Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: On September 28th, 2016 at around 8:00 am, I was in a motor-vehicle collision. I was a passenger in my own vehicle when traffic came to an abrupt stop. The driver slammed on the brakes and swerved to the right, so most of the impact was on the drivers side. I was whipped forward into the airbag, and was unconscious for a few minutes. I immediately got out of the car and called 911. By the time emergency crews arrived and we were on our way to the emergency room, it was around 9:30 in the morning. He was taken in by ambulance, I rode as a passenger and checked in to the ER. I was worried as I¿¿ve had five concussions previously and knew I was easily susceptible to them. The doctor came into the room, briefly talked to me about the accident and examined lacerations on my arm and chest, examined my shoulders and neck, informed me I had a concussion and needed to rest.

This concussion, however, has caused long-lasting symptoms that has impacted my participation and ability to read and write for an extended period of time. Even now, I find that if I have to heavily read or write, I will get migraines that last for multiple days and cause me to be sick. This therefore impacts class and tutorial attendance. For this reason, I applied and received accommodations for the winter semester to ensure my success this semester.

Furthermore, on November 15th, 2016, I was diagnosed with Mononucleosis. This came at a time where my concussion symptoms were worsening due to the fact I had multiple assignments due at once, and ultimately the sudden illness further impacted my attendance and ability to complete assignments.

Between the two illnesses, I had trouble succeeding in DEVS 340, a course that is largely exam based. I found when given more time to complete essays, I was able to succeed. The same went for DEVS 340, where I achieved a good grade on my essay. However, with a majority of the marks coming from the midterm and final exams, I struggled to do well. With the time constraint of studying, coupled with the amount of writing I had to do to complete the exams, I suffered from intense migraines that made it difficult to focus and recall information I had studied. I was even sick throughout writing the final exam, causing me to leave the room three times.

I found that other professors provided me with accommodations that helped me to succeed in my course, allowing me to achieve grades that I would achieve under normal circumstances. While the TA of DEVS 340 provided me with accommodations to my tutorial participation grade, I never heard back from the professor in regards to my situation. It is for this reason I am requesting that this grade be changed to a CR, as I truly do not think this grade is reflective of who I am as a student, but is rather a product of unfortunate circumstances.