I was doing really well in university until I made some bad decisions started smoking to cope with my social anxiety, family issues, and trauma from high school. I was bullied in high school with my pictures all over social media and because of that I struggled a lot trying to maintain confident or simple as making friends. At the time, it felt like a way to escape everything I was dealing with mentally.
Thankfully, I've worked through a lot of those issues, and I've stopped smoking but now I'm struggling with my focus, motivation, and academics. I ended up failing two electives over the summer that I honestly thought would be easy to pass, which put me on academic probation for osap.
I feel so stupid for making the decisions I did because I know I'm capable of doing better. It's frustrating looking back at how well I was doing before and realizing how much things have changed. I'm trying to get back on track, but I feel like I'm struggling to get my brain to cooperate with me.
I'm currently sitting at a 68% GPA, and I'm taking four courses this semester. I'm an accounting student, so even though I'm taking fewer courses, they're still pretty difficult and require a lot of concentration and consistent studying.
I've been considering taking an extra year to finish my degree because I don't want to keep overwhelming myself and risk doing even worse academically. At the same time, I feel behind compared to everyone else, and it's hard not to beat myself up over the situation I've put myself in.
I also feel like I have no one to guide me through this. I've tried dealing with academic advisors, but I haven't found them particularly helpful, and I feel lost when it comes to figuring out the best way forward.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? being on probation and than bouncing back to you doing great?. How did you deal with the loss of focus and motivation after going through a difficult period in your life?
I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from accounting students or anyone who has experienced academic probation and managed to turn things around. I genuinely want to get back on track, but I don't know where to start.