Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Stephenson,

I am petitioning to drop ANAT 309 for the Fall 2023 semester. My inability to continue with ANAT 309 is the result of an acute depressive episode. I’m going to try my best to keep this concise while explaining all important information regarding my thought process on this decision in relation to my academic performance.

As seen through my late entry into the course and a switch from the specialization plan to the major plan in my LISC degree, I have been struggling with finding a pathway in my education and academic goals. I very frequently hear that it’s “normal to be unsure about the future”. I cannot wrap my head around this because I have been in a state of constant worry trying my best to figure out what to do next. This feeling has been amplified this year knowing that I only have one year left of my degree; this is relative to admittance into further education programs and a requirement of keeping a full course load while achieving a high GPA in my final two years. I’m trying my best to convince myself that feeling like this is normal as I know that many students experience this. I can’t help but feel that I am failing at this part of my life and that I am setting myself up for a life of loss. I put effort into my studies and make attempts to suppress these feelings, but I believe that I have found myself to be at an extreme low point at this time.

This really started affecting my academics after the Fall term reading week. This impacted my studying for the upcoming midterm season, specifically, the two back-to-back midterms for ANAT 309 (a lab bellringer midterm and a theory midterm). I had been enjoying ANAT 309 for the most part, thus I did not feel the need to drop the course prior to the course-drop deadline. I have experience studying histology through my enrolment in ANAT 215 and ANAT 216 last year. Given that, I knew that this course would be challenging. The challenge that I’m faced with now however, is not in relation to the academic material. I have been faced with a rather frequent mood of depression within this last month which makes studying extremely difficult. After writing the midterms (Oct. 26th and Oct. 27th), I expected my grades to be subpar, however, I was not expecting to fail both exams. I scored a 44% and a 47.5% on my lab exam and theory exam, respectively. I did not receive these grades until after the course-drop deadline. I have never felt this awful or hopeless about a course. I do try to consider myself as a rather resilient individual, however, I feel I have been defeated this time. I have been caught up in a mindset that has seemed to seriously affect the trajectory of my academic success.

The majority of my midterms for my other courses took place prior to reading week. I have been most affected by this course due to the timing of my midterms and the timing of life events. I have been experiencing a lot of trouble focusing on work and I feel that my memorization skills have declined. Given that this course is rather memory intensive, I have been having an extremely difficult time. I feel as if I began to neglect the course material as I lost all motivation for this course. Dropping this course is in my best interest such that I can save my GPA and not fall below the expected cumulative average for good academic standing. I am very upset that this is the best option for my academic success, but I do not feel that any other means will suffice. I have reached out to academic advising about this matter and have been referred for counselling. If the drop for this course is granted, I am planning to retake ANAT 309 next year. I am confident that at a different time, I will be able to succeed in this course. But at this moment, I will come out of this course with no avail.

I appreciate the time taken to read my petition. I can provide supporting documentation following my counselling appointments. Do not hesitate to reach out with any inquiries regarding my standpoint on the matter.