This one could take off, but never got out of the ground effect till impact.
He was above tree-top height, so say at least 50 feet - well out of GE. He might have been able to make it with a super-shallow climbing turn over the tree-free terrain after the runway. But, once again, best not to be there in the first place (or if you're already there, take off at first light when the DA is lower).
As I begin the transition from student to pilot, I want to try to ensure that I become better/safer rather than letting skills and knowledge decay.
Pushing the envelope while sitting in an armchair, or in a discussion forum like this, is an excellent idea. Pushing the envelope in an actual flying machine otoh is an exceptionally bad one. People like BPF and Pilot DAR have already experienced a lot and even when they do something that afterwards they're not so sure about, they're drawing on an awful lot of experience. My strong advice would be to continue pushing the envelope in theory, but in practice just go out and fly as much as you can. You'll experience plenty of "oh s***" moments, that way - trust me - without ever being in REAL danger. As for me, I have 2000 hours, which I regard as just enough to be dangerous.
(For some reason this post reminds me of the old maybe-joke, "If at first you don't succeed, maybe skydiving is not the hobby for you.")