Graduate / MBA Application essay explaining low GPA [5]

I have to explain my low gpa in this essay.True experience, but I got differing views from people.
Is this essay convincing ?

There are moments in your life when going gets tough. When your back is against the wall, quitting is very easy. These are the moments that can shape you as a person. My first couple of years in college was an epic struggle. There were moments when I wanted to give it up and go back home. As a 17 year old, it was not easy going to a place 1700 kms away from your home and with a completely different culture. The food was just not my type and on top of that , I could not speak one word of Hindi, the language commonly spoken there. Very soon the weather turned into a harsh winter. I found my self falling sick a lot of times and I was too drained mentally to concentrate on studies.

I had not realized the challenges I signed up for. But the college carried a good reputation and I was not yet ready to call it quits.Slowly I got accustomed to the place, got a hang of the language and more importantly ,made new friends.It was in my final year that I really started enjoying the work I did. My final year project is easily the best bit of work I did during those 4 years ,for which I got an A grade. Now I look back with pride to the fact that I decided to give it a fight and came out better off. It was a very valuable lesson in my life, which no course work could teach me.