Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Crow,

I am writing to plead my case as to how my extenuating circumstances validate a late course drop. The week of February 27th-March 3rd I started experiencing abdominal pain that stayed with me the whole week no matter what I tried to do. I was constantly in discomfort, however with the pressing demands of course loads I tried to push through. I was too stressed and focused on my six courses to find a time to go see a doctor. However, ignoring my health eventually caught up to me, on Saturday March 4th my appendix burst. While I had planned to spend a day at the library studying, instead I was at the hospital, in agony until vomiting and getting ultrasounds, MRIs, and pelvic exams. That night I went into an emergency surgery to remove my appendix. On March 5th following the surgery, my stress regarding my courses was higher than before and I was weighing how I could keep up my studying. Once remembering the course drop deadline was March 3rd, I realized I had no choice but to push through. The surgeon gave me a note of dismissal for a week as I was in recovery. I was planning on taking this time to study and rest, in anticipation that the recovery would be seamless. Unfortunately this was not the case- I was constantly exhausted, still in pain, nauseous, and could barely stand up straight. Attempting to focus on academics was unbearable, the pressure of spending the day working while trying to get better was only worsening my wellbeing. On Tuesday, March 14th, I woke up feeling horrible. I had concerning postoperative symptoms, and trying to power through the pain was not helping my recovery. I was avoiding going back to get medical help because I was so stressed in school and had so much to catch up on that week from my academic consideration. Nevertheless, I knew something was wrong so I went back to the hospital. It was a good thing I put my health first, as the doctors discovered an abscess in my stomach from a complication of the surgery. Along with that, I was diagnosed with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. I was admitted to the hospital and was kept there for four days, undergoing different kinds of treatment. My time in the hospital was physically and mentally taxing, which led me to push school to the back burner. As my treatment started to come to an end, friends and family of mine raised concern to the psychiatrists about my safety when discharged. This was difficult to come to terms with, as all I wanted was to be healthy, mentally and physically. When discussing everything that was dragging me down, psychiatrists and family advised me to prioritize my health before I started school again. I received a doctor??s note until March 27th for academic consideration. Since I??ve been out of the hospital, I??ve been focusing on healing, rebuilding my relationships and resting so I can regain my strength. The additional pressure of passing my courses is an unrealistic goal during this time. In my plans of reviving my wellbeing, lightening my course load from 6 to 3 courses is what I ask for. I trust you will understand my situation and how the extenuating circumstances override the course drop deadline.

Thank you for the opportunity to explain.
Sincerely,
Claire Mellow