as a young girl her parents were addicted to drugs. the family was on welfare and any welfare money that came in would be towards buying drugs for that addiction. the parents would sell the tv for $5 to a neighbor, or the thanksgiving turkey just to fufill their want. they had two girls...who literally had nothing. liz remembered going 3 days without food, and splitting a bottle of toothpaste with her sister and they would suck on ice cubes just to feel like they were eating something. they would see their parent high, they would see the pain they were going through. people ask her today if she was mad at her parents...(this part really touched me). she said part of me wanted to be mad at them. but when i went to my mom and said that i was hungry i haven't eaten today, she would look at her mom and say that her mom hasen't eaten for days on end. and she would go to her dad and say that she needed a new winter coat, it is cold outside, but then she would look down at his shoes and notice that they were duck taped together. she felt bad for them, that they were so addicted her parents couldn't give her what her and her sister needed or even wanted.
her dad was diagnosed and her mom was now in the hospital. she would visit her mom and one time she said that she was washing her hair and clumps of hair would come out. her mom eventually died.
so liz was homeless. no where to go. instead of being depressed and becoming someone like her parents were she rose to the occasion and told herself that she was going to go to highschool. she was 15 and living on the street. she was on her own. liz had to apply to a highschool by herself. after a while she got into a high school and worked her butt off. she finished high school in two years when it would normally take her four. she went to morning classes, afternoon classes, and night classes. she knew she had a calling. liz knew she had to be someone better. so she finished high school still homeless and no one knew and with straight a's. i forget exactly how and why she wanted to apply for harvard but she did, and got in with a scholarship from the new york times because she entered a contest explaining any obstacles she has been through. now she is in harvard university, on of the best schools to go to, and finishing up there this year. she is becoming a chiropractor or something...i forget what she said.
but isn't that amazing that she was literally homeless and followed her calling, put her butt in gear, worked extremly hard and now is graduating from one of the best of the best schools. i find it inspiring. liz went through so much but she still pushed herself because she knew that her life was worth something more. it is also amazing that the situation with her parents helped her be a better person instead of someone struggling with depression and sorrow. this story encourages me to do a lot. it helps me....wait for it....want to do my homework (yes i did just say that) and get my priorities and things that need to be done - DONE. it was a good timing for my youth group to show it...right before exams eh?! it also inspires me to keep going with my life, no matter the situations i am going to go through..i am worth something and my life is worth so much more than any storm i might go through. i want to empower myself to do better and be better just like liz murray did in the video. liz is going to go far in her life because she has been through so much. she understands life itself and knows how to overcome problems in her life. so here i go - out to the world to overcome my problems. to put myself to work because my life deserves so much more. here i go to go study for a test with this in mind.
~amy
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