Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean,
My name is Danielle Finney, and I am in my third year of a Bachelor of Science with Honours, majoring in Biochemistry. I am writing you today to put in an appeal to withdraw from my two classes, Phar 380 and LISC 271 (Fall 2021).
The reason I am looking to withdraw from these classes is due to my mental health. I have been struggling with my mental health for some time now, initially starting around the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. I was diagnosed by my doctor with depression and anxiety, and the resulting quarantine of the pandemic unfortunately brought them to light.
At the start of this semester, I decided to take 2 courses, as opposed to 4 from the previous semester, to lessen my workload. Unfortunately, I had to take these courses from home in Calgary, due to Covid related issues. I believe this caused me to disconnect from my studies, as I couldn??t benefit from in-person courses, which is an environment I perform better in. During the first half of the semester, the symptoms of my depression and anxiety began to slowly increase. In this time, I talked to my professors and TAs in both courses about my situation, and both were very accommodating. My Phar TA recommended I apply for academic consideration, which I did. However, I was only granted a week period. Due to the nature and severity of my mental health, I had extreme difficulty trying to get the energy or motivation to just do menial everyday tasks, much less schoolwork. At the time, I didn??t want to admit to myself or others how bad my mental health had gotten, so I convinced myself I could just work hard and catch up on my schoolwork. However, while trying to catch up, I became extremely overwhelmed with the amount of work I had to do and fell into a bad depressive episode for about two weeks, in which I did not do any course work or even check onQ. After those two weeks, I once again tried to finish the course work and prepare for finals, but I became even more overwhelmed than before. In trying to accomplish my goal, I proceeded to have a mental breakdown and a few panic attacks, at which point my parents knew without a doubt that I was struggling immensely.
My parents helped me realize I needed to seek professional help again, so I booked an appointment with my doctor, where we redid a depression and anxiety screening. I scored moderate to severe for both tests. This was really a wake-up call for me, as it finally made me aware that I hadn??t been in a healthy headspace throughout the entirety of the semester, despite what I had convinced myself. After expressing worry, my parents and doctor both agreed it would be best for me to withdraw from my courses this semester and take the next semester off to focus on improving my mental health. On my second appointment with my doctor, the dose of medication for my depression and anxiety was increased, and he has referred me to a psychotherapist. I also brought up my difficulties sleeping, as I was averaging 4 hours of sleep a night, and he referred me to a sleep therapist. They have given me advice and resources on helping reset my circadian rhythm and lowering my anxiety before going to bed, which will also improve my mental health.

Thank you for your time and consideration and have a safe and happy holidays.
Sincerely,
Danielle Finney
(December 11, 2021)