Petition Letter
I am requesting a drop for ECON 212 from the 2025 Winter semester due to extenuating circumstances that significantly affected my academic performance during that period. While I take responsibility for my outcome, the difficulties I experienced during this semester directly interfered with my ability to perform at my top academic level.
At the beginning of the semester, around December/January, I was already struggling mentally, and this continued for most of the term. I had a hard time focusing, staying motivated, and keeping up with the workload. As the semester went on, this started to affect my exam preparation and my performance on major assignments. I didn’t realize how much my mental health was impacting my academics until I was already falling behind, and by then, the deadlines to withdraw from the class had passed.
Midway through the semester, the course was further disrupted by a TA strike, which led to changes in all of my course structures and their grading schemes. Specifically, the reweighting of exams increased the emphasis on critical assignments. By this point, my mental health struggles had already begun affecting my academic performance for the semester, and the increased exam weighting made it extremely difficult for me to recover. My performance on the midterm and the final was directly impacted by these unforeseen circumstances.
These issues affected me for the remainder of the semester and had the greatest impact on my exam performance and my overall course outcome. By the time I fully understood the extent of my situation and how it was affecting my academics, the deadline to withdraw from the course had already passed.
After this period, I took steps to address the mental challenges I’ve been facing. I focused on stabilizing my mental health and reassessing my current academic approach. Moving forward, I made changes on how I would approach my workload and reach out to either loved ones or professionals when I’m feeling too overwhelmed, and so far, these have made some improvements in my academic performance.
My academic record also reflects how difficult my first few semesters of university were for me mentally. My GPA is currently low, but this is not because I am not trying. I am actively working towards improvement and academic recovery. A clear example of this is when I retook ECON 212 the following semester and passed with a much better grade, which shows that under more stable conditions, I am capable of succeeding in this course.
Finally, since that semester, I have been taking steps to better understand and manage my mental health. I have spoken to counsellors and have been more active about seeking support when I feel overwhelmed, which I never used to. So far, these steps have helped me feel more stabilized and improved academically, and I am continuing to work on this every day.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my request and review my petition. Have a great rest of your year, and happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Christopher Koumoutsakis
20360045
At the beginning of the semester, around December/January, I was already struggling mentally, and this continued for most of the term. I had a hard time focusing, staying motivated, and keeping up with the workload. As the semester went on, this started to affect my exam preparation and my performance on major assignments. I didn’t realize how much my mental health was impacting my academics until I was already falling behind, and by then, the deadlines to withdraw from the class had passed.
Midway through the semester, the course was further disrupted by a TA strike, which led to changes in all of my course structures and their grading schemes. Specifically, the reweighting of exams increased the emphasis on critical assignments. By this point, my mental health struggles had already begun affecting my academic performance for the semester, and the increased exam weighting made it extremely difficult for me to recover. My performance on the midterm and the final was directly impacted by these unforeseen circumstances.
These issues affected me for the remainder of the semester and had the greatest impact on my exam performance and my overall course outcome. By the time I fully understood the extent of my situation and how it was affecting my academics, the deadline to withdraw from the course had already passed.
After this period, I took steps to address the mental challenges I’ve been facing. I focused on stabilizing my mental health and reassessing my current academic approach. Moving forward, I made changes on how I would approach my workload and reach out to either loved ones or professionals when I’m feeling too overwhelmed, and so far, these have made some improvements in my academic performance.
My academic record also reflects how difficult my first few semesters of university were for me mentally. My GPA is currently low, but this is not because I am not trying. I am actively working towards improvement and academic recovery. A clear example of this is when I retook ECON 212 the following semester and passed with a much better grade, which shows that under more stable conditions, I am capable of succeeding in this course.
Finally, since that semester, I have been taking steps to better understand and manage my mental health. I have spoken to counsellors and have been more active about seeking support when I feel overwhelmed, which I never used to. So far, these steps have helped me feel more stabilized and improved academically, and I am continuing to work on this every day.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my request and review my petition. Have a great rest of your year, and happy New Year.
Sincerely,
Christopher Koumoutsakis
20360045