Withdrawing from UC Berkeley twice! PLEASE HELP.

I feel like a failure. I really need lot of help. I came into UC Berkeley as a freshman two years ago. First semester, I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and enrolled with the disability program on campus. Then in spring, I was disowned by my parents and got sexually assaulted by a gang member. As a result, I was facing homelessness and being so young, I withdrew from the trauma and anxiety. The rest of the semester I stayed with my boyfriend. I endured domestic abuse and homelessness with him. That summer, I got raped again by another person but didn’t realize I was raped from the shock. And my boyfriend and I became pregnant. I was sleeping on the streets and wanting to come back, even ended up at a women’s shelter or on the streets on most days. So that fall, I did a SAP and got accepted. I didn’t get my Regents’ Scholarship back until I appealed for it that following semester. I got an A that semester in fall on my reduced course load and wrote on my SAP plan that I would be getting an abortion because I was so scared. I thought that’s what I should do for college and I got accepted back into school. I changed my mind by the end of the fall and kept the baby.

Then on Spring of my second year, I continued going to school, gave birth and ended up with a C. I was only in that class for a month and I didn’t have childcare and had a horrible recovery. I also endured more Domestic Violence and he got arrested so I was going through a lot. That summer I had to continue with school and took my baby to class. Now on Fall, the trauma of everything started hitting me and I got really depressed and tried committing suicide. But I got through it but now I feel very depressed. This semester, I am taking two classes and on one of them I switched into it a month later due to trouble with scheduling. And then my daughter has been in my care for three weeks due to high fevers and ear infections so I’m severely behind. My college said I’m facing dismissal if I cannot pass and I feel hopeless. I don’t want to lose my scholarship or be dismissed. I’m worried if I leave that they won’t let me come back since I already withdrew once before. I’m on a strict SAP contract. I just don’t know what to do. I have severe depression, trauma, and anxiety. I also had Postpartum Depression for a long time. I will be homeless if I leave but if I stay and don’t withdraw in the next week, I might get dismissed. I’m doing well in one class but the work in the other is too much. I also am not allowed to take an Incomplete due to the SAP contract and my college Dean is saying I will face dismissal if I don’t pass. Please help me.

What a terrible story. I am a parent of a child at Berkeley and started reading this. I have no professional help to offer but reading your story, I would defer for a couple of years until your child is pre-school age then reconsider. Not sure if they have child-care/creche situation. I began college at 21 in UK as I had three years of chaos. I am now a mother of an 18 and 20 year old and two years ago, I completed an MFA in Fiction. I think it is hard to be a single mom and a student unless you have child care that is reliable or family that is supportive. This is just advice from a mother who has now got adult children. SLeep. Rest. Take care of yourself and the baby and write a journal about all of this. You owe it to yourself to care for yourself. Find a support network or join an AA type of meeting that supports abused women. I am wondering if this was a pattern from your past also. However, what is important is your future and the future of your child. Present this as your life goals to your advisor/Dean and ask for advice and help. Sometimes, we can only do one thing at a time. You can go back to Berkeley as a ‘mature’ student as I did and frankly, it was great. I really appreciated it and earned the money in those three years towards my tuition. Good Luck. Stay safe.