Petition Letter
Dear Associate Dean,
My name is Kathleen Goncalves, and I am submitting a petition requesting Credit (CR) standing in place of my final grade for ECON 110B of Winter 2025. During this period, I experienced extenuating circumstances beyond my control that directly affected my academic performance. Untreated and undiagnosed ADHD impaired multiple areas of functioning, specifically attention, planning, organization, initiating tasks, memory, sleep, deadline management, and test performance. At the same time, bullying in my residence left me extremely isolated. This combination caused a significant psychological impact, which led to my unsatisfactory grade in ECON 110B.
October 6, I filed a room-change request. On October 20, I contacted the Head of Residence, Tom Galini. November 17, I reached out to him again. November 22, I finally was placed in a new room. February 18, I met with my Nurse Practitioner and expressed concerns about my poor academic functioning, which were beyond my control. June 3rd, I received a formal ADHD diagnosis and began medication. June 7, I began therapy.
I requested a room change, not only to leave a toxic living situation, but to also try to find an environment where I could make friends, and find a sense of belonging I had lost due to the bullying. The rooms available were far from the main campus, and I was so afraid that moving far would make it even harder for me to make friends again or rebuild a sense of belonging. In one example I reported to Tom Gallini, I shared a specific incident in which my roommate touched my clothing without permission and made degrading comments about the size of my body. January, I started the new semester, in this new room, completely alone. I had no friends, and was emotionally exhausted from months of bullying. The isolation I experienced took up so much of my mental and emotional energy that I had almost nothing left for school, and my focus, studying, and ability to keep up academically were all severely affected.
By February of the winter semester, I recognized that my difficulties were not only from the emotional impacts, but also due to a genuine inability to focus, meet deadlines, and retain information to succeed. I was told I needed a full ADHD assessment, but the $5,000 cost made it impossible for my family to afford at that time, which delayed my assessment and access to treatment. Academically, my untreated ADHD showed up in ways I simply couldn’t push through. ADHD directly affected my working memory, sustained attention, test performance, deadline management, planning and the ability to organize information. Because of this, I couldn’t hold onto what I had just studied and retain information enough to properly prepare for exams. On exams and tests, it was extremely difficult to process what the questions were even asking. I would have to reread the same sentence over and over because I kept losing focus halfway through, and my memory couldn’t hold on to the information long enough to understand and respond properly. This made it very hard to demonstrate what I knew, even when I had studied. I wasn’t able to manage the amount of material required across multiple courses at the same time, no matter how much effort I put in. ECON110B was especially difficult because unlike my other courses, its continuous deadlines required a level of consistency I couldn’t maintain.
I didn’t drop the course because I was embarrassed about already dropping a separate course, and felt I had to hide how overwhelmed I was because I didn’t want anyone to think I was making excuses. I felt helpless and guilty and felt like I was failing because I wasn’t good enough rather than understanding that I had a legitimate, untreated condition affecting my ability to focus, plan, remember, and follow through.
Since receiving a formal diagnosis, I have taken every possible step to ensure that I never find myself in this situation again. Beginning ADHD medication completely changed my life, and immediately improved my ability to focus, retain information, and meet deadlines. I performed significantly better in the summer course I completed after starting medication. This improvement continued into this academic year, where I received a 93% on my physiology exam. These results demonstrate how much proper treatment, structure, and support have strengthened my academic abilities. I am fully committed to maintaining this progress, and I am confident that with the tools I now have in place, I will not face these kinds of academic difficulties again.
To conclude, I am requesting Credit (CR) standing for ECON 110B due to the substantial and medically supported impact of my extenuating circumstances on my academic performance during that course. Thank you for taking the time to review my petition.
My name is Kathleen Goncalves, and I am submitting a petition requesting Credit (CR) standing in place of my final grade for ECON 110B of Winter 2025. During this period, I experienced extenuating circumstances beyond my control that directly affected my academic performance. Untreated and undiagnosed ADHD impaired multiple areas of functioning, specifically attention, planning, organization, initiating tasks, memory, sleep, deadline management, and test performance. At the same time, bullying in my residence left me extremely isolated. This combination caused a significant psychological impact, which led to my unsatisfactory grade in ECON 110B.
October 6, I filed a room-change request. On October 20, I contacted the Head of Residence, Tom Galini. November 17, I reached out to him again. November 22, I finally was placed in a new room. February 18, I met with my Nurse Practitioner and expressed concerns about my poor academic functioning, which were beyond my control. June 3rd, I received a formal ADHD diagnosis and began medication. June 7, I began therapy.
I requested a room change, not only to leave a toxic living situation, but to also try to find an environment where I could make friends, and find a sense of belonging I had lost due to the bullying. The rooms available were far from the main campus, and I was so afraid that moving far would make it even harder for me to make friends again or rebuild a sense of belonging. In one example I reported to Tom Gallini, I shared a specific incident in which my roommate touched my clothing without permission and made degrading comments about the size of my body. January, I started the new semester, in this new room, completely alone. I had no friends, and was emotionally exhausted from months of bullying. The isolation I experienced took up so much of my mental and emotional energy that I had almost nothing left for school, and my focus, studying, and ability to keep up academically were all severely affected.
By February of the winter semester, I recognized that my difficulties were not only from the emotional impacts, but also due to a genuine inability to focus, meet deadlines, and retain information to succeed. I was told I needed a full ADHD assessment, but the $5,000 cost made it impossible for my family to afford at that time, which delayed my assessment and access to treatment. Academically, my untreated ADHD showed up in ways I simply couldn’t push through. ADHD directly affected my working memory, sustained attention, test performance, deadline management, planning and the ability to organize information. Because of this, I couldn’t hold onto what I had just studied and retain information enough to properly prepare for exams. On exams and tests, it was extremely difficult to process what the questions were even asking. I would have to reread the same sentence over and over because I kept losing focus halfway through, and my memory couldn’t hold on to the information long enough to understand and respond properly. This made it very hard to demonstrate what I knew, even when I had studied. I wasn’t able to manage the amount of material required across multiple courses at the same time, no matter how much effort I put in. ECON110B was especially difficult because unlike my other courses, its continuous deadlines required a level of consistency I couldn’t maintain.
I didn’t drop the course because I was embarrassed about already dropping a separate course, and felt I had to hide how overwhelmed I was because I didn’t want anyone to think I was making excuses. I felt helpless and guilty and felt like I was failing because I wasn’t good enough rather than understanding that I had a legitimate, untreated condition affecting my ability to focus, plan, remember, and follow through.
Since receiving a formal diagnosis, I have taken every possible step to ensure that I never find myself in this situation again. Beginning ADHD medication completely changed my life, and immediately improved my ability to focus, retain information, and meet deadlines. I performed significantly better in the summer course I completed after starting medication. This improvement continued into this academic year, where I received a 93% on my physiology exam. These results demonstrate how much proper treatment, structure, and support have strengthened my academic abilities. I am fully committed to maintaining this progress, and I am confident that with the tools I now have in place, I will not face these kinds of academic difficulties again.
To conclude, I am requesting Credit (CR) standing for ECON 110B due to the substantial and medically supported impact of my extenuating circumstances on my academic performance during that course. Thank you for taking the time to review my petition.