Petition Letter
Dear Dr.Stephenson,
My name is Kanza Kibria. I am writing to you today to request that you waive the 21-day deadline for the appeal I had made from this past Summer.
To begin, I would like to thank you for this opportunity and for giving me a chance to be heard, and apologize for the delay in completing my original appeal. I do not take the Faculty??s decision or timelines 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 submit my academic plan and required documentation on time. These circumstances have been a mix of personal, family, financial, and mental health related problems that have been negatively impacting my ability to meet the required deadlines.
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 submit the required documentation on time.
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. 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. It was very difficult for me to come to terms with what was going on with my mental health, and just the thought of having a potential ADHD diagnosis was triggering a lot of anxiety, which further prevented me from being able to complete my appeal on time. In addition, it was very challenging to access such services that would be able to provide me with an official diagnosis, which also delayed my ability to submit my document on time. These types of services are very expensive, and for a student coming from a low income family, this is not an expense that can easily be paid for. I had many financial constraints, resulting in a further delay in getting the correct documents I needed for my appeal.
After months of research and deliberation, I was able to figure out and pursue an ADHD assessment, as I suspected it was a lengthy and very expensive process. I had to request payment plans to be put in place in order for me to pay off the fees from the assessment, which I am still working on paying off to this day. In August of 2022 I finally 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. The diagnosis really helped me understand why the mix of my extenuating circumstances were delaying my ability to work on and submit my appeal documents. 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 life.
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 ensure I am able to complete this appeal. I quit all extra-curricular activities and my job, so that I can focus better on getting my academics in order. I am actively looking for additional financial support from OSAP or other sources, to help relieve some of the financial pressures I have after paying off my assessment fees. I have taken all these steps because I want to effectively manage and resolve my ongoing extenuating circumstances that have previously hindered my ability to meet these appeal deadlines.
I am eager to discuss my circumstances with you on why the 21-day deadline should be waived for my situation. I believe that now that I am aware of the mental health issues that were preventing me from meeting these deadlines, I can use the toolbox of resources I am creating for myself, in addition to the necessary accommodations recommended to me, in order to prevent delays as such to happen in the future.
In addition to this letter, I have also attached an official diagnosis. I am having trouble adding the password protected document to the appeal portal, so I have added screenshots instead. I will also be emailing the document to the Academic Appeals Office. Please enter Mindful2022KK to access the file. If this appeal to waive the 21-day deadline is approved, I have also made an academic plan which highlights how I will effectively manage my studies around my extenuating circumstances, which I would love to share with you if given the opportunity.
Thank you for giving me a chance to share my situation with you and a chance to submit an appeal to waive the 21-day deadline 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 why the 21-day deadline should be waived and 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.
My name is Kanza Kibria. I am writing to you today to request that you waive the 21-day deadline for the appeal I had made from this past Summer.
To begin, I would like to thank you for this opportunity and for giving me a chance to be heard, and apologize for the delay in completing my original appeal. I do not take the Faculty??s decision or timelines 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 submit my academic plan and required documentation on time. These circumstances have been a mix of personal, family, financial, and mental health related problems that have been negatively impacting my ability to meet the required deadlines.
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 submit the required documentation on time.
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. 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. It was very difficult for me to come to terms with what was going on with my mental health, and just the thought of having a potential ADHD diagnosis was triggering a lot of anxiety, which further prevented me from being able to complete my appeal on time. In addition, it was very challenging to access such services that would be able to provide me with an official diagnosis, which also delayed my ability to submit my document on time. These types of services are very expensive, and for a student coming from a low income family, this is not an expense that can easily be paid for. I had many financial constraints, resulting in a further delay in getting the correct documents I needed for my appeal.
After months of research and deliberation, I was able to figure out and pursue an ADHD assessment, as I suspected it was a lengthy and very expensive process. I had to request payment plans to be put in place in order for me to pay off the fees from the assessment, which I am still working on paying off to this day. In August of 2022 I finally 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. The diagnosis really helped me understand why the mix of my extenuating circumstances were delaying my ability to work on and submit my appeal documents. 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 life.
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 ensure I am able to complete this appeal. I quit all extra-curricular activities and my job, so that I can focus better on getting my academics in order. I am actively looking for additional financial support from OSAP or other sources, to help relieve some of the financial pressures I have after paying off my assessment fees. I have taken all these steps because I want to effectively manage and resolve my ongoing extenuating circumstances that have previously hindered my ability to meet these appeal deadlines.
I am eager to discuss my circumstances with you on why the 21-day deadline should be waived for my situation. I believe that now that I am aware of the mental health issues that were preventing me from meeting these deadlines, I can use the toolbox of resources I am creating for myself, in addition to the necessary accommodations recommended to me, in order to prevent delays as such to happen in the future.
In addition to this letter, I have also attached an official diagnosis. I am having trouble adding the password protected document to the appeal portal, so I have added screenshots instead. I will also be emailing the document to the Academic Appeals Office. Please enter Mindful2022KK to access the file. If this appeal to waive the 21-day deadline is approved, I have also made an academic plan which highlights how I will effectively manage my studies around my extenuating circumstances, which I would love to share with you if given the opportunity.
Thank you for giving me a chance to share my situation with you and a chance to submit an appeal to waive the 21-day deadline 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 why the 21-day deadline should be waived and 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.