2022 Fall semester off to regroup. I enrolled in a three-month 6-hour-a-day specialized reading and writing program to find strategies to help with my Dyslexia. In addition, I found an organizational coach to manage my anxiety with schoolwork, and I am seeing a psychiatrist to try out new medication to help with my OCD.

I am asking for this grade to be removed from my record, so I receive the same opportunities in the future as other Queens University students. The past school year was not a true reflection of my abilities. As you can see, I achieved an outstanding GPA in the first year. I have worked very hard this term to improve my academic skills and mental health to put myself in a position to succeed this Winter 2023 semester. This F in HIST 320B is not a true reflection of my abilities, and I am requesting this to be removed from my Queens record permanently.

Sincerely,
Michelle Ehrlich