Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I apologize for the tardiness of this appeal as I should have submitted it as soon as my winter 2017 semester finished. I hope that in submitting this appeal, I would be able to recognize and put in the past the extenuating circumstances that stood as a road block in my academic career as it is still a constant reminder to this day. I hope that in the future, whoever is looking at my transcript will see that during those years I had challenging events and to notice the improvements that I've made afterwards. My goal is to revisit first and second year to clear the grades that are holding me back from moving forward; in the fall/winter term of 2015-16 BIOL 102 (C+) and BIOL 103 (C-), in the winter term of 2017 BIOL 202 (C-) and CISC 101 (D). I understand that usually the policy is to only consider anything lower than a C but in the case of BIOL 102 I would hope that when looking at my transcript one would see that I was affected entirety of those semesters and see a more complete transcript. Along with BIOL 102/103, I wish to include BIOL 202 and CISC 101 even though they were a later semester, during which I was still coming out of the extenuating circumstance, picking up pieces in both my mental and physical health. The MATH 121 that was dropped in that semester was due to my appeal letter addressing an earlier MATH 121 as I wasn't sure if I was allowed to appeal those marks (BIOL 202 and CISC 101) since it was so late. Following the timeline of events, I believe those grades from the fall 2015 semester in first year to winter 2017 semester in second year were all effected in some way or another and all other grades outside of this timeline is attributed to my own study efforts. I understand that revisiting appeals already granted is uncommon, but I hope my appeal may be taken into consideration with an open mind and heart as my goal here is to do the best I can moving forward and take the right steps to hopefully becoming a physician in the field of healthcare.

I understand that I should have and could have changed those marks when I had the chance to and should have encompassed all of my marks in first year. My intentions were not to first be allowed into my degree plan and then change my marks after, but a mistake in the limited communication which I take responsibility for. In first and second year, as a student who didn't quite understand how to approach the staff and faculty, I only exchanged email communications with the undergraduate assistant with regards to my appeal decision. When I went in to talk to the undergraduate assistant of the faculty of biology this year, she has agreed with me in that I had 2 major deadline pressures that contributed to my rushed decision in submitting my appeal as well as an incomplete knowledge of whether or not I would have been accepted into the Biology Honours Degree if I had changed BIOL 102/103 to credit standing. The plan to change major deadline as well as the ruling to withdraw both contributed to my decision to go ahead with the appeal. The undergraduate assistant's response to my initial email about credit standing marks was a simple answer to the normal entrance requirements and nothing referring to my actual situation with credit standing marks. My mistake then was not having gone to her in person, as a first-year student I assumed that the best way to contact department staff was to only email. Knowing her a little better now, she is very sweet, kind, and inclusive and has an open door with the aim of helping students. Had I known this earlier, I would have gone into her office when we were first discussing the appeal. In this recent meeting with her, I had asked her if I had come to her all those years ago and asked, If I changed all my marks from first year to CR, would I still be accepted into the Biology Honours Degree Plan. what her answer would have been. Her answer was yes, I would have been accepted if all my marks from first year including BIOL 102/103 were changed to credit standing as she has admitted students before in the same circumstance.

I believe that my choice to go ahead with my appeal the first time was mainly influenced by the deadlines that approached and wanting to be in a degree plan come the following September. I think that I've shown great improvement in my following years after the extenuating circumstance was addressed with and should be able to fix those mistakes in the past as the goal of appeals is to give students the opportunity to have their grades reflect the type of student they are. As those grades do not reflect the type of student I am because of those extenuating circumstances, I don't think my decision to push for the appeal (before those deadlines) should penalize the decision to approve my appeal this time around to correct those marks. I think that as the years gone by, I have become more knowledgeable and confident in approaching the department staff to ask the right questions and get helpful answers which is what I did this time. My extenuating circumstance 2 years ago caused me to live in a sort of bubble where I was unable to attend lectures, focus, and attain the marks that I could have in many of my courses. I was in a very toxic environment without really knowing it until I reached a point where my physical and mental health were in jeopardy. I tried my best to manage things on my own, but there were many barriers both physical and mental that were in my path. The whole process to appeal and the student services and counselling wasn't something that I knew of then or even understood properly. Although a bit late, it wasn't until I realized that I really needed help in order to succeed and to even have the possibility to reach my academic and life goals that I had even thought of going to a counsellor who suggested seeing a academic advisor. My efforts moving forward can be seen in the incline of marks I've received in the semesters following the extenuating circumstance and most recently being given the opportunity to complete a research stream for my fourth year in Biology working on my own research project. I believe that if this appeal is approved, I may be able to move forward without the weight of the past and be able to take the appropriate steps towards my goals without any more road blocks, both mentally and academically.

I thank you for taking your time considering my appeal and my circumstances and everyone else involved with my situation for being kind and supportive throughout all this, as I would not have been able to come this far without the hope of a better future without everyone's help and support.