Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

The purpose of this letter, is to request an appeal to drop both SOCY389¿¿ Gender, Law and Crime (Winter, 2018), and SOCY 363- Science Technology and Society (Winter, 2018).
Unable to focus, at a constant battle with myself, and a loss of motivation, the mental state I dropped into, distorted my priorities and the world around me. Unconsciously, throughout the school year, I began to disconnect myself from the world around me, my priorities, my relationships and my feelings. The sense of feeling numb and emotionless, trapped me within the mental barriers I set up, leaving me unaffected by failures or negative events and blocking all the negative emotions I should have felt. Spending more time battling myself and attempting to spark motivation, getting the simplest of tasks done such as making food or taking a shower became a struggle. Mentally, I felt tired and defeated, with so much willpower and effort put into battling myself, it felt like there was nothing left for other things going on in my life; such as my physical health, my academics, my relationships. Constantly feeling tired and drained, academic task such as going to class, working on assignments and group work became daunting tasks, as so much self-motivation and effort were needed to do them. Mentally, it felt like I did not have enough energy for everything going on within my life, causing there to be imbalance in all aspects of my life. I found imbalances in everywhere including schooling, where some classes seemed tolerable, whereas others I could not focus. Finding myself falling, I tried to persevere through and combat my mental state, but this ultimately left me mentally exhausted, tired of school, work, and the world around me. Everything around me began to slip and become negatively affected, the mental state I was in became accustomed to and accepted all the failures, destruction, and negativity I had done. Being so accustomed to failure and negative thoughts, I could not see the positive in anything, in schooling, in health, and in relationships, I did not have the motivation, effort or energy to push myself or strive forward, but rather did as much needed to get by. The loss of energy, had me lead this mentality of ¿just getting by¿¿, in all aspects of my life, ignoring outcomes and consequences, and avoiding future implications. Holding this mentality for a year before receiving professional help, the loss of mental energy and motivation, disconnected me from the hard work and care I placed not only on my academics but also on other aspects of my life. Being trapped within myself, this mental state created a misrepresentation of who I am as an individual, and did not allow me to work, learn, feel, and think clearly.
Although, I have my struggles with mental health, I have sought for and am receiving the professional help to combat and understand the problems I face mentally. Receiving therapy session every week, the discussion has allowed for me to remove the mental barriers I set up and allow for my mind to be at peace. The time I spent in darkness, although ruining and creating hardship in my life, opened my eyes to what I need, and the plans I need to succeed. It opened my eyes to realizations about myself, causing me to create changes in my program, lifestyle, habits and help I receive. The changes have lightened the work load on me reducing the academic stress allowing for me to balance out my mental health and academia. The time spent trapped within myself also, opened my eyes to personal realization about myself, allowing me to clearly understand life goals and formulate a plan to get there. The main reasoning for this letter is because, this is not a representation of who I am, or I want to be portray, although I struggle at times with my mental health, I do not want it to become a representation of who I am and my work ethic, I am not one to become defeated and this portrayal of myself is not my full potential, although lost at times and falling into hardship, I am one to pick myself, and do whatever it takes to succeed, I have changed my lifestyle to one in which positively affect my life, sought the professional help I need to remain balanced mentally, and rekindled the fighting energy within me. This letter, asks for a second chance to prove my potentially and disallow myself from becoming defeated by my mental problems.

Sincerely yours,

Daryl Balaoing ¿¿ 10194066
Faculty of Arts and Science (Sociology)