Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom this may concern,

My name is Kaileigh Hurley, and I am writing to you today to plead for a late drop in one my courses. This is a product of a decline in my mental health which has led to burnout within the past year. Throughout the past year, I have experienced hardships that have accumulated to a point of no return. These events include cases of domestic maltreatment and struggles in my interpersonal relationships where I have lost huge parts of my support system. Others include an unplanned miscarriage and overworking myself- both full time in the summer months and part time during the school year- to the point of burn out. Instead of processing these events I took on an unrealistic work schedule this previous summer that ranged from 40-60 hours a week working a physically taxing outdoor job that resulted in multiple cases of heat stroke, extreme physical exhaustion, and a miscarriage from an unplanned pregnancy.

I cannot pinpoint an exact date of initiation and have overall always viewed myself as a person that “worries” a lot, but in the past academic year, I have suffered from a sadness that has crippled my eating habits, ability to be social and productive, as well as extreme moments of panic without known roots of the causes. In multiple instances this semester I have had episodes of leaving my house to attend a class, study at the library, or even to attend a social gathering and have felt a wave of panic so great that it has caused me to abruptly leave prematurely, or not even make it to the destination at all.

This is a low point for me, as I am someone who lacks the ability to ask for help, and often tries to deal with everything on my own whether it is emotionally, physically, or financially. I have shut out a lot of the remaining people who care about me in the full knowledge of my struggles and have only recently sought out any form of medical attention. In speaking to my family physician, who has provided me a note agreeing that I should not take on any more than is needed to graduate in this point in time, he has proposed that I should speak with him more to get a potential prescription for antidepressant/antianxiety medication. As I am planning to take a year off from studies post grad before applying for grad school, I will be more proactive with my mental health issues and put forth a true effort to get the help that I have known I have needed for some time but have been too prideful to do so.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Kaileigh Hurley