Petition Letter
To the Office of the Associate Dean (Academic)
I am appealing to drop ECON 255 (Fall, 2021), for the reason of extenuating circumstances beyond my control.
In the month leading up to the final exam, I was overwhelmed by anxiety that had a devastating impact on my ability to perform in this course. During this time, I lost hours of sleep nearly every night as well as my appetite, which in turn negatively impacted my performance, further raising my level of anxiety and creating a downward spiral that only got worse as time went on. Because of this, I failed the class regardless of the fact that I spent hours every single day studying over the course of the winter break. I have dealt with anxiety impacting my ability to perform academically in the past, and in December of 2020 my family doctor recommended I use the ??calm? app as a tool to manage it. Since that time I have used the app regularly, and while it usually works very well it was not enough to help during this time period. The reason that this class specifically was so affected during this period is because I devoted my remaining time and energy to achieving good grades in my other classes, which all had earlier exams. By prioritizing those other classes, I was able to academically perform well and achieve grades I??m happy with, just at the cost of my success in ECON 255. I didn??t drop the class earlier because had I not been so overwhelmed by stress and anxiety in the month before the final exam, I would have done far better in the course. The circumstance only arose long after week 8, at the beginning of the exam period.
In order to ensure that these circumstances never arise again, I??ve taken several steps including reaching out to both Student Wellness Services (SWS) and Student Academic Success Services (SASS). I met with a counselor from SWS on February 8th, who has granted me academic consideration for the coming 8 weeks, and she recommended that I speak to my family doctor to receive a permanent grant. Additionally, now that I??m familiar with SWS, I??ll know to reach out for support should I ever face similar circumstances. On February 9th, I spoke to an advisor from SASS, who gave me several new strategies to implement for organization and studying. These strategies will help me stay on top of my workload as much as possible, and as a result reduce my stress levels.
I am appealing to drop ECON 255 (Fall, 2021), for the reason of extenuating circumstances beyond my control.
In the month leading up to the final exam, I was overwhelmed by anxiety that had a devastating impact on my ability to perform in this course. During this time, I lost hours of sleep nearly every night as well as my appetite, which in turn negatively impacted my performance, further raising my level of anxiety and creating a downward spiral that only got worse as time went on. Because of this, I failed the class regardless of the fact that I spent hours every single day studying over the course of the winter break. I have dealt with anxiety impacting my ability to perform academically in the past, and in December of 2020 my family doctor recommended I use the ??calm? app as a tool to manage it. Since that time I have used the app regularly, and while it usually works very well it was not enough to help during this time period. The reason that this class specifically was so affected during this period is because I devoted my remaining time and energy to achieving good grades in my other classes, which all had earlier exams. By prioritizing those other classes, I was able to academically perform well and achieve grades I??m happy with, just at the cost of my success in ECON 255. I didn??t drop the class earlier because had I not been so overwhelmed by stress and anxiety in the month before the final exam, I would have done far better in the course. The circumstance only arose long after week 8, at the beginning of the exam period.
In order to ensure that these circumstances never arise again, I??ve taken several steps including reaching out to both Student Wellness Services (SWS) and Student Academic Success Services (SASS). I met with a counselor from SWS on February 8th, who has granted me academic consideration for the coming 8 weeks, and she recommended that I speak to my family doctor to receive a permanent grant. Additionally, now that I??m familiar with SWS, I??ll know to reach out for support should I ever face similar circumstances. On February 9th, I spoke to an advisor from SASS, who gave me several new strategies to implement for organization and studying. These strategies will help me stay on top of my workload as much as possible, and as a result reduce my stress levels.