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Liz Murray’s story is one of the best-known personal triumph stories in the United States. She was born in the Bronx, New York, and had a childhood marked by poverty, hunger, and her parents’ addictions. As a teenager, she ended up living on the street, without a stable home or the resources needed to keep studying.
However, her life changed when she decided to return to high school. Despite the obstacles, she finished her studies in just two years and won a scholarship that allowed her to continue her education at Harvard University.
Who is Liz Murray and what was her childhood like around poverty and drugs?
Elizabeth Murray was born on September 23, 1980, and grew up with her sister in a family that was going through serious financial hardship, made worse by her parents’ addiction problems.
During her childhood, the lack of money affected her living conditions. At times, she did not have enough food and had to face neglect and hardship. Her parents spent part of the family’s resources on drugs, while their daughters’ basic needs went unmet.
Both parents later contracted HIV, which made the family situation even worse and affected Liz’s education as a result.
How did she end up living on the street as a teenager?
Murray’s situation worsened in her teens, as her mother died of AIDS in 1996 and her father ended up in a homeless shelter.
That’s how Liz became homeless as a teenager, without a stable home or a family structure to support her.
Murray said that during that period she spent nights in subway stations, parks, and other places in New York City. Not having a home also made it harder to eat, sleep, and even think about going to school.
How did she go from living on the street to winning a scholarship to Harvard?
The turning point came when Murray decided to go back to school and enrolled at the Humanities Preparatory Academy, a high school in Manhattan.
Although she was still dealing with housing problems, she managed to focus on her studies and complete four years of high school in just two, with a grade point average of 95 out of 100.
Her performance earned her a scholarship from The New York Times, awarded to students who had managed to stand out academically despite facing difficult personal and financial circumstances.
She later applied to Harvard University and was accepted. In the fall of 2000, she began her studies at one of the world’s most renowned academic institutions.
What happened to Liz Murray after getting into Harvard?
Getting into Harvard did not mark the end of Murray’s personal struggles. In 2003, she transferred to Columbia University to be close to her father, who was facing health problems.
Later, she resumed her academic path and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard in 2009.
Her story gained international recognition thanks to the film Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, released in 2003, which recreates the experiences she went through during her childhood and adolescence.
A year after earning her degree, she published her autobiography, Breaking Night, in which she recounted the hardships of growing up in a family affected by addiction, her experience living on the street, and the path she took to get into college.
Over time, she also became a speaker and began sharing her story in a range of educational settings and co-founded The Arthur Project, an organization that provides support and mentoring to young people in vulnerable situations.