Petition Letter
To the Associate Dean:
My name is Carling Counter and I am appealing for an AG grade in one of my winter term classes, POLS 242 or Contemporary Regimes with John Rapely. I was unable to take the exam for medical reasons but did complete 60 of the course work satisfactorily, so I hope you consider my case. I only need to appeal this class as I have made alternate arrangements with my other professors or finished the coursework entirely.
My medical reason for being unable to complete the exam is due to a car accident on April 8th, the day before my first exam. I was walking from my house to campus to study and was crossing at the crosswalk when someone turning left didn¿¿t see me and struck me. An ambulance was called and according to paramedics, I could not recall what had happened, where I was, or what day it was. I was then taken to the hospital, where I received CAT scans, x-rays, and 5 stitches near my eye. In total, my injuries were: minor cuts and bruises, a large cut on my knee, a large cut near my eye, a fracture of the orbital bone in my face, and a fairly severe concussion.
These affected my ability to read, write, or think clearly for the entire exam period and longer, with the concussion being the largest problem. As you may or may not know, concussions take a long time to heal and require a huge reduction in brain activity in order to do so. Just as you wouldn¿¿t walk on a broken leg, a concussion requires that you do no brain activity for the first while and increase slowly. As mine was moderately bad, for the first week and a half I was required to do no brain activity and could only passively listen to music and have short conversations with friends and family. If I tried to read, focus on a mental task, use a computer, or study I got headaches within several minutes of doing so. As such, this meant I could do absolutely no studying or working of any kind until the doctors gave the okay. For reference, I was hit on April 8th and it was not until the 22nd when I was able to read for five to ten minutes of each hour. By the 5th of May, I was using the computer for several hours and able to read and comprehend fine.
Fortunately, my doctors put me on a program that helped me return to normal brain activity slowly but surely. Thus, my extenuating circumstances were fairly short-term as I no longer get headaches and am working as a research assistant here in the Politics Department for the summer. Of course, I will keep up regular meetings with my doctors in order to make sure my brain is functioning normally even long after the accident. While on ¿brain-rest¿¿ I dictated emails to my professors, who were kind enough to make alternate arrangements so I would not have to take their exams months after learning a term¿¿s worth of material. However, one professor preferred that I go through the appeals process in order to finalize my AG grade, which currently stands as an F in SOLUS. Going forwards, all that I require with this appeal is that the F in POLS 242 be changed to the grade I achieved in the rest of the coursework but marked as an AG grade.
Thank you for your consideration and hope to hear from you soon,
Carling Counter
My name is Carling Counter and I am appealing for an AG grade in one of my winter term classes, POLS 242 or Contemporary Regimes with John Rapely. I was unable to take the exam for medical reasons but did complete 60 of the course work satisfactorily, so I hope you consider my case. I only need to appeal this class as I have made alternate arrangements with my other professors or finished the coursework entirely.
My medical reason for being unable to complete the exam is due to a car accident on April 8th, the day before my first exam. I was walking from my house to campus to study and was crossing at the crosswalk when someone turning left didn¿¿t see me and struck me. An ambulance was called and according to paramedics, I could not recall what had happened, where I was, or what day it was. I was then taken to the hospital, where I received CAT scans, x-rays, and 5 stitches near my eye. In total, my injuries were: minor cuts and bruises, a large cut on my knee, a large cut near my eye, a fracture of the orbital bone in my face, and a fairly severe concussion.
These affected my ability to read, write, or think clearly for the entire exam period and longer, with the concussion being the largest problem. As you may or may not know, concussions take a long time to heal and require a huge reduction in brain activity in order to do so. Just as you wouldn¿¿t walk on a broken leg, a concussion requires that you do no brain activity for the first while and increase slowly. As mine was moderately bad, for the first week and a half I was required to do no brain activity and could only passively listen to music and have short conversations with friends and family. If I tried to read, focus on a mental task, use a computer, or study I got headaches within several minutes of doing so. As such, this meant I could do absolutely no studying or working of any kind until the doctors gave the okay. For reference, I was hit on April 8th and it was not until the 22nd when I was able to read for five to ten minutes of each hour. By the 5th of May, I was using the computer for several hours and able to read and comprehend fine.
Fortunately, my doctors put me on a program that helped me return to normal brain activity slowly but surely. Thus, my extenuating circumstances were fairly short-term as I no longer get headaches and am working as a research assistant here in the Politics Department for the summer. Of course, I will keep up regular meetings with my doctors in order to make sure my brain is functioning normally even long after the accident. While on ¿brain-rest¿¿ I dictated emails to my professors, who were kind enough to make alternate arrangements so I would not have to take their exams months after learning a term¿¿s worth of material. However, one professor preferred that I go through the appeals process in order to finalize my AG grade, which currently stands as an F in SOLUS. Going forwards, all that I require with this appeal is that the F in POLS 242 be changed to the grade I achieved in the rest of the coursework but marked as an AG grade.
Thank you for your consideration and hope to hear from you soon,
Carling Counter