Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I have had some serious mitigating circumstances this term that affected my ability to complete course work on time, and WRIT 125 has been the most difficult course to manage because of these outstanding circumstances. One of these circumstances was previously submitted under an academic accommodation request for WRIT 125, as I had contracted a fever and a bad fatigue for a week and a half. The other circumstance is the overwhelming anxiety that I have had come to the forefront since the last examination period. My anxiety mostly developed over the course of the examination period, as I had nightmares throughout the duration of that examination period that made sleeping difficult. Thereafter, in the intervening period between the end of the examination period and the start of the winter term, as well as throughout the start of the winter term I had developed an even more debilitating anxiety as I already possessed some symptoms of Anxiety Disorder. This anxiety manifested in extreme restlessness, a profound lack of focus and insomnia(even recently I went without sleep for up to 48 hours). This made it hard to wake up at appropriate times to get to work. Much of my time was spent trying to cheaply ward off this anxiety by finding some distraction to keep me constantly preoccupied. With regards to WRIT 125, it meant that the rest of my courses occupied much of the time I was able to focus on, as I had problem practices, quizzes and assignments to complete. WRIT 125 became impossible as compared to the other courses which revolved more about learning to problem solve, WRIT 125 involved much more studying of course material and research. Essays were also excessively difficult for me, as they involved developing along structures and I could not focus on these things because of said anxiety that kept me pre occupied. When the first module came along, and the first assignment later I was entirely driven by turning my attention away from my lingering anxiety and I had to submit the assignment drastically late(just before the two week lateness deadline) as a result and missed the first module-discussion(worth 5%) so I spent the time I was able to focus playing catch-up, meaning I had to submit subsequent assignments late as well. I have recently contacted my family doctor so I can get some help with this debilitating anxiety as it is having an incredibly bad effect on my private and academic life, and I hope to get some help with this as soon as I can. When the third assignment came along, a couple days after the time the assignment was released, I contracted a fever and a fatigue. It may have been the flu as I haven't had a flu shot in a few years(but have had covid shots). During this period I was only able to dole out very little work such as quizzes and small assignments for courses like linear algebra. I was unable to get any work done for WRIT 125 as the hours I was awake I was occupied with quizzes due that day. By the time I had recovered it had been more than a week a half, and the assignment was already very late. Because of this I obtained an academic extension so that I could submit the assignment with limited penalty. I ended up being able to submit the third assignment right before the due date of the fourth. Then, I submitted the last module and the fourth assignment only a week prior to the due date for the final assignment, but by that point I had to really get down and study for my upcoming exams, which left me nearly no time to fulfill the 11th deadline for getting the credit for the course. Because of this and my broader anxiety about the rest of the courses I had I was unable to get the fifth assignment done on time. This is why I request the course to be dropped, as the extenuating circumstances placed on me made it impossible to achieve the credit for WRIT 125 this year, and the mark penalties I've received from this course alone have made it very unlikely that I will be able to qualify for the computing pending lists I need to get into. I will try to enroll in this course this summer to give it another go as I need it or something else in its category to graduate. I believe I am capable of retaking the course in the future as I have generally been near the top of my class throughout high school english, so I believe my results thus far have been due to my building anxiety issues. If needed, I will submit doctor's documents in the near future regarding my progress with my anxiety and any forthcoming diagnoses. Thank you for your patience.