Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To: The Associate Dean (Studies),

I am appealing to waive the requirement to withdraw for one year.
This past year, as it was approaching, I knew I had to completely change my lifestyle in order to succeed in my studies and raise my GPA. Some of the following changes I had made in order to achieve this goal were, moving closer to campus to attend all my classes, switching housemates, spending numerous hours at the library, acquiring a tutor for all my courses, consulting with different academic advisors, focusing on only my studies and not in any curricular activities, and choosing courses in which I thought I would succeed in. Even with all these changes I have made in my academic and personal life, I was struggling with a Learning Disability and ADHD since I was 7 years old, which was truly impeding on the success of my studies. Even though it was recommended that I treat my ADHD before entering Queen's, it was at my parent's discretion and out of my control, as I was under 18, to differ otherwise.
Throughout this past year I thought that if I were to try harder and make a variety of changes in my life I would be able to succeed in my studies, however, that was not the case. Throughout the end of second semester I had come to the realization that even with all the changes I have made, it was not enough to succeed in my studies and I needed something beyond me to help with my situation. I came to terms that I needed to be treated for my ADHD in order to succeed in my studies. Unfortunately, it was only close to the end of the winter semester that I was finally able to start treatment for my ADHD. Since I was only able to start treatment with less than two months left in the school year, it did not have its full impact on my studies. Had I been on medication from the beginning of the school year I know I would have done much better in my courses. Especially at an institution like Queens University, succeeding in my courses while struggling with ADHD without medication is very difficult. I know that with the proper medication to treat my ADHD, I am able to reach my fullest potential. As well, with this being the most stressful year of my life, trying to succeed in my studies, I was also doing this without the support from my parents. Out of my own will, as an adult, I decided to conceal the information about my academic standing from my parents because I believed that I could get out of this position on my own and would not need to reveal this information about my studies. As well, I felt embarrassed to tell my parents that I was in this position as I felt they would be disappointed in me. Without the support from my family, this academic year has been twice as challenging and has had a variety of different impacts on my body due to stress. The stress level that I experienced this year was something I did not know was possible and did not realize what it would do, and how it could effect me so negatively both physically and mentally.
With the consent of my parents, I began treating my ADHD in March of 2014. I started seeing Dr. Borins, a registered doctor at the HCDS building who specializes in treating ADHD. She has helped me greatly along this process with treating my disability with the proper medication. Enclosed my appeal I have attached a letter from her stating these facts. I have found that since being on Concerta, it has vastly helped me focus my attention. It has truly been unfortunate that it has taken me this long to realize that I desperately needed to be treated for my ADHD from the substantial results I have seen with my attention to focus. I know that with the following academic year coming up, taking my medication consistently will have a huge contribution in helping me raise my GPA and succeeding in my studies.
With all of the personal changes that I have made in my life this year in order to raise my GPA and get off academic probation, as a student I fell into the false belief that if I were to just try harder in my studies I would succeed. I needed to identify the problem that even though many of my personal and academic changes would help with raising my GPA, it was more to do with my Learning Disability and ADHD that truly impeded me on succeeding in my studies at Queen's. It is unfortunate that I had to go through all of these different changes in order to realize that in order for me to succeed in my studies I needed to treat my ADHD. This was the true problem that stood in the way of my academic success in the past and it was these extenuating circumstances that have resulted in not being able to reach the acquired GPA.. With this past year being so focused on trying to raise my GPA and the stress of going through an appeal process and trying to find the right medication for my disability, these were also huge factors that have impacted the outcome of my studies and the overwhelming emotional state I have felt all year. In this past year, not being on medication was definitely my biggest challenge in trying to raise my GPA. I know that with the following year approaching, not having these influences listed above and in addition treating my ADHD regularly, I will be able to succeed with ease to the fullest capacity I know I am able to achieve.