Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Towards the end of summer and into the fall semester of 2024, my grandmother’s health issues began to get worse; developing kidney failure and multiple heart issues, ultimately resulting in her hospitalization. Sadly, she passed away on September 29, 2024. While I continue to feel the weight of her absence, the impact was particularly profound during October, immediately following her passing. During this period, I struggled to manage my grief, and it significantly affected my academic performance across all courses, most notably in PATH 310.
As a Dean's List student, it was devastating to score in the 60s on a major project and receive 60% on my midterm due to my inability to study effectively while grieving. This period of loss and emotional hardship left me feeling defeated and compounded my challenges. Despite these setbacks, I worked hard to regain my footing. I made marked improvements in my participation, group work, and exam performance. Specifically, I improved by 9% between TBL 1.4 and 2.4 and raised my exam performance from 60% in the midterm to 77.92% (B+ range) in the final.
Unfortunately, these improvements were not enough to fully mitigate the impact of my grief on my overall grade in PATH 310, which now jeopardizes my ability to meet certain graduate school requirements. While I mentioned my circumstances to the professor, she cannot consider these extenuating factors in her evaluation. I am therefore requesting your understanding and reconsideration of my situation in light of the direct connection between these personal events and their impact on my academic performance.
Thank you for your time and consideration.