Sebuah Ilusi Optik

Homeless To Harvard


Ada sekali tu. Aku tertengok satu cerita di TV2. Cerita itu amat menyedihkan. Kisah hidup seorang budak yang terbiar dan tidak berumah (homeless). Ibu meninggal disebabkan AIDS dan bapa pula tinggal di rumah jagaan untuk pesakit HIV. Beliau terpaksa bergelut sendirian untuk meneruskan hidup. Tapi kesusahan dalam hidup tidak menghalang beliau untuk berjaya ke Universiti Harvard. Ceritu itu menyebabkan aku rasa bertuah dalam hidup ini. Terus bersemangat untuk baca buku. Seterusnya melanjutkan pelajaran ke Harvard. Betul.

Setelah beberapa lama. Aku terjumpa satu info yang menarik. Rupanya cerita yang aku tengok itu adalah berdasarkan kisah benar. Tajuknya "Homeless To Harvard". Mati-mati aku ingat cerita tu hanya rekaan semata. Rupanya budak itu betul-betul ada. Pergh! Kat bawah ni ada info mengenai budak itu Elizabeth "Liz" Murray yang aku petik dari wikipedia.

Elizabeth "Liz" Murray, born September 23, 1980(1980-09-23), 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 just after she turned 15, when her mother died of AIDS, and her father moved to a homeless shelter. Murray's life turned around when she began attending the Humanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan. Though she started high school later than most students, and remained without a stable home while supporting herself and her sister, Murray graduated in only two years. She was awarded a New York Times scholarship for needy students and accepted into Harvard University, matriculating in the fall semester 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. In 2006 her father died of AIDS. As of May 2008, she is back at Harvard working towards her degree and plans to graduate in December 2008.

Murray's life was the subject of the 2003 Emmy-nominated Lifetime TV movie Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. Actress Thora Birch played Murray, and Murray played a cameo role as a social worker. Murray's memoir, Breaking Night, was published by Hyperion Books in 2005. Murray works as an inspirational speaker, represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau. She has been featured in billboard advertisements by The Foundation for a Better Life.

P/s : Kamu rasa hidup kamu susah?

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