“DON’T STOP WHEN YOU ARE TIRED, STOP WHEN YOU ARE DONE”.
For anyone who knows what Harvard is, the title “From Homeless to Harvard” itself is enough to grip one’s attention. The movie revolves around a teenage girl and how she despite facing hardships and numerous never ending challenges makes it to Harvard. The script writing is very emotional and direct but at the same time can inspire a whole generation.
From the beginning itself the film grips one's attention and takes the viewer into this whole new atmosphere of anger, emotion, suspense and thrill. Elizabeth Murray is a teenage girl whose parents are drug addicts of the highest level. Due to drug addiction, she was never taken care of. Instead, she was the one who took care of her parents, they were her babies. The little girl had to literally feed herself and her sister because her parents were too involved and busy in drug abuse. The family was not very well off and that is depicted very strongly in the movie.
This effected Liz ; always hungry and ridiculed she rarely went to school and yet scored brilliant grades. In this process of not going to school, barely surviving and taking care of her parents, her mother was diagnosed with AIDS. The girl chose to go to a shelter home, but soon ran away there as it was terrifying. She was homeless at 15.
The biggest turning point in Liz’s life greets her when her mother passes away. The pain was unbearable for Liz, and she promised herself that she would lead a different life, a life which was worth living. The movie puts a strong point forward: “LOSS, REJECTION AND HATE ARE THE GREATEST MOTIVATORS”. Liz decides to go back to school and challenges herself to finish high school curricula load worth four years in just two, and she does achieve it. The very defining moment in her life is a school trip to Harvard, when she decides that Harvard is the place she wants to study in.
“NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION”, the girl managed to find a few tricks and smartly used her time to manage both her job and academics. She worked a s hard as one could; washing clothes while studying with the notes stuck on the wall, last-one-out-first-one-in in school, doing homework in trains and graduating with the highest scores.
As they say “GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES”, she was introduced to ‘The New York Times’ scholarship worth $12000/year, which she won through her sheer determination and immense hard work. This paves her way and she does get into Harvard. Even after all this, Liz says she would give it all back, if she could get her family back. She loved her family and her mother even though she was never taken care of.
It is not easy to put this movie in words and the emotional roller coaster this masterpiece takes one through. There are many goose bump moments and moments when tears of joy and happiness come rolling down. The movie tells us that humans are limited only in their brains and if motivated, determined and consistent enough can achieve heights never achieved before. This one is a no-brainer must watch.
“DREAMS ARE THOSE WHICH DON’T LET YOU SLEEP”.
