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Petition Letter: Roger Watts
20145334
March 11, 2022

Academic Appeal: Request for Late Drop


Dear Associate Dean,

My name is Roger Watts, and I am currently enrolled in a BAH degree in Political Studies, in the winter term of my third year. I am writing this letter to humbly request a late drop of the three POLS courses I am currently enrolled in this term: POLS 385, POLS 212 and POLS 262. Coming into winter term, I was originally listed to go on international exchange to Istanbul, Turkey at Bogazici University. It was only after some time that I found out my exchange had been canceled due to the further outbreak of the Omicon variant of COVID-19, or that I had been denied by the host university. With this in mind I had to quickly reorganize my degree plan for both this term and my subsequent 2 years, and get what courses I could for Winter 2022. I was devastated when I found the email less than a month before the term started that I would not be going on exchange. However, it was also the sudden stress of having to reorganize my entire degree plan again in a degree I have been looking to change that set off a nervous ADD reaction, which significantly impacted both my ability to take proper care of myself at times, as well as my academic ability and focus. I have struggled with this kind of nervous shutdown in the face of sudden overwhelming stress for a large portion of my life. I am certainly disappointed in myself for succumbing to it as long as I did, and that those few weeks where I was affected had such a negative impact on my ability to take care of myself, physically and emotionally. I also deeply regret falling out of my classes and weekly work. During those past few weeks it felt like any time I was not asleep I was a nervous wreck, to put it plainly. I would try cooking food and not long after I ate, I would vomit from the stress and the heart-throbbing anxiety attacks. Many days I was eating less than 1000 calories a day because I could not bear to swallow much food, and I would gag very often. I apologize for the unpleasant description, but I want to avoid this letter being perceived as trite or melodramatic and convey how my living as an adult and my academic ability was impacted significantly by an extenuating medical condition that I am being treated for. I have documentation from my family doctor Dr. Joanne Irwin in British Columbia (where I was raised, and continue to visit these days, which is why the family doctor is there) will confirm my struggle with my condition since I was a child. I originally had this document printed when I went to visit her this February, to submit a CR request for the Fall 2020 - Winter 2021 terms respectively, however I am currently aware that the submission date for that is long past valid. As such, the attached doctor's note confirms that a similar affliction had happened during those previous terms. The only reason it took me so long to get the first letter was because of COVID complications and lockdowns and internal family matters, and by the time I got the letter the original submission window had long since passed. With this in mind, to avoid the risk of no sufficient documentation being submitted with this appeal, I will submit this letter with the original note from Dr. Irwin in order for my request to reach you as soon as possible. At the time of writing this, I am currently trying to obtain a letter from Dr. Irwin in Vancouver to write me an updated note for the relevant Winter term. Once that has been received, I will re-submit this appeal request to you granted it is received before the end of the term. I apologize for the confusion and discrepancy of documents, I am working on fixing that issue. All I humbly ask is that this leniency be granted to me so that I may try these courses again in a better headspace, and in a different degree plan. After discussions with an academic advisor and my family, I have plans to change my degree plan to a media/dual degree, with POLS and another subject of my choosing. I am in the process of deciding the second subject currently, and I have a few options that interest me. If you would grant me a late drop of the three courses I am currently enrolled in this term (POLS 385, POLS 212, and POLS 262), I would retake them in the future in a dual degree at a much better time and significantly better place in life. I want to use this time and the summer to develop strong and healthy living habits and learn how to better take care of myself in times of stress as well as managing my condition. Once again I apologize for the lateness of my request, and I ask your forgiveness for the discrepancy of the documents which I am working hard to fix, and I would like to thank you for taking the time to consider my request.

Have a wonderful day, and all the best,

Roger Watts