I’m working on a short closing, which will be a brief but detailed plan for making improvements. Thanks ahead of time 
I’m worried it will sound melodramatic at points - I’m having a hard time conveying exactly how bad my situation was in more “professional” language
To:
At the end of the fall 2016 semester, I was academically dismissed. While this was certainly the appropriate action to be taken according to university policy, it took some time to reconcile with not so much the university’s decision, but the reality of how that decision reflected upon myself as a student.
The reasons for my lack of academic strength were myriad: from being unemployed for several months at a time, to not having reliable transportation, to having to care for my ailing step-dad, who passed away during my second semester at _. However, at the center of my problems were mental health issues, namely severe and long-term depression, as well as all the other complications that came with it, such as insomnia, anxiety, lack of motivation and focus, and withdrawal from social life.
The biggest mistake I made was thinking that I was competent enough to be successful in any avenue of life, including schooling. This mistake had literally nearly fatal consequences when I was admitted into Hospital after a serious suicide attempt. I felt like all the pieces of my life had fallen apart, and I was stretched incredibly thin trying to put myself back together – to the point of almost giving up entirely.
I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress since then. Frankly, I can’t recognize the person I was over a year ago. I think the most important thing I’ve learned since my dismissal is working towards and completing goals in an incremental fashion to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Within the first week of released from the hospital and beginning therapy and medication, I started performing chores and tasks more consistently. After a month or so had passed, I was productive in ways that I hadn’t known myself to be in years. By the spring of 2017, I was employed for the first time in two years, working full time.
Currently, I’m both physically and mentally healthy, employed, productive, and living on my own. I now have a positive support system since confiding in my family about my mental health issues. I was married in October 2017 to a wonderful person who adds significantly to the system of support and motivation. He is a PhD student and has taught me so much about success and failure from his past experiences in university. We are constantly inspiring each other to push for self-growth and attaining goals.