From Home to Harvard

Liz Murray (born September 23, 1980) is an American inspirational speaker who is best known as having been homeless in her youth, and as having overcome her hardship to achieve success. Murray was born in the Bronx, New York, to poor, drug-addicted, HIV-infected parents. She became homeless at age 15, when her mother died, and her father moved to a homeless shelter. Murray's life turned around when she began attending the Humanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan, in New York City. Though she started high school later than most students, and remained without a stable home, Murray graduated in only two years. She was awarded a New York Times scholarship for needy students and accepted into Harvard for the fall of 2000. She left Harvard in 2003 to care for her sick father; she resumed her education at Columbia University to be closer to him.