Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Dr Stephenson, Associate Dean (Academic),

My name is Daniel Leventis. I am a fourth year undergraduate student currently pursuing a major in Classical Studies and Archaeology, which I will finish after a fifth year of studies, concluding after Winter semester in 2025. I am writing to petition for an incomplete grade to be granted to me for CLST 305 (Winter 2024) and RELS 206 (Winter 2024), in which I am currently enrolled.

The immediate reason for my appeal is a particularly challenging series of months managing a chronic disability, which has made balancing my academic course load with my faltering physical and mental health at times unmanageable. Before discussing how and why I have struggled this semester, I believe it is useful to first provide you with context surrounding my disability:

Since becoming aware of my disability, receiving a diagnosis of ADHD - Inattentive Type in the summer of 2022, I have applied myself to relearning how to function. Supported by bi-weekly, and at times weekly, therapy sessions, step by step from the most basic tasks I have worked to develop strategies to mitigate the executive dysfunction which defines my neurotype. Aided by accommodations I have received through QSAS since the Fall of 2022, my academic performance since my diagnosis reflects the effort I have put into understanding and overcoming the barriers posed to me by my ADHD. During my third year, I made the Dean’s List for the first time, achieving 3.8 and 3.6 GPA semesters in Fall 2022 and Winter 2023 respectively. This past semester, I was able to maintain a standard of academic performance far exceeding my pre-diagnosis standard, finishing the Fall 2023 semester with a 3.4 semester GPA. I have been greatly empowered by the accommodations I have received thus far to more fully realize my academic potential. In fact, I do not believe I could have made the progress I have without them; they allow me the opportunity to access a more even playing field which accounts for my disability.

As I mentioned above, the past semester has been particularly challenging for me. It is an unfortunate reality that the path to healing and optimally managing my disability is not linear; tasks which require little effort in one week can seem insurmountable in the next. This semester made that abundantly clear: Bouts of depression, comorbid with ADHD, have impaired my functioning, making small tasks appear extraordinarily large. Chronic insomnia, brought on by periods of high stress have left me exhausted for weeks at a time, my body lacking the energy to function or the appetite to obtain it. As well, an ongoing drug trial of ADHD medications as a part of my treatment has played its part in my struggling; the process of beginning new ADHD medications is disorienting and confusing, oftentimes leaving me unable to regulate my emotions, and hindering further my sleep and self-esteem.
To mitigate these symptoms I have worked with my professors, adjusting deadlines on papers so that I could properly complete my coursework. Initially struggling to make it to lectures in the first half of the semester, I was able to turn my lackluster attendance around, attending nearly all my lectures in the second half of the semester. I wrote each of my exams as scheduled, and submitted final assignments. As I write to you, I have successfully completed two of four courses I am enrolled in this semester, and I am proud of the way I have been able to turn around this semester so far.

In Dr. Colivicci’s course, CLST 305, my outstanding work amounts to one ten page final essay. My ongoing struggles throughout the semester forced me to prioritize other, more pressing assignments with more immediate deadlines in an effort to catch up on assignments. Because of this, this essay fell to the wayside, and I was only able to begin working on it after my last exam, on the 15th and after the assignment was due. With my accommodation which allows for a one week extension on assignments, I worked to finish the essay, but a combination of the symptoms which I described above limited my progress.

In Dr. Mosurinjohn’s course, RELS 206, my outstanding work amounts to two journal entries, a five page essay, and a final project of my own choosing. I initially reached out to Dr. M on March 14th via email for support with my essay. Dr. M granted me an extension on my essay, and added that she would allow me to submit my coursework by the end of the semester, and would support a request for an IN grade, should I need it.

In all honesty, I did not consider dropping Dr. M’s course despite struggling to complete course assignments, and I believe doing so would have been a mistake. If I have learned one thing since I began to receive treatment for my ADHD, it is that I am exceedingly capable of academic success when properly supported. Each time I struggle and then have to advocate for myself to be accommodated, the process gets a little bit easier. To give up would be to deprive myself of the opportunity to better myself, to learn from the experience and to do better the next time.

Two years with a diagnosis is nothing; I am still a toddler learning to make my way in a confusing and unfamiliar world. I believe however that it is better to struggle forward and learn than to give up. Although I may fall down more or in different ways than my peers, I always endeavour to pick myself back up, no matter how long it takes. I hope sincerely that you will allow me the opportunity to complete my coursework, such that I may prove myself capable of success in spite of my disability, rather than a failure because of it.

Sincerely,
Daniel Leventis
20221603