Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jill Atkinson,

I am appealing to drop BIOL 540B (Winter 2016), PSYC 399 (Winter 2016) and PHIL 311 (Fall 2016), and to receive credit standing in PSYC 203 (Winter 2016). Although it has been several terms since I took those courses, I haven¿¿t appealed them until now due to lasting extenuating circumstances, including both family problems and personal psychological issues.
My father was diagnosed with lung cancer in late fall/early winter of 2015. I initially felt angry, at my father, for not taking care of himself, at his family doctor and at the unfairness of it all. I also felt guilty, for not being there for him or stopping him for smoking. Above all, I felt cynical and extremely pessimistic about the future. I attempted to spend more time with my family. Going home frequently from Kingston to the GTA adversely affected my BIOL 540B peer mentorship as well as my classwork in other courses. I felt helpless, useless, and very negative. My depressive state affected both my relationship with my parents and my coursework. I didn¿¿t end up completing my BIOL 540 peer mentorship or finishing my final assignments for PSYC 399 and PSYC 203. When I was in Kingston, I¿¿d often ended up not attending class or my lab work.

I felt so negative that I barely did course registration for my fourth year, taking only three courses. Again, my attendance was poor due to my depressive state and didn¿¿t complete assignments for PHIL 311. During this time, I mostly stayed home. Trying to take care of my father felt so pointless that I became withdrawn from my family.

After attending some CBT sessions in spring and summer last year, and spending more time with my parents, I resolved to finish my undergrad this year. I appealed to return to studies and fulfilled the rest of my degree requirements. My academic performance has been good, and my GPA in line with previous years before my father¿¿s cancer. However, I¿¿ve avoided thinking about negative events in the past years (as they cause me significant psychological distress), and it hasn¿¿t been until now that I¿¿ve appealed. Although my degree is almost finished, I¿¿d like to go into academia in the future. I feel that the courses I¿¿m appealing are not reflective of any scholarly merit I may have, and they have a significant adverse affect on any graduate applications I make. Without those courses, my GPA meets the requirements of most graduate programs that I¿¿m interested in. In the future, I plan to work as a research assistant for a year to demonstrate that I¿¿m capable of graduate work.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Allen (Haolun) Tian