Petition Letter
July 16, 2014
To: The Board of Studies,
I am appealing Johanne Bénard¿¿s decision to deny my request to waive the requirement that I must withdraw from Queen's for one year.
As stated in the letter from Dr. Bénard, the requirement to withdraw is invoked only where students experience ongoing or extreme academic difficulties. The ruling is designed to provide the student with time away from the university to reflect on and remedy the factors impeding their academic success. I have been diagnosed with both a Learning Disability-which affects the brain's ability to receive, process, store, respond to and communicate information, as well as ADHD. These are both considered to be extreme academic difficulties, making the case I am trying to testify here beyond accurate. With my disabilities, the three years that I have been enrolled at Queen¿¿s have always been difficult and impacted my studies, however, as the years have become more challenging it has made my experience at Queen¿¿s even more difficult this past year. I believe that Dr. Bénard does not fully understand my disability as it primarily affects students during their studies and academic performance and that having these disabilities are out of my control as I was born with them.
In this appeal I have attached my psychoanalysis, which was issued by my psychiatrist May 28, 2010, explicating stating my challenges in school and the difficulties that I face in regards to my learning habits and my academic performance. Hopefully this will clear up some un-answered questions regarding the state in which I learn and perform and how my studies are impacted tremendously. I have always been taught by my parents and my psychiatrist that the most important part of my disability is to be my own self-advocate- as many people are not aware of the challenges that I face in my studies and how difficult it can be to succeed in school. I feel as though this is a perfect example as to where my rights are being provoked and I am being discriminated upon.
I do feel it is necessary for the Board of Studies to know about how I feel in regards to my appeal as I feel it is not being taken into full consideration as there are some areas in which are not being understood by Dr. Bénard in my condition as well as with the challenges I have been facing this past year. Instead of acknowledging and observing the sacrifices that I have been through this past year, the serious struggle of dealing with my disabilities, and trying to be studious at Queen¿¿s, I feel as though I am being victimized and punished in an unfair manner. I am not going to go into full details as to what I have gone through this past year, but it has truly been one of the most challenging, depressing, stressful, and exhausting year of my entire life and to have Queen¿¿s show me how they address their student's in times of difficulties is truly astonishing. I have tried to go through the past three years working diligently and making the sacrifices to overcome my disability without medication, I can honestly say I am truly disappointed in my academic establishment that I chose to help me in succeeding in my future. I feel as though all of my hard work has been thrown away and it makes me very sad to see that hard work does not always pay off.
The winter semesters of my third year, as well as this past summer thus far, has given me an appropriate amount of time to reflect on myself and help remedy the factors impeding my academic success. This summer so far has already been very rejuvenating and given me sufficient time away from my studies to truly come back in the fall to be fully prepare and focused with the success of my studies. In order to raise my GPA, I will continue with taking my medication consistently throughout the following academic year. I have found the right dosage to treat my ADHD this past year, and I will continue taking my medication throughout the entirety of the school year to ensure that I am fully prepared to perform in my studies with success. I truly hope that Queen¿¿s observes how serious of an issue this is and has been on myself.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal,
Francesca Pietrobon
10008161
To: The Board of Studies,
I am appealing Johanne Bénard¿¿s decision to deny my request to waive the requirement that I must withdraw from Queen's for one year.
As stated in the letter from Dr. Bénard, the requirement to withdraw is invoked only where students experience ongoing or extreme academic difficulties. The ruling is designed to provide the student with time away from the university to reflect on and remedy the factors impeding their academic success. I have been diagnosed with both a Learning Disability-which affects the brain's ability to receive, process, store, respond to and communicate information, as well as ADHD. These are both considered to be extreme academic difficulties, making the case I am trying to testify here beyond accurate. With my disabilities, the three years that I have been enrolled at Queen¿¿s have always been difficult and impacted my studies, however, as the years have become more challenging it has made my experience at Queen¿¿s even more difficult this past year. I believe that Dr. Bénard does not fully understand my disability as it primarily affects students during their studies and academic performance and that having these disabilities are out of my control as I was born with them.
In this appeal I have attached my psychoanalysis, which was issued by my psychiatrist May 28, 2010, explicating stating my challenges in school and the difficulties that I face in regards to my learning habits and my academic performance. Hopefully this will clear up some un-answered questions regarding the state in which I learn and perform and how my studies are impacted tremendously. I have always been taught by my parents and my psychiatrist that the most important part of my disability is to be my own self-advocate- as many people are not aware of the challenges that I face in my studies and how difficult it can be to succeed in school. I feel as though this is a perfect example as to where my rights are being provoked and I am being discriminated upon.
I do feel it is necessary for the Board of Studies to know about how I feel in regards to my appeal as I feel it is not being taken into full consideration as there are some areas in which are not being understood by Dr. Bénard in my condition as well as with the challenges I have been facing this past year. Instead of acknowledging and observing the sacrifices that I have been through this past year, the serious struggle of dealing with my disabilities, and trying to be studious at Queen¿¿s, I feel as though I am being victimized and punished in an unfair manner. I am not going to go into full details as to what I have gone through this past year, but it has truly been one of the most challenging, depressing, stressful, and exhausting year of my entire life and to have Queen¿¿s show me how they address their student's in times of difficulties is truly astonishing. I have tried to go through the past three years working diligently and making the sacrifices to overcome my disability without medication, I can honestly say I am truly disappointed in my academic establishment that I chose to help me in succeeding in my future. I feel as though all of my hard work has been thrown away and it makes me very sad to see that hard work does not always pay off.
The winter semesters of my third year, as well as this past summer thus far, has given me an appropriate amount of time to reflect on myself and help remedy the factors impeding my academic success. This summer so far has already been very rejuvenating and given me sufficient time away from my studies to truly come back in the fall to be fully prepare and focused with the success of my studies. In order to raise my GPA, I will continue with taking my medication consistently throughout the following academic year. I have found the right dosage to treat my ADHD this past year, and I will continue taking my medication throughout the entirety of the school year to ensure that I am fully prepared to perform in my studies with success. I truly hope that Queen¿¿s observes how serious of an issue this is and has been on myself.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my appeal,
Francesca Pietrobon
10008161