Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Dr. Jenn Stephenson,

This letter is an appeal to expunge specific letter grades on my transcript from the last few years due to extenuating circumstances. At the end of this document, I will provide you with a concise list of which courses I am looking to have expunged. This appeal is part 2 to appeal #12071 that was granted June 17th, 2024.

As you can probably tell by looking at my transcript, my time at Queen's hasn't exactly gone according to plan. I struggled immensely in my first year, resulting in a diagnosis of ADHD. Reflecting on this moment in time, I believe it would have been beneficial for me to take some time away from school and learn what ADHD is and how I can overcome this newfound challenge and turn it into something positive. Being naïve to the whirlwind happening around me during this time and with the help of my parents, I return to school for my second year without a plan going forward or an understanding of ADHD. As well as being too ignorant to truly accept the help that Queen's and my parents provided for me. I had almost refused to believe that I had ADHD during this time and continued to make the same mistakes as a result. My executive function was very poor, concentrating and accomplishing tasks that weren’t considered “fun” was almost impossible. I was also very disorganized with a real lack of time management due to my ADHD; I would get behind in classes and extremely overwhelmed. For example, once I had fallen behind in a class, digging myself out of the hole didn’t seem possible, so I would give up entirely even though I knew that it was the exact opposite of what I needed to do. This frustrating cycle continued to repeat itself for years 2 and 3 at Queen’s.

Fast forward to the end of what would have been a traditional student's 4th year, I had very little to show for myself academically. I had a very honest and difficult conversation with my parents when I arrived home and knew that I had to break the cycle that had resulted in poor academic results. So, I decided that I would take a year off to work. During this time, I met with my family physician to talk about ADHD and the proper medication that works for me. (I was very against it during the initial diagnosis)

(I'VE ATTACHED THE FULL LETTER IN THE OTHER DOCUMENTATION SECTION, THE SYSTEM WOULDN'T LET ME PASTE IT IN EVEN THOUGH IT WAS BELOW 800 WORDS) Thanks