Petition Letter
Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,
I am appealing to receive credit standing for CHEM 281. I participated in this course in the Fall 2018 term. I received a passing grade of a D+, and my poor performance was due to circumstances beyond my control. These extenuating circumstances began early in the Fall term and lasted for the duration of the term. I had recently begun a new medication, which is laden with deleterious psychological side effects. I had noticed symptoms, but I had played it off to stress. Around midterm season, I had noticed that the symptoms I was experiencing were becoming extremely serious, and that they were beginning to negatively affect my academic performance. I decided to be pro-active and reduce my course load from five courses to four, in hopes that I could balance focusing on both my studies, and my well-being. I dropped PHGY 215 on October 30th, 2018. While the symptoms improved initially, the effects were not sustained. When I had reached a significantly low point, and began to question the potential cause for my psychological changes, I sought out the opinion of a physician at the LaSalle clinic, but she disregarded my symptoms as stress. Week by week, I had debilitating mental distress and exhaustion, that I played off as school related stress, as I could not draw a conclusion as to whether or not the medication was directly causing my distress. My mother, close friends, and my partner, all began raising suspicions about my erratic mood swings, and constant depressed state. As exams were approaching, my condition continued to decline, and I could barely get out of bed despite getting 10-12 hours of sleep each night. It is noted in my transcript that I achieved overall good grades in the other courses I took in the Fall 2018 semester. This course is exceptionally difficult even for students without extenuating circumstances, so I had to make the decision to shift my focus on the courses I knew I could perform well in. During exams, my emotional and physical state were at their worst, and were very unpredictable which explains why my grades for each course were so dispersed. I solely believe that my poor performance in CHEM 281 is due to the substantial decline in health I was experiencing, and that it implicated my drive and motivation to perform to my best ability. Since exams, I have consulted with multiple doctors at LaSalle over the past few months, and have stopped taking the medication. I had blood tests performed and have found that my physical exhaustion was due to being severely anemic. Despite that fact that I began a supplement before exams began, anemia can take months to cure. Additionally, Iron-deficiency anemia is among one of the most common causes for depression. It was at this time that the doctor explained to me how the medication I was taking could have been acting negatively on my emotional state, causing the constant mood swings and lasting depression. Looking forward, I have now ceased all medications, and am regularly consulting with a doctor to work on my health and curing my anemia. I am also seeking out tutoring to help support my academic needs and manage my stress as I work on improving my health. I have met with Kerri Andrews at Academic Advising Services, and discussed resources on campus, and academic options such as academic consideration, in case this happens in the future. It is for these extenuating circumstances that I believe I should not be penalized with a poor grade that does not speak to my academic abilities, and that I should receive credit standing for CHEM 281.
Sincerely,
Alexa Fiorante
I am appealing to receive credit standing for CHEM 281. I participated in this course in the Fall 2018 term. I received a passing grade of a D+, and my poor performance was due to circumstances beyond my control. These extenuating circumstances began early in the Fall term and lasted for the duration of the term. I had recently begun a new medication, which is laden with deleterious psychological side effects. I had noticed symptoms, but I had played it off to stress. Around midterm season, I had noticed that the symptoms I was experiencing were becoming extremely serious, and that they were beginning to negatively affect my academic performance. I decided to be pro-active and reduce my course load from five courses to four, in hopes that I could balance focusing on both my studies, and my well-being. I dropped PHGY 215 on October 30th, 2018. While the symptoms improved initially, the effects were not sustained. When I had reached a significantly low point, and began to question the potential cause for my psychological changes, I sought out the opinion of a physician at the LaSalle clinic, but she disregarded my symptoms as stress. Week by week, I had debilitating mental distress and exhaustion, that I played off as school related stress, as I could not draw a conclusion as to whether or not the medication was directly causing my distress. My mother, close friends, and my partner, all began raising suspicions about my erratic mood swings, and constant depressed state. As exams were approaching, my condition continued to decline, and I could barely get out of bed despite getting 10-12 hours of sleep each night. It is noted in my transcript that I achieved overall good grades in the other courses I took in the Fall 2018 semester. This course is exceptionally difficult even for students without extenuating circumstances, so I had to make the decision to shift my focus on the courses I knew I could perform well in. During exams, my emotional and physical state were at their worst, and were very unpredictable which explains why my grades for each course were so dispersed. I solely believe that my poor performance in CHEM 281 is due to the substantial decline in health I was experiencing, and that it implicated my drive and motivation to perform to my best ability. Since exams, I have consulted with multiple doctors at LaSalle over the past few months, and have stopped taking the medication. I had blood tests performed and have found that my physical exhaustion was due to being severely anemic. Despite that fact that I began a supplement before exams began, anemia can take months to cure. Additionally, Iron-deficiency anemia is among one of the most common causes for depression. It was at this time that the doctor explained to me how the medication I was taking could have been acting negatively on my emotional state, causing the constant mood swings and lasting depression. Looking forward, I have now ceased all medications, and am regularly consulting with a doctor to work on my health and curing my anemia. I am also seeking out tutoring to help support my academic needs and manage my stress as I work on improving my health. I have met with Kerri Andrews at Academic Advising Services, and discussed resources on campus, and academic options such as academic consideration, in case this happens in the future. It is for these extenuating circumstances that I believe I should not be penalized with a poor grade that does not speak to my academic abilities, and that I should receive credit standing for CHEM 281.
Sincerely,
Alexa Fiorante