Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear the Associate Deans

My name is Narae Kim, majoring in Arts and Science (Psychology). I am writing to appeal to remove a failing grade on my academic record from the 2014 summer semester. As you can see from my academic record, after just one year of the program, I had to leave the campus for two years due to a family situation. My father¿¿s business went bankrupt, and he began to suffer from depression and physical illness. I decided to take a few semesters off and take care of my family. Finally, in Fall 2013, I had a chance to come back to school, and I took four courses at that time. It was the most joyful learning experience for me and I successfully completed my courses with straight As.
My father is a man who feels a strong responsibility to support his family. He is the one who always encouraged me to study hard and said I didn¿¿t have to worry about tuition. However, he couldn¿¿t keep his word. He lost his business and my sister had to work instead of him to support the family. Moreover, the fact that I, his daughter, left school for a long time and couldn¿¿t ever be an average student like my other friends made my father feel sorry for me. He told me once that he felt guilty for not supporting me and giving me a too heavy a burden while I was studying. My father was diagnosed with stomach cancer about a year ago. When I heard about my father¿¿s cancer, I almost made a decision to go back to my family and take a break again from school. However, my sister insisted that I should continue to take courses. All of my friends were seniors and about to graduate. I wasn¿¿t sure I could focus on my studies even though I remained on campus for studying. Then, in Winter 2014, I got a phone call from my mother to let me know that my father was undergoing cancer surgery. I ended up taking distance courses from Winter through Spring/Summer semesters in 2014 with my sister¿¿s financial assistance. My grades were not as good as I expected. I had to get a part-time job to meet the cost of living. My academic performance was neither good nor bad. I tried to catch up on readings and tried to follow online instructions to get a good score.

In spring and summer of 2014, I visited my father on Jeju island. This was a beautiful small island where he stayed for his convalescence. My father suffered from his long illness, and I thought it could be my last chance to spend peaceful time with him in my life. I was continuing to take online distance courses; I thought it wouldn¿¿t be a problem as long as I brought my laptop computer to work. However, the reality was quite different from what I expected. I barely got any Internet access, which directly influenced my score. Unlike other courses, the course I am appealing, FILM260, focused on student¿¿s online participation. Students must appear online regularly, upload online assignments, and leave comments for peers; this kind of regular participation was nearly impossible for me. Thus, I ended up failing a course. After taking that summer course, I came back and realized that I didn¿¿t have enough money to pay to go back to school. I got a short-term intensive full-time job beginning in Fall 2014, and now, I have finally returned. When I checked my transcript, I realized that I failed FILM260. I am already at a disadvantage from not studying steadily on campus, and this one course that I failed bothered me a lot. I am taking courses on campus right now and trying to make a new start. After settling down, I finally got a chance to submit a letter to make an appeal. Please understand the time delay. The past three years was such a long and painful journey for me. My family situation is not completely solved yet, but is luckily not worsening anymore. My goal is to keep taking courses till I graduate without taking time off. I write with the hope of a promising beginning to my academic year, getting away from my past. Thank you.
Sincerely,