Petition Letter
This year I was put on academic probation and needed to get my GPA up to not be on probation and asked to take a year off of school but unfortunately during my second semester, I went through quite a traumatic experience within my family. I had known for a little while that my brother sometimes struggled with issues involving his alcohol consumption. During my second semester, I realized how bad it had gotten and had to notify my parents. I felt extremely guilty and thought it was very much my fault that I had let my brother get to the place he had because I didn't tell anyone sooner. I thought I would be able to handle it on my own but I was wrong and because of that, he got to a place where I did not even recognize him. After notifying my parents, my home life became an instant mess for around 6 or 7 months. Trying to get my brother the help he needed even though he refused was a different battle every day. This was not only so mentally painful for me to witness as his younger sister but, also for my parents who I had never seen so helpless and hurt in my life. This unfortunately made it extremely difficult to focus on school because my mind was very distracted. Also, the fact that there was always a yelling match taking place in my house most days. I found myself trying to take care of my drunk brother most nights to take some of the weight and stress off of my parents. I am a person who already struggles with anxiety and sought medical attention for it a couple of years ago. Whilst all of this was going on I tried my best to make time to see my therapist and work out my emotions to the best of my ability. I had submitted an academic appeal with the supporting documentation from my doctor during the second semester which had been approved to get a lot of my due dates pushed back. Even though most of my professors were extremely accommodating, mentally it was just too much for me to handle at the time. I am currently in a much better place mentally and I think if I had the opportunity to continue with school in the right mindset it would make all the difference.