Academic Plan
I think it is important to mention that I am a student registered with the Ventus program at Queen's, and I have struggled extensively with ADHD and Anxiety throughout my whole life. I am not attempting to use this as an excuse for why I failed this year, as I could have sought help through QSAS or Queen??s student wellness, but I do believe that it did have a significant contribution to the way I performed this year at school.
Going forward, If a decision is made to waive my requirement to withdraw for a year, I have worked on a plan to ensure that my mistakes this year will not be made again. My parents have helped to hook me up with a psychologist, with who I will start therapy sessions, starting mid-June. This will help me with coping and managing my ADHD and anxiety, as well as having someone I can talk to about my problems and become a more proactive person not only with my academics but with life in general. I am also looking into medication to help my ADHD and Anxiety, however, I do not have a family doctor so that has been a bit of a struggle for me lately but I do know Queen??s Student Wellness and QSAS can help with getting medication. I also plan to look for help from tutors going forward, that can help me with my organization and procrastination. It helps me a lot to focus when I can have someone around to hold me accountable for my academics and make sure I am on task. One of the biggest motivators for my change going forward though is my decision to pursue an English degree. To be completely honest, I would most likely be dropping out of Queens had I not realized that this is really what I want to be doing. I??ve completely failed a whole year of school and academics have always been a struggle of mine, but I just don??t think that I had my passions sorted out yet. In high school I always really enjoyed English, but I was still young and didn??t realize how much my passions actually lie in writing and literature. For the past few months, I??ve really absorbed myself in reading and writing, filling out a daily journal and working on short stories, as well as learning to better my essay writing. I have thought a lot about my future since realizing that psychology was not what I want to do anymore, and I have come to realize that teaching is where my passions truly lie. I??ve always wanted to pursue a carrier in which I can help others, which is partly why I thought psychology would be a good fit. I really wish I had realized this sooner as I could have attended the Queen??s Con Ed program which would give me a head start on teaching, but I know I am not the first student to be in this sort of situation and I know I am definitely not the last, and I just attend teachers college after my undergraduate studies. However, between my gap year and this year being more or less a bump in the road for me, I am already quite behind, and withdrawing from studies for a year will only serve to further put me behind. I understand that I have plenty of time to get my degree, but now that I know where my passions truly lie there is nothing I would love more than to start studying again.
Overall I plan to use this past year as a lesson more than anything else. This past year has taught me so much about myself and has really brought a lot of the problems I had been struggling with to the surface. I am tackling my struggles one by one, and feel like I have made some really good progress. I am certainly in a much better place now than I have been in a long time. Not only that, I understand now what is expected of me as a student of Queen??s University, and that there are always options out there for me when things become overwhelming.
Going forward, If a decision is made to waive my requirement to withdraw for a year, I have worked on a plan to ensure that my mistakes this year will not be made again. My parents have helped to hook me up with a psychologist, with who I will start therapy sessions, starting mid-June. This will help me with coping and managing my ADHD and anxiety, as well as having someone I can talk to about my problems and become a more proactive person not only with my academics but with life in general. I am also looking into medication to help my ADHD and Anxiety, however, I do not have a family doctor so that has been a bit of a struggle for me lately but I do know Queen??s Student Wellness and QSAS can help with getting medication. I also plan to look for help from tutors going forward, that can help me with my organization and procrastination. It helps me a lot to focus when I can have someone around to hold me accountable for my academics and make sure I am on task. One of the biggest motivators for my change going forward though is my decision to pursue an English degree. To be completely honest, I would most likely be dropping out of Queens had I not realized that this is really what I want to be doing. I??ve completely failed a whole year of school and academics have always been a struggle of mine, but I just don??t think that I had my passions sorted out yet. In high school I always really enjoyed English, but I was still young and didn??t realize how much my passions actually lie in writing and literature. For the past few months, I??ve really absorbed myself in reading and writing, filling out a daily journal and working on short stories, as well as learning to better my essay writing. I have thought a lot about my future since realizing that psychology was not what I want to do anymore, and I have come to realize that teaching is where my passions truly lie. I??ve always wanted to pursue a carrier in which I can help others, which is partly why I thought psychology would be a good fit. I really wish I had realized this sooner as I could have attended the Queen??s Con Ed program which would give me a head start on teaching, but I know I am not the first student to be in this sort of situation and I know I am definitely not the last, and I just attend teachers college after my undergraduate studies. However, between my gap year and this year being more or less a bump in the road for me, I am already quite behind, and withdrawing from studies for a year will only serve to further put me behind. I understand that I have plenty of time to get my degree, but now that I know where my passions truly lie there is nothing I would love more than to start studying again.
Overall I plan to use this past year as a lesson more than anything else. This past year has taught me so much about myself and has really brought a lot of the problems I had been struggling with to the surface. I am tackling my struggles one by one, and feel like I have made some really good progress. I am certainly in a much better place now than I have been in a long time. Not only that, I understand now what is expected of me as a student of Queen??s University, and that there are always options out there for me when things become overwhelming.