Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

New Information: Dear Dr.Stephenson,

My name is Kanza Kibria. I am writing to you today to request that I get reinstated as a student at Queen??s University starting the semester of Fall 2022. Thereby, I am appealing the Faculty??s decision that I withdraw from Queen??s University for a minimum of one year.

To begin, I would like to thank you for this opportunity and for giving me a chance to be heard. I do not take the Faculty??s decision lightly and recognize what it reflects about my academic record thus far. However, I am seeking the University??s support in the face of numerous barriers that have put me in this position, which I will highlight below.

Due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control, I have been unable to perform well as a student for the past two years, resulting in poor grades. These circumstances have been a mix of personal, family, financial, and mental health related problems that have been negatively impacting my life here at Queen??s University.

Before and during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, I dealt with various difficult circumstances related to my family, including illness, death and financial problems, which directly impacted me as a student. Along with the general anxiety and problems created by the pandemic on a societal level, my family??s personal experiences left me severely traumatized, preventing me from being able to focus on my studies.

In addition, I have been dealing with long term mental health issues, which I was not well informed of up until recently. I have dealt with anxiety and depression for a large portion of my life, both of which got exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems my family experienced. Recognizing that these mental health issues were deeply impacting my ability to perform academically, I sought out professional medical help and started seeing a therapist in the winter of 2022. My therapist was able to help me identify that many of my mental health issues were caused by intergenerational trauma as a first generation immigrant from a low-income, single parent family.

My therapist also helped me identify that I had trouble focusing and that I had other indicators of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This observation had been made to me by my friends and family as well, who were noticing that I was having more trouble than ever when it came to focusing on various tasks, including my academics. After months of research and deliberation, I was able to figure out and pursue an ADHD assessment, as I suspected it might be a major reason behind my inability to perform well at University. In the summer of 2022, I got assessed for ADHD through an extremely extensive and emotionally exhausting process. Through this assessment, I became aware of the severity of my mental health condition, and how big of an impact it was having on my personal, work, and most importantly, my school life. ADHD is understood to be a chronic and debilitating disorder that impacts an individual??s academic and professional achievements, interpersonal relationships, and daily functioning. While this diagnosis has been incredibly taxing on me, it has also helped me understand why I am in this position and figure out the right course of action. In addition, the psychologist who assessed me for ADHD has also informed me of some other mental health related conditions that have been affecting my school life.

To better help myself succeed, I have been actively going to therapy sessions bi-weekly. I have also been recommended numerous other academic accommodations by a medical professional that I believe will truly help me perform better as a student. In addition to therapy and the ADHD assessment, I have been taking other measures to ensure that I am able to commit the most amount of time and effort to my academics. For this Fall semester of 2022, I quit all extra-curricular activities and hired a tutor to help monitor my studies for the school year. In addition I also quit my job, so that I can focus better on school and I am actively looking for additional financial support from OSAP or other sources. I have taken all these steps because I want to effectively manage and resolve my ongoing extenuating circumstances that have previously hindered me as a student.

I believe that what I need now is support and guidance from my professors and the rest of the community here at Queen??s in order to succeed as a student. I am eager to discuss my circumstances with an Academic Advisor who can support me in creating a plan to complete my degree. I believe that now that I am aware of the mental health issues that were preventing me from succeeding as a student, I can use the toolbox of resources I am creating for myself, in addition to the necessary academic accommodations recommended to me, in order to do well in school.

In addition to this letter, I have also attached an official diagnosis and an academic plan which highlights how I will effectively manage my studies around my extenuating circumstances. The official diagnosis document is password protected due to its confidentiality, so please enter Mindful2022KK to access the file.

Thank you for giving me a chance to share my situation with you and a chance to recommit myself to life here at Queen??s University in spite of my circumstances. I would love an opportunity to further speak on this in person or over a Zoom call if need be. I believe I deserve a chance to show the Faculty how I can perform and represent Queen??s as a student with the right accommodations and by being more well informed of how to deal with my mental health issues.