Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Johanne Bénard,
I am appealing for credit standing in CHEM 213, ANAT 215, and CHEM 212, along with appealing to drop CHEM 223 and CLST 201 after the academic deadline.
There have been extenuating circumstances beyond my control that have occurred this year that have had a negative impact on my academic performance. One of these events was that early on in the year my dad had gotten into trouble at work that has imposed financial stress on my family and myself. I had worked all summer and still counted on my parents to help pay for my schooling because I do not qualify for any financial aid and due to a series of events at work by parents have had difficulty paying for my tuition alongside rent and other various expenses. This has caused stress throughout the year that has made it more difficult to perform to the best of my abilities. Alongside the financial stress I also had a fallout with my friends/roommates in the house I live in now. Around the end of term in fall I had gotten angry over the constant mess they were leaving which resulted in a big fight that ended with them provoking me in various ways until they eventually moved out which left me alone in a 5 person house with the responsibility of caring for it and paying for the majority of utilities. This has at least doubled my cost of living and added to the financial stress. Along with the financial stress the time they had still lived in this house they were making my daily life more difficult with various impediments even blocking areas of the house with furniture and provoking me with notes and resorted to even removing my food from the freezer and putting it on the counter. After they left the house has been a constant reminder of how I had lost essentially the only people I considered friends and that I am alone here. This constant reminder has made it very difficult to focus and get work done always being reminded that I have to pay so much to live in a house that constantly reminds me that I have nobody here to be friends with. It has been incredibly demotivating making it difficult to remain focused for long since anytime I get up to go to the kitchen or bathroom I walk by everyone¿¿s¿¿ doors and have to remember that they are all gone now. Since the events with my ex-housemates I have been attending all classes as normal (except when I accidentally overslept or uncontrollable issues arose) however it has been much more difficult to focus in class and too often in class the events replay in my head while I try to listen to the professor.
I realized that next year I need to find a new place to live that is a much more positive environment so I had been keeping an eye on various places and have just signed a lease to move into a more affordable place with some people that are very friendly. My plan for next year is to use this more positive environment to get more organized and work harder where I can improve my grades. I am able to contact a psychiatrist that I plan on returning to this summer to help me find a way to deal with the past and perfect my plan for the future that I believe will help me become more organized, productive, and focused so that I can forget about the negative events of this year. I am also planning on switching into environmental sciences as chemistry is a subject that has challenged me during this year much more so than I thought it would with all of the unplanned events that have added difficulty to this year and after much research I have found a faculty that interests me much more and that I believe I will be able to perform much better in now that I have formed a plan that will put me in a better place for my third year of university. I am planning on changing my major to environmental science and completing this program within two or three years depending on the availability of summer courses. I have drafted a rough plan of the necessary courses and as long as I am able to take the right summer courses I should be able to be finished in at least two years and three at the most. This summer I also plan to work full time (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) at a job I am guaranteed when I return home and be much more financially responsible now that I am aware of the financial difficulty of my family as it was not the same last summer. With the more positive environment and less financial stress in a branch of science that really interests me I believe that I can not only perform better in my academics but be more productive with my life as a whole achieving the education I need to find a career that I love and enjoy doing for the rest of my life.
Thank you for your consideration,
Maxwell Irwin