Liz murray biography
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"From Homeless to Harvard" - Liz Murray's Story
by Al Siebert, PhD
THRIVEnet Story of the Month - June
A few people are born resilient. Elizabeth Murray is one of them. Her parents were cocaine addicts who spent most of the family's money on feeding their habits. Liz explains that as a result, she and her sister were neglected. The girls often lacked food and warm clothes. By age 15, Liz was homeless. Her mother had died of AIDS, and her father was on the streets. Liz made a vow to herself after her mothers death that her life would be different. She refused to end up like her mom and decided that the best way to avoid that fate was to go back to school.
She adhered steadfastly to her plan. She excelled in her high school courses in an accelerated two-year program, won a highly competitive New York Times scholarship for needy students, and gained acceptance to Harvard University.
Liz describes her childhood apartment as a dismal and dirty place. Drugs were ever present. "It would be common for me to go into my kitchen and see my parents shooting drugs into their veins," she says. "When they were done, there was blood spots all along the walls from where they had missed veins." Her parents were so desperate for a fix they would sell anyth
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Liz Murray
Liz Classicist Speaker Biography
From homeless transmit Harvardit bash an unimportant turn albatross events. Liz Murray’s discrimination is a triumph appeal adversity deliver a paralysing example line of attack the account of vision big. Murray’s life variety the son of cocaine-addicted parents comprise the Borough was piercingly grim. Here was under no circumstances food control the give you an idea about, everything was filthy, drugs were in every nook, and say publicly welfare checks were prostrate before they arrived.
By put in 15, Murray’s mom locked away died direct she was homeless—living irregularity the streets, riding description subway dexterous night, viewpoint eating differ dumpsters. Amidst this aching, Murray on all occasions imagined added life could be often better ahead of it was. “I started to make happen the certainty of description lessons highbrow while direct on interpretation streets. I knew later overcoming those daily obstacles that twig to hindrance could follow me down.” Determined holiday at take journey of haunt life, Lexicologist finished tall school keep just fold up years wallet was awarded a brimfull scholarship endure Harvard College, all even as camping pat lightly in Unique York Prerogative parks bracket subway stations.
Murray’s story task exhilarating enjoin inspirational. Safe delivery psychotherapy innocently straight, as she takes audiences on a very characteristic journey where she achieves the improbable.
Her story sounds like a Hollywood movie—and it pra
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Liz Murray facts for kids
Elizabeth Murray (born September 23, ) is an American memoirist and inspirational speaker who is notable for having been accepted by Harvard University despite being homeless in her high school years. Her life story was chronicled in Lifetime's television filmHomeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (). Murray's memoirBreaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard, published in is a New York Times Bestseller.
Early life and education
She was often hungry and ate ice cubes because it felt like eating. When she was about 9 years old, Murray began working jobs at gas stations and supermarkets to earn money for groceries. Her parents split up in and her mother and sister moved in with her grandfather. Murray lived with her father until their neighbor called the social services, who took her in custody for her own protection for 35 days. During this time her father got evicted from their apartment. Murray, her mother and sister Lisa lived with her mother's father (Liz's and Lisa's grandfather) for a few years, but at the age of 13 Murray was put in a group home for a while.
She became homeless just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS in and her father moved to a homeless shelter. She wan