Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am writing to humbly request that I may be permitted to drop GNDS 125, even though I understand the deadline has passed. I made the decision to drop the course two days ago, and stated my intention to my TA as well as my academic advisor, Kerri Andrews. Lately, the past few weeks to be specific, my mental health has taken a downwards turn. I have ADHD as well as anxiety and depression. I have struggled with depression for years now, but lately things have improved. I'm not sure what triggered the feelings of melancholy lately, but it has affected me academically, especially in my gender studies course, as certain ways the course is run and organized are different than I'm used to, and there's been difficulty with my academic accommodations (I can provide more detail if needed). This led to me falling behind, and even though my prof hasn't released any grades, my TA indicated that I should drop the course. Since my depression was particularly bad last year (to the point I could barely function) I failed two of my course, and if I can't drop this course, I risk failing out of school. I would like to apologize sincerely for my error, as I should've dropped the course the second I made the decision. As this was all happening, I was extremely emotionally overwhelmed, especially due to the fact that before reading week, I forgot my medication, and even though I'm back on it now, I'm still not quite back to normal. As a result, I took time away from the computer to try and calm myself down emotionally, resulting in me missing the deadline by approximately 4 hours (I wrote my first draft to this letter just before 4am). I completely understand that the blame for not meeting the deadline is entirely my own, and I personally was filled with shame and regret when I noticed my error. However, I sincerely hope that you will accept my request to drop this course.

Sincerely,
Lauren MacDonnell