Elizabeth Murray

My name is Elizabeth Murray and i was born in the Bronx, New York on September 23, 1980. I was born to poor and drug-addicated parents. Later on, they both contracted HIV.  My sister and I had to deal with everything alone, especially sicknesses. We went days with food. I remember that we were so humbly that we ate toothpaste and lip balm. I became homeless when I was fifteen. My mother died of AIDS and my father moved to a homeless shelter. I would sleep on the streets or at my friends' houses during my teenage years.  Despite what had happened, I began attending the Humanities Preparatory Academy in Chelsea, Manhattan. I started high school late and did not have a stable home, but I graduate in two years. I was awarded a scholarship for needy students and was later on accepted to Harvard University in 2000. My older sister graduated from Purchase College and she became a teacher for students with autism. In 2006, my father died of AIDS and later that year, I returned to Harvard and I became a counselor and earned a doctorate in clinical phsycology.