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Liz Murray started her student life in 1985. She tried her best to be a good student, however, it was impossible to her. She lived in a filthy home and was self-conscious of the stench that she gave off from her unwashed body and squalid clothing. Because of this, the embarrassment often comes to her when standing in front of her classmates. The shame associated therewith caused her to plead with her mother to stay home and, eventually, her mother allowed her to do so.
When little Liz was 11, her mother, Jean Murray, was diagnosed with AIDS. The following year, Liz’s parents separated, and her mother and sister moved in with her mother’s boyfriend, Brick, while Liz decided to stay with her father. At age 13, Child Welfare took Liz into care. Eventually, the state decided that Liz would be returned to her mother.
Liz began her junior high school and made good friends with a girl named Sam, who had very similar family problems to Liz’s. Liz told Sam that she could stay with her. The two began to avoid school and hung out with a gang of other children who played truant. When Brick found Sam hid in Liz’s room, Brick told Sam to get out. So Liz and Sam packed their bags and decided to live on the streets, on park benches, in subway cars, and, when possible, at friends’ apartments.
At the age of 16, Liz’s mother passed away. When her mother died, Liz had a sudden enlightenment: “Life was malleable. If I could have a family and a home one night and all of it’s gone the next, that must mean that life has the capacity to change. And then I thought, Whoa! That means that just as change happens to me, I can cause change in my life.” Liz realized that life could be anything she wanted it to be. “Instead, what I was beginning to understand was that however things unfolded from here on, whatever the next chapter was, my life could never be the sum of one circumstance. It would be determined, as it had always been, by my willingness to put one foot in front of the other, moving forward, come what may.”(Murray, 2010: 185)
This pivotal turning point caused Liz to make her first real commitment – to high school. She heard about alternative high school. She researched and went to as many school interviews as she could. However, she was repeatedly rejected, mostly because of her Goth attire.
Another pivotal turning point for Liz Murray was Perry Weiner’s help. Perry Weiner was the very important person on Liz’s road to success. That day when she reached in her pocket, she knew clearly that she only had enough money to buy a subway token to an interview or buy a slice of pizza for the empty stomach. Liz decided to choose the interview. “I ditched the idea of pizza and went for the interview (Murray, 2010: 150),” which led her to meet Perry Weiner, the founder of Humanities Preparatory Academy. Weiner gave Liz the chance to change her life. He offered her admission to Humanities Preparatory Academy, where she became a straight A student, finishing a four-year high school program in just two years. Weiner later selected Liz for a trip to Boston.
When she arrived on the campus of Harvard University, she had a deep longing that she could not explain. Weiner encouraged her to apply to Harvard, telling her that although it was a reach, it was not impossible. Liz headed his advice, but wondered how she would pay for tuition, room, and board. She then discovered The New York Times scholarship contest, which would provide winning contestants with a $12,000 yearly college scholarship. The scholarship contest required students to write an essay in which they were to describe any obstacles that they had overcome in life to thrive academically. Finally, Liz became one of the six scholarship recipients and was admitted to Harvard. Her story was first printed in The New York Times. After the article appeared, strangers came to Liz’s aid, providing her food, clothing, money for rent — even laundry service. Murray’s life was forever changed.