@sunnyskies26:
The purpose of this section is to explain (not make excuses, but truly explain) what caused your academic performance to not reflect your true abilities. It seems like the semester in question was not your first. Given that, you should have a track record that you can speak to before, and obviously then after, the semester.
My suggestion is to explain the situation clearly, along the lines of:
In the X semester of <year> my academic performance suffered. This performance did not meet my previous performance, and since that semester, my performance has been <at Z level>.
During X semester, I was needed at my home, in XYZ place, due to the severe illness of my father. He was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition and, in order to support him, I did Q, P, and N. Because I was attending to his needs, my academic performance suffered, as I did not attend class regularly.
I felt <> about spending time with my father and helping him through this illness. However, the semester of poor performance caused me to reevaluate <> and the experience led me to <>.
That should get you started.
Best,
Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]