Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

I am writing this to petition for a late course drop for ANAT 215 (Fall, 2022).

Ever since a young age, I have struggled with my mental health. In August of 2022, I got in touch with my doctor about going on medication. I was prescribed medication and although I was informed about the side effect of drowsiness and feeling fatigued, I failed to realize the effect that these implications would have on me. Every morning, getting out of bed was a struggle. I would have an alarm set for 9am and be unable to start my day until after 1pm. My anat 215 lab would take place at 10:30am on Thursdays and although I knew the importance of attending these labs, I ended up not showing up for a majority of them. This was something that I knew was a problem and as much as I could be self aware and acknowledge that missing these labs would poorly affect my academic success, it didn??t make a difference with the side effects of my medication. I failed to drop the course earlier on in the semester as I thought that if given enough time, my body would adjust to the medication and the feelings of drowsiness would subside. My 9:30am psychology 100 lab on Thursdays was also affected, as I had four absences, but this did not have as substantial of an impact on my academics as the many missing anatomy labs did. My other two courses were asynchronous online, and I was able to complete them in my own time. I believe that the side effects of this medication was an extenuating circumstance beyond my control.

Toward exam season, upon realizing that my productivity was being greatly affected and this side effect was not going away, I made the decision to call my doctor. I had a conversation with her about the extreme fatigue I was facing and was prescribed a different medication. I have been on the new medication for over a month now, and have noticed great improvement in my mood and motivation. I regret not making this choice earlier, but I had hoped that the side effects of the medication would wear off with time. With this improvement on new medication, I know I will succeed in my courses for the 2023 winter semester, and am deeply upset with how I let myself down in the 2022 fall semester. An anatomy course is a requirement for my program and I plan on fulfilling this requirement in the fall semester of 2023, using Anat 380.

Included with this explanation is a note from my doctor regarding sedative side effects of the medication I was on.

I appreciate your time in reading and considering this,

Eden Plotkin
20264565