Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I am writing this the day before my final exam, because I cannot take it. I have always been someone with mental health issues, but over the past month, it has gotten considerably worse. My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago, and I was not able to say goodbye because I was here for classes. This is my first major loss in many years, and I have been struggling with how to deal with this. I am quite uncomfortable with death in general, but I did not want my mother to be made to pack up all of her mother's things and sell them, so I went home to help. Most of the time that I should have been studying, but I was trying to move my grandma's heavy couch so my mom wouldn't have to. I am the oldest, so I do feel this was my responsibility. In professional life, proper bereavement time would have been given.

In addition, my body has been failing me. In March, I began having really bad wrist pain in my dominant hand. I was able to write midterms and my other finals because I had a doctor's note asking that I could use a laptop, which worked well. However, that doctor's note has now expired. For me to get another doctor's note right now would be giving up most of my grocery money for the week. In the past 24 hours, something has also happened to my foot, which is making it difficult to walk. I would request another deferral, but the supporting documentation costs money that I need for food and rent.

I would rather not fail the course because of things that were out of my control, but I also don't know what to do at this point. I spoke with academic advising, and they told me about these petitions. This seems like my best option, so I am asking for some help.

Axelle Dolan