HELP! Writing sample re-write?

[lizamags]

Hi everyone! I just joined gradcafe because a very similar question to mine popped up when I was doing some googling, but I'm wondering if anyone has a fresh perspective.

I got my BA in History last year and I'm looking to apply to masters programs for either 2025 or 2026. I'm planning to switch disciplines to religion/theology. The issue I'm having is that my undergrad GPA is extremely low (over a 3.0, but barely). I was in an extremely unhealthy mental state my junior/senior year of college when I was writing possible writing sample material, which negatively affected the quality of the work. (I was more focused on trying not to d-- than write an essay). 

Because my grades got so bad, there's a lot riding on my writing sample/personal statements/experience etc when thinking about grad school apps. The writing samples I have are history/sociology based, so still humanities, but different disciplines, and they need pretty serious reworking. I'm considering starting from scratch. I'm abroad right now on a Fulbright grant, which I'm hoping will really mean something when I apply to schools, and which gives me a lot of time to work on a brand new, more relevant writing sample.

Do you guys think it would be worth it to just start over? Or do you think I should work with what I have? My current favorite paper is about 18th century prostitution, which has the potential to be good, or I could write something more specific to religion. Pls let me know your thoughts and also pls be nice I'm pretty embarrassed about the bad grades :(