News Release
From Homeless to Harvard motivational speaker to address Milton Hershey Seniors
Friday, May 16, 2008
Motivational Speaker Liz Murray will be the keynote speaker for Milton Hershey School's Commencement on Sunday, June 15. The ceremony will begin at 2:00 p.m. in Founders Hall Auditorium; admittance by ticket holders only.
Growing up as a child of cocaine-addicted parents in the Bronx with no food in the house?and drugs everywhere?Murray was left homeless after her mother's death by age 15. Living on the streets, riding the subway all night, and getting her meals from dumpsters, Murray imagined her life could be much better than what it was. "I started to grasp the value of the lessons learned while living on the streets. I knew, after overcoming those daily obstacles, that next to nothing could hold me down."
Determined to take charge of her life, Murray finished high school in just two years while camping out in New York City parks and subway stations. After attending Columbia University for a short period to be closer to her ill father, Murray has returned to Harvard where she is completing her degree.
Murray's life story is triumph over adversity and takes her audiences on a very personal journey showing them how she, and they, can achieve the improbable. Lifetime Television produced a movie about Murray's life titled, From Homeless to Harvard, which premiered in April 2003. She is also the recipient of Oprah Winfrey's first ever Chutzpah Award and is currently writing her memoirs for Hyperion.
- - -
Contact: Office of Communications, (717) 520-2205
