Regis Cebu Leadership: Leader Izumi G. Yamashita, Movie Synopsis of From Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, JCampbell Monomyth and My Life Story - REVISED

Regis Cebu Leadership

Leader Izumi G. Yamashita

Movie synopsis of From Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story, JCampbell Monomyth and My Life Story - REVISED

FROM HOMELESS TO HARVARD: THE LIZ MURRAY STORY SYNOPSIS

Liz Murray was born on September 23, 1980 to a poor and extremely dysfunctional family in Bronx, New York. Her mother was a desperate drug addict, schizophrenic, legally blind, and an alcoholic. Her father on the other hand was also a drug addict – a highly intelligent drug addict with a love for reading books.

Being legally blind, Liz's mother was a qualified recipient of a monthly welfare check. However, the money they receive was all spent on drugs and alcohol by their parents leaving Liz and her sister to starve. They often found themselves feeding off garbage cans, and to an extreme, resorted to eating ice cubes as, according to the, it was as a close a feeling to eating; splitting a tube of toothpaste – even eating a stick of ChapStick lip balm to soothe their hunger.

As a student, Liz was often the target of bullies as she always came in smelly, dirty, and itching from her lice-filled hair. Because of this, she barely went to class and only showed up during exam days. Despite rarely going to class, Liz still often got high grades, which she credits to her dad giving him books which he stole from bookstores. He instilled in her a love for reading, which eventually paid off.

Being the favorite target of bullies, Liz became overly self-conscious and an introvert until such time that she quit attending school altogether. At the age of 11, her mom was diagnosed with AIDS which she contracted from sharing needles throughout her drug addiction. By this time, her mom decided to live with Liz's godfather where her sister also currently stays. At age 13, Liz has the option to stay with her father in their old filthy apartment or in an assisted living shelter where she would given proper care and education. Liz, hoping her parents would eventually get back together, stayed with his father. However, in order for her to be allowed to stay with her father, the social workers gave the condition that she would have to go to school, which she did not. One day, social workers took Liz away from her father and brought her to a shelter home for children. Her life in the shelter home was as horrible as her life outside with all the bullying and physical, emotional, and psychological violence other children brought upon other girls including her.

Eventually, the shelter decided to bring her back to live with her mother. Liz started junior high school  where she met Chris, who had similar problems at home. Together, they avoided school and hung out with other gang of shirkers.

Chris was sexually abused by her father so Liz told her she can stay with her. However, Liz's godfather found Chris hiding in her room and told her to get out, so she together with Liz packed their bags, dropped out of school, and ran away. At age 15, Liz Murray was homeless.

She and Chris spent nights sleeping on subway stations, trains, benches, parks, begging for food, and shoplifting. One day, news got to her that her mother had passed away. She was 16.

Her mother's death was a slap in Liz's face. The funeral had no priest. The lot was only donated by a charitable group. Her mother was placed in a donated wooden box with her misspelled name written on it and on one end of the box, was written "Head" to identify which way to place the body on the ground. Her mother's funeral had no dignity to say the least.

Suddenly she realized her life has completely fallen apart. Her mother is not coming back anymore. Her father was kicked out of their apartment after failing to pay the rent and moved to a homeless shelter. Liz on the other hand, stayed out on the street alone as her friend Chris decided to go back to the shelter home.

Her mother's death gave her an epiphany. Her mom's mantra was that one day, life is going to be better. Liz realized that like her mother, she always told herself the same – that one day she's going to fix her life and life is going to be better. However, when she saw her mom die without fulfilling her dreams, she told herself that fixing her life was now or maybe never thus, vowing to go back and finish school.

Indeed she eventually entered a public high school. She doubled her load and finished top of her class of what was supposed to be a 4-year high school program in 2 years. All this she did while living in a homeless shelter, caring for her father who was discovered to also have AIDS, working as a dishwasher with her school notes stuck on the wall, and doing her school work in subways. The whole time, she hid these things from school as she was afraid that if they found out she was homeless, she would be taken to a shelter again considering she was a minor.

One of her professors recognized Liz's intelligence and hard work, thus eventually mentoring her. They sent the top 10 students on a school trip to Boston and there was Liz's defining moment as she told herself, that while it is quite a reach, getting admitted to an Ivy-league school is possible.

Liz got her hands on every scholarship possible until one day, she came across a New York Times scholarship offer worth $12,000 to needy students. Out of the 3,000 applicants, Liz eventually became one of the five scholars to be sent to Harvard as she poured her heart out in the an essay  answering the question "Were there any obstacles you had to overcome?" Since then, her life has never been the same.

LIZ MURRAY AND J. CAMPBELL'S MONOMYTH

1.   THE ORDINARY WORLD.  The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.  The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history.  Some kind of polarity in the hero's life is pulling in different directions and causing stress.

·      The movie introduced Liz Murray in a dysfunctional and filthy home setting. She and her sister, Liza were raised by parents who had desperate drug addiction problems. Their family's welfare allowance was only used to buy food for the first week of each month in preparation for a surprise visit from the welfare group. Come the rest of the month, Liz and her sister would starve to death as their parents use all the money to feed their addiction.

·      Liz grew up without parents to take care of her. In fact, she took it on herself to care for her parents. At 8, she had to work as a grocery bagger in order to have money to buy food for the family. Because of this, she had to skip classes for the most part and when she did, she would come in stinking and itching from all the lice in her head, dirty clothes down to her underwear, and sore inner thighs from her unhygienic ways and environment. She clearly lacked the care a child needed during those formative years of her life.

·      Liz would only show up in class during exams, and despite her many absences or barely going to school, she would still get high marks. Liz was one intelligent girl who adopted her father's love for reading.

2.   THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.  Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change. 

·      When Liz was 11, her mother announced that she was HIV positive and that she had AIDS. From here, her mom decided to live with her godfather where her sister also stays. Liz, hoping her parents would reconcile, decided to stay with her father.

·       At 13, Liz had the option to either stay with her father or to stay in a welfare shelter. However, her living situation with her father, the filthy home and her failure to go to school caught the welfare group's attention thus forcing them to take her.

·       In the shelter, she witnessed and experienced herself physical, emotional, and psychological battery from other older children. With no one coming to get her, she felt like she's running out of options, thus eventually deciding to live with her mother and sister in their godfather's place. As she was reunited with her mother, Liz Murray started junior high school again.

3.   REFUSAL OF THE CALL.  The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.  Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead.

·       As Liz entered junior high school, she met Chris, a girl who had the same family problems, with whom she found great friendship with. Together they would skip class and wander around with other rebels.

·       Chris was sexually and physically abused by her father so Liz would let her stay in her place hidden from everyone just so Chris' father wouldn't get a hold of her. One day, Liz's godfather found Chris and threw her out of the house. Together with Chris, Liz packed her things, dropped out of school, and wandered all over the city. They slept in subways, parks, begged for food, and shoplifted in order to survive.

4.   THE ORDEAL.  Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.  Out of the moment of death comes a new life. 

·       As I have read a lot about J. Campbell's Hero Has a Thousand Faces, it has been said that movies or hero stories need not be the exact order as with the 12 steps. Indeed, because in Liza Murray's story, the ordeal unveiled her first influential mentor and the key to her crossing the threshold – her mother.

·       Unfortunately, this was recognized upon her death. As Liza was wandering the streets of New York, news got to her that her mother had passes away. She and Chris came to the cemetery where she found her mother in a donated pine box with her misspelled name on it and a word that says "Head" to identify which way to place the body. Upon her mother's death, she realized that her mother kept telling her that one day she will fix her life and that everything is going to be okay – that life was going to get better, but there she was, standing by her mother's grave, seeing her mother being buried without being able to fix her life. She told her self that if she was going to fix her life, it could be now or never.

·       She realized her mother was never coming back, her father was thrown out in the streets and is living in a homeless shelter, her only friend Chris went back to the shelter, while she was left alone in the streets. She was at the lowest point in her life. In her very own words, "I realized that my self-image as an independent woman of the streets was a delusion. I was 16, with an eighth-grade education, and I was homeless. I had learned to get by and had done well under the circumstances. Who would blame me, right? I had every excuse in the book to give up and become another statistic. But I also knew I was capable of something more."

·       Liz started to reframe her life by asking as simple question, "What if I made the most of every day? What if even a single action was guiding me to a greater goal? What could be possible?" Armed with only her faith in what could be, she looked at the problem-her entire life up to this point-and decided to come up with a plan to change it. (Kersey, 2015)

5.   CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.  At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values. 

·       Bent on changing her life, she first had to get a job. She worked as a door-to-door person soliciting donations in support for political initiatives. Determined to turn her life around, she reaped the benefits and broke all sales records.

·      The next thing she did was to get an education. Her mother always made her promise to study well and to finish school so she vowed to do just that. Liz took a chance on every interview she could get for high school. She did not want to enter an enormous public high school, as she was afraid the education wouldn't be good enough. She hid the fact that she was homeless and has to use a friend's address and contact number in her fear that if they found out, she will be taken to a shelter again as a minor. Fortunately, she was accepted in a Manhattan alternative school, the Humanities Preparatory Academy.

6.   MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.  The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey.  Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom.

·       Fortunately, she was accepted in a Manhattan alternative school, the Humanities Alternative Academy where she met her mentor. He was the one who gave Liz a shot in school and admitted her to the program just after he saw how determined Liz was and how much she has gone through life. He also recognized Liz's intelligence thus mentoring her further and helped her get straight A's. Along with the school's top 10 students, he sent Liz to a school trip in Boston where Liz became determined to secure an ivy-league degree.

7.   TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.  The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World.

·       One day, Liz saw Chris again and she's never been happier to reunite with her. Liz brought her along to the Academy hoping to give her the same shot in life which she was blessed with. However, Chris discouraged her and told her she was foolish enough to believe that such things are meant for people like them. Liz was not faltered by Chris' words. Instead, she focused on the positive things in her life and continued to work towards what she aims to achieve.

·       While all these things were happening, Liz was still a homeless teenager who lived in a homeless shelter, and studied in subway stations and even while at work. Liz defied all odds in her determination to succeed in life.

·       As they would say it, Liz was not seen in her school as the homeless daughter of drug addicts. Rather, she was the school star who was determined to turn her life around, thus they were all behind her to back and support her every which way possible.

8.   APPROACH.  The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world.

·       Liz was more than determined to finish high school as quick as possible and as a straight-A student. She doubled her load, worked and studied at the same time, day and night, whether in subway stations, in the kitchen while doing the dishes, or in school until late in the wee hours of the morning. She actively participated in student bodies and other activities, while at the same time getting ate least 96 in class.

9.   THE REWARD.  The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death.  There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again.

·       In a span of two years, Liz completed what was supposedly a four-year program and she did so as the top of her class. As one of the top 10 students in the Academy, she was one of those who were given an all-expense paid school trip to Boston. Liz fell in love with the place and told herself that while it was quite a reach, it is not impossible for her to secure an Ivy League education, but before anything else, she had to figure out how to afford such Ivy League rate education.

10. THE ROAD BACK.  About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home.  Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission.

·       The cost of an Ivy League education is about tens of thousands of dollars annually, which means there's no way she could afford it. Liz got a hold of every scholarship application possible and one of which being the New York Times $12,000 scholarship program offered to needy students. Grades weren't the focus of the application evaluation but rather, on obstacles applicants had to overcome. With everything she had to endure her entire life, she sure did move not just the panel's hearts, but also a lot of people's.

·       Just as when Liz thought everything was going okay, she and her sister signed an apartment lease, but not long after, her sister lost her job. They were at the verge of getting evicted so she had to go the welfare office to get money in order for them to keep the apartment. However, it was on the same day that she had to go to New York Times for an interview as a semi-finalist for the scholarship.

·       As time passed, she was close to missing her interview with New York Times, but was torn, as she knew they needed the money to keep the apartment. She begged the welfare worker and explained the situation, but to no avail. On a leap of faith, she walked out of the welfare office and put her and her sister's future on the line for her scholarship interview.

11. THE RESURRECTION.  At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home.  He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level.  By the hero's action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved.

·       Liz eventually received the news that she was one of the five students chosen as Harvard scholars. The panelists were moved by her courage and resiliency. Her life story, now out in the open, from being a daughter of drug addicts, to being homeless, to her striving through high school despite all odds, has also moved a lot of people that they donated more that $200,000 to the New York Times to fund more scholarships.

12. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.  The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.

·       Liz Murray can be described as a resilient woman who, even at a very young age, was able to conquer and defy all the odds which life handed her. From being a homeless teen, she was able to turn her life around and earned an Ivy-league degree from none other than the Harvard University.

·       To date, Liz works as an active motivational speaker who aims to inspire people to overcome whatever obstacles life hands them. She talks to teenagers about resisting the temptations of drugs, and not letting hardship hold you back. She has given speeches alongside Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev and the Dalai Lama.

·       Since then, she has received numerous accolades, including The White House Project Role Model Award, a Christopher Award, and Oprah Winfrey's first-ever Chutzpah Award. Currently, Liz Murray is the Founder and Director of Manifest Living, a company based in New York that aims to empower anyone who has the desire to change their life.

MY LIFE STORY

In one part of the movie, Liz Murray asked, "Do we ever get to bargain for the life we get to have? Or do we just have deal with what life hands us?"

Just like Liz Murray, I asked a similar question at several points in my life. While my ordeal was by nowhere close to hers, I still can relate to what transpired in her life.

If I were to compare my life with those of the people around me, I can probably say, I was not close to lucky. My father left us when I was one. My mother left me when I was four only to be taken care of by my grandparents. Our life was nowhere near comfortable, having to experience living with 100 pesos a day, sometimes even less, up to the time we graduated college, which is probably why my grandmother often resorted to verbal or physical abuse out of the stress having to care for us and survive two children of the same age – that being myself and my aunt.

I lived my life playing a victim of circumstances and of the poor choices my family made in their lives.

Emotionally, pysocholigically, and physically battered, I often ran away from home seeking for love and acceptance from strangers. I resorted to the company and comfort of having a huge group of friends regardless of the effect they had on me.

One day, I reached rock bottom when everything I thought about myself, the independent, strong, popular, and happy was stripped off right before everyone's eyes. My pride was taken from me, every bit of it. All of as sudden I was alone. From there, I learned that nobody is responsible for my happiness and my life but myself. I didn't need anyone to make me look good or did I have to depend on anyone to have a good life. Growing up, a lot of people often told me I wouldn't amount to anything and that I wouldn't get anywhere, but it was in my rock bottom, just as it was in Liz Murray's, that I realized I had to make a choice; that I could submit to everything, continue living playing victim and a life full of excuses, and throwing my life away in my attempt to punish my family, or I could push myself and make my life good.

You know when they say, when you're down, there's nowhere else to go but up? So I started to pick up the pieces and started to appreciate the small things. I guess that' the good thing when everyone thinks you don't amount to much, if anything, at all. You are freed from social pressure and no matter how you screw up, it really won't matter because it's not as if I can screw my life any more.

I moved to Cebu to start a new life. I got a job as a trader, which I knew nothing about. When I applied, all I had were sheer guts and determination. I was given 3 months to learn everything on my own. I stayed late nights and studied like I've never had before. I did pass all my revalidas, licensure exams, and certification exams, and even got promoted six months into the job. This got me thinking and telling myself, "Wow. Kaya ko pala." And so that motivated me to strive more knowing I am more capable of doing so much more, achieving and being a whole lot more. Eventually, I took a shot at taking the Ateneo Graduate School of Business MBA Program entrance exam. Luckily, I made it. Now here I am about to finish in three months' time, hopefully with Gold Medal.

What is the new learning?

1.     The decisions we make have a resounding effect on other people, one way or another.

·       We all know how difficult it is to make the right decisions when it is very convenient to submit to what is in front of us. I learned that as a leader, we have to consider the welfare of the majority, not just ourselves, when it comes to making decisions because no matter how we think it is our life and it is ours to decide how to live it, we have to be conscious that our actions and decisions do affect other people, much more resounding and impactful than we actually realize. We have to think beyond ourselves and aim to make the world a better place.

2.     There's always someone who is in a worse situation than you. Always be thankful.

·       While I was watching the movie, I felt pretty ashamed of myself for the way I acted with my life. I failed to realize that there are a lot more people who are in a more difficult situation, just like Liz Murray. Now, I never look at street children the same way again. I often tell myself now how lucky I am to be where I am now and to have enough support, means, and knowledge, which enabled me to steer my life towards a different direction. Compared to Liz Murray and these street children's lives, mine wasn't so bad after all.

What is the relation to what I already know?

1.     Our lives are unique stories and we are the authors. Don't let circumstances and situations dictate how your life story goes. We have the power to change it in order to achieve the happy ending that we dream of. We are all leaders, make sure your story turns out to be inspiring.

·       When Liz Murray's mother died, I wondered how she must have felt just right before she died. Did she regret living a wasted life? We can all wallow in sorrow and anger for the life we have been dealt with, but then at the end of the day, we should ask ourselves, what now? Do we keep playing victim, let the world see us as one, and make everyone around us pay for our miserable lives? Or we can choose to change the course of our lives, be thankful for being luckier than other one way or another, and choose to make an impact by striving to be better persons and inspiring people to do the same, because our eagerness alone to have a better life can serve as an inspiration to all the less fortunate ones.

What have I done, am doing, will be doing for this topic?

·       Looking back from where I stand now, I did everything to get out of my then situation not for anyone, but rather for myself. Now, I have earned the respect of non-believers and am being able to provide a good life for my family.

From my story, I also want to influence other children how to deal with life's struggles and enlighten them with the value of education. I full well understand how easy it is to give in to life and throw their years away as they resent the situtations given to them, so in my own little way, just like Liz Murray, I would also want to share my story to other children, and hopefully be able to induce hope in their lives that everything is possible, and everything is reachable if only they would want it and strive for it.