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Breaking Night

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Bryanna Soenarie
SLS 1501 T/R 11:00 am- 12:15pm
Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
Bryanna Soenarie
SLS 1501 T/R 11:00 am- 12:15pm
Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard

In the book “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard” it’s about a young girl, Liz Murray as she grew up into the world clueless of life to now taking life as a prize possession. On the afternoon of September 23, 1980, the first day of autumn, Elizabeth Murray was born. Born to poor and drug addicting parents. Growing up with little to nothing as a little girl, Liz Murray has survived. Throughout the entire book she tells her personal story through motivation and lack of motivation. Murray lived in a filthy home with her sister in the Bronx, New York. Living off of a monthly welfare check, that barely lasted for a couple of day it was not cut it. Liz and her sister had no option to only eat egg and mayonnaise sandwich but at time from time they would eat ice cubes, tooth paste and even Chap Stick to quench their hunger pains. At the age of 11, Jean Murray, mother of Liz and Lisa confirmed to have AIDs. As her parents separated Liz was left all alone, on her own. Considering what caused Liz to lose motivation she revealed “Instead, what I was beginning to understand was that however things unfolded from here on, whatever the next chapter was, my life could never be the sum of one circumstance. It would be determined, as it had always been, by my willingness to put one foot in front of the other, moving forward, come what may” (pg. 321). At age 13, she was put under child welfare because her father thought it was in her best interest. Soon later, she was released and returned to her mother’s custody as a temporarily living condition. Trying to do better, she enrolls into a junior high school which did not work out. Liz only befriend a girl name Sam, who had similar problems and the both of them ran away together to live on the streets thinking otherwise. Liz knew what she wanted but lived for tomorrow from her reply of “The thought made my heart swell with a rush of emotion that suddenly made me miss Ma. I became lonely on the sidewalk by myself, surrounded by all those people. My mind was racing. One minute I had a home, a family, a roof over my head, and loved ones to orient me in the world. And now I was on Sixty- Fifth Street and Ma was dead, Daddy was gone, Lisa and I were separated. Everything was different” (pg. 251). At the age of 16, the mother of Liz, Jean Murray dies of AIDs. Things took a turn for the best from this point on. Liz Murray was committed to her thought of “Life has a way of doing that; one minute everything makes sense, the next, things change. People get sick. Families break apart, your friends could close the door on you. The rapid changes I had experienced were hitting me hard as I sat there, and yet sadness wasn’t what came up in my gut. Out of nowhere, for whatever reason, a different feeling snuck up in its place, hope. If life could change for the worst, I thought, then maybe life could change for the better. It was possible that I could get into the next school, and it was even possible I could get straight A’s. Yes, based on all the things that happened before, it wasn’t necessarily realistic, but it was possible that I could change everything” (pg. 251). So, she did just what she planned to do. She decided to turn her life around. Many people have a similar problem to Liz. Sometimes, people have mind setbacks, setbacks that could be majorly involved, to causes them a distraction from what they decided they wanted to do in the beginning. People let their past dictate the future. They decide it’s too late to fulfill their desires. They forget the main idea and become too afraid to complete things that matter. My mother always told me to go for what my heart really desires. Never give up on your faith. What I want will never be handed to me so effortlessly, I want it really bad, therefore I have to go get it just as bad as I wanted it. “One day I’ll”? What if “one day I’ll” not ever originates. There is no “one day I’ll”, today is the day. You were given the chance to do “one day I’ll” now. Take the possession of what you can do. Tomorrow will not be promised to you, neither is the next day or the next. You are given a choice to achieve and to succeed, take action immediately, don’t wait. Liz Murray was able to see though to the future. She saw all the possibilities that could be given to her. Possibilities can happen out of several factors. Murray “But sitting there, I started thinking. Well, what if? Yes, it was likely that this school would be like all the others, but what if the answer just this one time wasn’t no? The thought had struck me out of nowhere, and I found it as compelling as it was simple. “What if? What if, despite all the evidence I had that said it wouldn’t work out, what if this very next time, just this once, it turned out to be the school that let me in (pg. 251)?” Despite all the problematics Liz Murray overcame, be homeless, growing up to know of having nothing, Liz found a successful high school and became someone. Accepted into Harvard as her biggest accomplishment, till now as an inspirational speaker who devotes her time to speak upon the lifetime once lost but once found. College students now do exceptionally well based from the driven idea to succeed. We set goals to complete, we have encouraging influences, and we also have something to look forward to in the future. When we feel like giving up just review how far you got to get somewhere. You had an image set. “Why give up now when you became so close, why not give up before when you had begotten so far?

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