Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Academics),

I am appealing to drop CHEM 281 from my transcript for the Fall 2019 semester.

I have been experiencing mental illness for quite some time and it has, in many ways, negatively impacted my life. As of the summer of 2019, I had consulted my physician and had begun medication in order to better regulate my condition. This took some time to find the proper dosage in order to feel its full effect. This occurred during the first semester (Fall 2019) which is visible as it is, as a whole, my worst semester out of the 4 completed to date. My academics were negatively impacted throughout all of my courses that semester which devastates me as I have high ambitions of graduate school, a Master's Degree and hopefully medical school. Although every single one of my courses that semester were much lower than I know my full potential could have achieved, it is only CHEM 281 that I failed. The reason for this is due to timing during the exam period. Before the exam, my grade in that course was in the range of 2.7-3.0 from my recollection. Although this grade is not ideal for my personal standards, it was relatively distant from a failing grade. I was managing my time well and was able to complete my exams until a couple days before my CHEM 281 final where my extenuating circumstances turned for the worst. As I was not yet registered with QSAS since I did not have an official diagnosis yet, I was not aware of my options to defer the exam and presented myself when I knew I was not able to perform as I could and should. I was not in the right state of mind.

The following day, after this final, I decided to take some steps in the right direction and made an appointment with Student Wellness Services to see a counselor. After speaking with this counselor, she advised me to defer my following MICR 271 exam until the deferral period when my situation would hopefully have relatively alleviated itself as it is episodic in nature. The professor agreed to this academic consideration and it was deferred. The rest of the exam period was still difficult as my condition was still present, but I tried my best to take care of myself and was able to complete my courses. In summary, it was only this course that was not passed due to the timing of my schedule and the unprecedented arrival of my episodic condition.

During the winter break, I met with a psychiatrist for an official diagnosis and was then able to register with QSAS. With the assistance of my advisor and the alteration of my medications I was able to succeed this winter term. I have also been receiving cognitive behavioural therapy which has tremendously transformed my condition. This semester, with the proper support from my social circle, the school, my medication, as well as my therapist, I finished with my best semester yet, a 4.12 gpa. For CHEM 281, I did not drop it earlier in the semester as I was doing well and my condition is episodic. I had no way of predicting this terrible outcome, the situation was unforeseen. I have since completed CHEM 281 online for the summer 2020 term in order to make up for the credit, which is a pre-requisite for my program. I am very proud and happy to announce that I passed the course with an A- due to my hard work and with the application of the skills I was taught in therapy. I will continue to make personal changes and work on myself on a personal and mental level in order to be well enough to succeed academically. I believe I have thoroughly proved how, with the proper steps and support, I can achieve academic success. I do not foresee this changing as the proper dosage of my medication is stabilized and through my therapy, I am actively developing skills that will be used to manage similar situations. It is out of character to fail a course and I will strive my hardest to ensure it never happens again. Now that I have the proper resources I am confident I will succeed from here on out as I have big goals for my future and know that it takes hard work to achieve them. I am on an upward trend and am tremendously proud of my accomplishments this past winter semester. I seek to continue this trend.

Thank you for your time.

Best Wishes,

Kaylee Gabrielle Morey