Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean,
My name is Adrian Addison and I am an international student in the Arts and Science Faculty. I am petitioning the faculty’s decision that I must withdraw from Queen’s for 1 year so I will be able to take classes this semester.
In my senior year of high school few years ago, I was unfortunately diagnosed with two conditions (from attached doctor’s letter) that has caused severe inflammation in my body. Despite that, I still managed to achieve a 4.0 GPA during senior year (attached is my high school senior year transcript) to finish strong as my mother and I take my education very seriously and understand what is needed to be able to attend a prestigious school like Queens. After being told about my condition, my family and I was completely surprised as I have never drunk alcohol, smoked, or taken any toxic supplements before. As a result, I was able to see a doctor that has explained everything to me and said it results from simply an autoimmune condition. From then on, I started to take multiple medications prescribed from him for those conditions.
During my first year in Queens, I was struggling concentrating on my classes and even suffered abdominal pain that required me to see a local doctor around Kingston a few weeks before final exams in December of 2021. Though I always attended my classes and completed weekly assignments in my tenure at Queens, I have kept struggling to keep my mind off thinking about my health and kept questioning myself if my health would deteriorate rapidly throughout my time at Queens. During summer breaks in 2022, 2023, and 2024, I was able to return to the US (my hometown) to see my doctor and go through minor procedures such as liver biopsies, MRIs, and colonoscopies to be able to get a clearer understanding of my conditions and know the next necessary steps.
Secondly, in 2021 when I finished high school, my mom and I agreed easily on our aspirations for me to go to Queen’s. However, although I was very adamant that I wanted to pursue a business program after high school as my elder brother graduated with marketing at Georgian College in Barrie, my mother insisted that I try economics from the Arts faculty. The reason why is because my late father, Harold Addison is an alumnus at Queens University year of 1993 where he graduated as an economist. Seeing how much that meant to my mom, I went through with economics but I struggled heavily while also managing my health. I attended many office hours, but it was just too difficult for me to connect the math concepts with the economic concepts. Because of this, for the past two summers, especially this one, we have been trying to transfer me into the commerce program at Queens. Unfortunately, due to my academic standing, it has been impossible for me to transfer.
Due to receiving the necessary medication for my conditions and going through routine blood work, I am more confident that I will be able to improve my health and be focused on achieving higher grades at Queens. I fully understand that Queens is a massive opportunity and it is important for me to take these classes seriously and achieve a higher academic standing at Queens for me to pursue my hopes and goals for the future. In fact, currently as I am writing this letter, I am at my home in the US and have had many conversations with both my mom, to assess what assistance I’ll need and what courses suit best to my skills, and my doctor in case I may have to take classes online so I can keep up with my routine blood work to ensure that my condition hasn’t worsened unknowingly. Whether I take classes on campus in Kingston or online staying in the US, if given another opportunity, my number one priority will be focused on working as hard as possible to complete all my courses successfully and eliminate any distractions that would affect my ability to perform well.
Sincerely,
Adrian Addison
My name is Adrian Addison and I am an international student in the Arts and Science Faculty. I am petitioning the faculty’s decision that I must withdraw from Queen’s for 1 year so I will be able to take classes this semester.
In my senior year of high school few years ago, I was unfortunately diagnosed with two conditions (from attached doctor’s letter) that has caused severe inflammation in my body. Despite that, I still managed to achieve a 4.0 GPA during senior year (attached is my high school senior year transcript) to finish strong as my mother and I take my education very seriously and understand what is needed to be able to attend a prestigious school like Queens. After being told about my condition, my family and I was completely surprised as I have never drunk alcohol, smoked, or taken any toxic supplements before. As a result, I was able to see a doctor that has explained everything to me and said it results from simply an autoimmune condition. From then on, I started to take multiple medications prescribed from him for those conditions.
During my first year in Queens, I was struggling concentrating on my classes and even suffered abdominal pain that required me to see a local doctor around Kingston a few weeks before final exams in December of 2021. Though I always attended my classes and completed weekly assignments in my tenure at Queens, I have kept struggling to keep my mind off thinking about my health and kept questioning myself if my health would deteriorate rapidly throughout my time at Queens. During summer breaks in 2022, 2023, and 2024, I was able to return to the US (my hometown) to see my doctor and go through minor procedures such as liver biopsies, MRIs, and colonoscopies to be able to get a clearer understanding of my conditions and know the next necessary steps.
Secondly, in 2021 when I finished high school, my mom and I agreed easily on our aspirations for me to go to Queen’s. However, although I was very adamant that I wanted to pursue a business program after high school as my elder brother graduated with marketing at Georgian College in Barrie, my mother insisted that I try economics from the Arts faculty. The reason why is because my late father, Harold Addison is an alumnus at Queens University year of 1993 where he graduated as an economist. Seeing how much that meant to my mom, I went through with economics but I struggled heavily while also managing my health. I attended many office hours, but it was just too difficult for me to connect the math concepts with the economic concepts. Because of this, for the past two summers, especially this one, we have been trying to transfer me into the commerce program at Queens. Unfortunately, due to my academic standing, it has been impossible for me to transfer.
Due to receiving the necessary medication for my conditions and going through routine blood work, I am more confident that I will be able to improve my health and be focused on achieving higher grades at Queens. I fully understand that Queens is a massive opportunity and it is important for me to take these classes seriously and achieve a higher academic standing at Queens for me to pursue my hopes and goals for the future. In fact, currently as I am writing this letter, I am at my home in the US and have had many conversations with both my mom, to assess what assistance I’ll need and what courses suit best to my skills, and my doctor in case I may have to take classes online so I can keep up with my routine blood work to ensure that my condition hasn’t worsened unknowingly. Whether I take classes on campus in Kingston or online staying in the US, if given another opportunity, my number one priority will be focused on working as hard as possible to complete all my courses successfully and eliminate any distractions that would affect my ability to perform well.
Sincerely,
Adrian Addison