Answer:
a. Understatement
Step-by-step explanation:
Understatement takes place when the speaker intentionally describes a situation by making it seem less important or serious than it really is. It is often used to be more polite, or for ironic or humorous effects.
This literary device is the one that is represented the most in the passage because even though the speaker recognizes that something terrible happened, they deliberately try to make the situation seem less serious than it really is by describing its experience as "I realized things weren't going well for me."