Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

As I continue to thrive towards course completion in some, even if it will not be accepted, I would like to discuss my plan moving forward if my appeal for withdraw is successful and how it is improved from last year. Compared to last year, where all my classes were dropped after failure of completion, this year I was actually able to complete courses, some with grades I was happy with comparatively to previous years. I think this shows that some of the pieces I put in place in my plan last year were successful. For example, my communication with my advisor was greatly improved this year and my use of the resources at my disposal as well. However one aspect I severely overlooked last year was stress management. I have many different migraine triggers but my main ones include stress and weather change. Now, obviously I cannot control the weather but stress IS something I can control, with a condition where I often feel helpless. I mentioned stress management in my appeal last year but was unaware of what that truly meant. I thought by being more productive, active, and present I would be able to completely reduce stress. For a while I thought this worked, as I said the end of last summer and beginning of fall semester was great in terms of pain. However when the true stress of midterms, exams big projects and falling behind arose, it all came back. This shows me that I can??t do this by myself, no matter how determined. Because of this, along with constantly speaking with my doctor about medications and pharmaceutical therapies, I am also currently looking into seeking help from a therapist or counsellor that can help me with this stress management, and guide me through various things I can do for myself. This is something I will be doing regardless of the success of my appeal because stress management is something that is vital in not just university, but life, and is something I need to learn from a professional. Further, although it may take even longer to finally complete my degree I will take reduce course loads to minimize stress as well as reduce how far I fall behind, if it ever comes to that. I will also continue to work rigorously with my advisor who was always there for me this year.

I have included various documents to this letter including my original neurologist diagnosis, my most recent LOA, and a form filled out by my doctor regarding my migraines.

I am aware that appeals for the same circumstance are not often granted, but I truly hope that through this letter you are able to see both my determination to improve and complete the requirements for my degree, as well as the steps I am taking and plan to take in order to give me the best odds of success.

Regards,
Miles