Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
On March 14th, 2019 I received a F (48) for Assignment 1 which constitutes 35 of my overall final grade in ENIN 140 Design Thinking.
The Request
I am submitting two appeals, with the first requesting a review of the instructor's decisions on grading of term work with the goal of re-weighting the assignment in question, and the second requesting to drop the course after the last official date for dropping classes (if the first request is unsuccessful).
Extenuating Circumstances
On January 29th, Mr. Errol Christie - a close family friend - passed away. He was the wife and primary caretaker of my godmother, my younger brother's godfather, and a second father to my mother. When my mother first moved from Port Antonio to Kingston, it was the Christies who rented her an apartment and helped her with her expenses. Mr. Christie attended my parents' wedding and even helped my mother when she was buying our house.
Mr. Christie was involved in my life since I was a very young girl. His family attended my christening and my family began regularly attending their church. Even after our move to Canada, we remained good friends and connected regularly through Facebook and WhatsApp. During our most recent family trip to Florida, we visited them. Mr. Christie even loaned us his car to get around town for the week. In short, he was very important to my family and was loved and appreciated by us dearly.
Mr. Christie's death was not unforeseen but his four-year battle with lymphatic cancer took a sudden turn for the worst in a few short weeks. The 6'2 man with the deepest laugh I had ever heard and the kindest heart was shriveled up in a hospital bed. My mother in particular did not take his passing well. Her low moods were more frequent which required a concerted effort by my father and I to comfort her. When she feels low, we usually give her extra space. This time she was very vocal about her feelings. My mother and I talked on the phone every day that week. My family found comfort in our Christian beliefs. We also found comfort in the familiarity of our family members' voices by calling them every other day instead of the usual once or twice a week.
To add salt to the wound, my mother received another invitation for a funeral for another family friend a few days later. During this time, I reached out to my two best friends via our group chat on Snapchat and called a friend, in addition to the now-daily telephone calls home. I did not seek professional help because I was trying to find comfort in my faith, talking to family and friends, taking time off classes and extracurriculars to mourn. I was not having any manic episodes, abusing substances, or engaging in dangerous and risky behaviour.
These events were occurring before the February 8th deadline for the assignment. As a result, my abilities to concentrate and perform were diminished. Although there were no other assignments due that week, I found it difficult to focus on the one at hand. I found it odd that for such a large class, there were no Teaching Assistants listed on OnQ, so I turned to past and currently enrolled students for help. I ultimately submitted to assignment a day late because of a technological problem that was out of my control which required me to redo an entire missing section. This added more stress to my situation.
In a frantic panic after receiving the final mark, I immediately contacted the instructor asking for a re-weighting of the assignment, permission to redo the entire assignment, or permission to submit the missing written piece. Citing fairness to the other 1499 students, these requests were all declined. Since then, my case has been forwarded to around 8 different people in different departments and administrations. This stress from this ordeal left me with an asthma attack, constant headaches and nausea, neck and shoulder pains, inconsistent attendance for all on-campus classes, and late submissions of assignments in other classes. The tables turned since I am now the one calling and crying over the phone.
On March 14th, 2019 I received a F (48) for Assignment 1 which constitutes 35 of my overall final grade in ENIN 140 Design Thinking.
The Request
I am submitting two appeals, with the first requesting a review of the instructor's decisions on grading of term work with the goal of re-weighting the assignment in question, and the second requesting to drop the course after the last official date for dropping classes (if the first request is unsuccessful).
Extenuating Circumstances
On January 29th, Mr. Errol Christie - a close family friend - passed away. He was the wife and primary caretaker of my godmother, my younger brother's godfather, and a second father to my mother. When my mother first moved from Port Antonio to Kingston, it was the Christies who rented her an apartment and helped her with her expenses. Mr. Christie attended my parents' wedding and even helped my mother when she was buying our house.
Mr. Christie was involved in my life since I was a very young girl. His family attended my christening and my family began regularly attending their church. Even after our move to Canada, we remained good friends and connected regularly through Facebook and WhatsApp. During our most recent family trip to Florida, we visited them. Mr. Christie even loaned us his car to get around town for the week. In short, he was very important to my family and was loved and appreciated by us dearly.
Mr. Christie's death was not unforeseen but his four-year battle with lymphatic cancer took a sudden turn for the worst in a few short weeks. The 6'2 man with the deepest laugh I had ever heard and the kindest heart was shriveled up in a hospital bed. My mother in particular did not take his passing well. Her low moods were more frequent which required a concerted effort by my father and I to comfort her. When she feels low, we usually give her extra space. This time she was very vocal about her feelings. My mother and I talked on the phone every day that week. My family found comfort in our Christian beliefs. We also found comfort in the familiarity of our family members' voices by calling them every other day instead of the usual once or twice a week.
To add salt to the wound, my mother received another invitation for a funeral for another family friend a few days later. During this time, I reached out to my two best friends via our group chat on Snapchat and called a friend, in addition to the now-daily telephone calls home. I did not seek professional help because I was trying to find comfort in my faith, talking to family and friends, taking time off classes and extracurriculars to mourn. I was not having any manic episodes, abusing substances, or engaging in dangerous and risky behaviour.
These events were occurring before the February 8th deadline for the assignment. As a result, my abilities to concentrate and perform were diminished. Although there were no other assignments due that week, I found it difficult to focus on the one at hand. I found it odd that for such a large class, there were no Teaching Assistants listed on OnQ, so I turned to past and currently enrolled students for help. I ultimately submitted to assignment a day late because of a technological problem that was out of my control which required me to redo an entire missing section. This added more stress to my situation.
In a frantic panic after receiving the final mark, I immediately contacted the instructor asking for a re-weighting of the assignment, permission to redo the entire assignment, or permission to submit the missing written piece. Citing fairness to the other 1499 students, these requests were all declined. Since then, my case has been forwarded to around 8 different people in different departments and administrations. This stress from this ordeal left me with an asthma attack, constant headaches and nausea, neck and shoulder pains, inconsistent attendance for all on-campus classes, and late submissions of assignments in other classes. The tables turned since I am now the one calling and crying over the phone.