‘Homeless to Harvard’ Story Encourages Tech Students to Ask ‘What If?’

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor

Liz Murray

On Monday morning, students from Worcester Technical High School gathered at the Hanover Theatre to listen to Liz Murray, subject of the film ‘Homeless to Harvard,’ and author of Breaking Night, tell her life story and how by simply asking ‘What if?’ she was able to change her life completely.

"I look at all of you, and I wonder, 'How long can any of you live in a rut?', said Murray to the Tech students. "When you have something that you're doing every day and you know it's not something that you should be doing. You know when you keep promising yourself in the back of your head that you're going to fix it later? We've all heard this voice in the back of our head, but you know what other voice you have? I call it the 'What If?' voice. It's the polar opposite of 'later.' It's the part of you that dreams on purpose."

Murray Answers Her Own 'What If'?

Born to poor and drug-addicted parents, Murray would become homeless at the age of 15. Murray's parents would both become HIV positive. Her mother died and her father moved to a homeless shelter. "I thought we were going to stay together as a family. I didn't realize how unstable it was. I certainly had no idea that my parents were sharing drug needles with strangers," said Murray. "I was eventually taken away to group homes and foster care."

Following Murray's mother's death, Murray had a 'What If?' moment that changed her life. The day she buried her mother, she sat with her friends and heard them complaining about things they had in their lives that Murray herself hadn't experienced. For example, one of her friends was complaining that his mother burned the pork chops for dinner.

It was in that moment when Murray said 'What if she made the changes she needed in her life?' She decided to go back to school and was finally accepted into Humanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan. "My mother gave me a gift when she passed away. Sometimes in life, even if something terrible happens to you, you will open your heart to your life experiences and they will change the person that you are."

“It’s absolutely possible to do the thing that you so badly want to do. They’re absolutely doable. They take the commitment, the dedication, the hard work and the help to do them," said Murray.

At the end of her two years in school, Murray was one of the top ten students and was invited to go on a trip to Boston with her teacher Perry and the other nine students for a weekend. The last stop on the trip was Harvard University.

“We were only there for a picture. As we were leaving, I started looking at the Harvard students. Perry saw me and looked at me and said, ‘It would be a reach, but it’s not impossible.’”

Murray Wins New York Times Scholarship

Murray filled out an application for a scholarship from the New York Times for $12,000 a year to go to school. She was one of six scholarship winners among thousands of applicants. Murray shared the story of the day of the interview with the New York Times:

Worcester Tech Students Listening to Murray

“That day, I went to welfare to apply for food stamps. I went to my Harvard interview in mid-town Manhattan, and I went to my interview with the New York Times. I had to take care of those three things. Welfare was the only thing that went horrible that day. I went in and it was completely dysfunctional. I got yelled at and got into a fight with her. I said, ‘I don’t need you, I have an interview with Harvard.’ She replied, ‘I’m sure you do, Princess. Stanford and Yale come in for recruiting all the time.’”

Murray went to the Harvard interview and it went well. She then went to the New York Times interview. She helped herself to an entire tray of pastries, wrapped them in tissues and packed them away in her bag.

Murray’s and the five other recipients stories were published in the Metro Section of the New York Times. Murray didn’t have any money to purchase the paper so she showed her face to a person behind a deli counter so that she could read their copy.

“I read it. And there it was. My entire story. My secret was out. Everyone now knew I was homeless. It read: ‘Liz Murray who graduated squeezing four years of high school into two years with an ‘A’ average while homeless....’”

The reception to Murray’s story was overwhelming. People in her community showed up at her school with clothing, food, care packages. A group of people pooled money to get Murray, her sister and her friend an apartment. They made beds for all of them and filled their refrigerator.

Murray said, “Perry looked at me and said, ‘Liz, sometimes people just want to help you.’ One after the other, after the other and they just showed up. I never slept on the streets ever again, thanks to those folks.”

Murray graduated from Harvard University in 2009. In 2010, she released Breaking Night.

Murray finished her speech with a message for the students at Worcester Tech. Murray said, “I want you to know, you have the power, not only to transform your own life, but it’s not really success unless it helps other people. No act of kindness is too small.”