Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Deans,

I am writing to you to begin the process of appeal. I am requesting to drop three courses after the academic deadline. Said courses include PHIL 260, PHIL 316, and PHIL 330 ?? which took place during the fall 2021 semester.

Throughout the fall semester, significant events occurred for me, which created a significantly extenuating circumstance beyond my control.

This extenuating circumstance involved a significant family problem, which created an intense psychological challenge for me, which was beyond my control and debilitating to my academic performance.

The family problem in question is one of my parents was recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As classes were delivered remotely through the fall semester, I lived at home throughout the whole duration. Living in a house with an unstable bipolar individual is exceptionally toxic and unpredictable. Due to their illness, my parent became unable to fulfill tasks and responsibilities such as cleaning, cooking, shopping ext. ?? all of which then became my responsibility. This event created an extreme disruption in the family routine, and I feel a burden was put on me.

Not only did I experience an excessive number of new responsibilities during this time, but I also began experiencing anxiety while trying to balance everything at once. I hate to admit it, but I felt ashamed about the situation and was reluctant to reach out to my professors due to the content matter of the problem.

Due to my unwillingness to reach out, I ultimately received a failing grade in the three courses in question. I felt as if I did not have enough time to complete my course work with everything going on ?? and in the time I did have, I was too emotionally exhausted due to the time and energy spent dealing with issues related to my parents' illness. I ultimately could not deal with the stress of this situation and the workload of my classes all at once, and unfortunately, dealing with this family problem took priority.

At the moment, I thought I would be able to get myself and my grades together by the end of the Fall semester, but I was unable to do so, and by the time I realized I needed to drop courses, it was too late.

Thank you for your time. I appreciate this opportunity to appeal.