Liz Murray grew up in the Bronx, New York City, with drug-addicted parents who sometimes sold household (家用的) items in order to get their fix. As a child, Murray hated school because when she did go, she was teased as an oddball (怪人) by other students.

As Murray grew older, her parents lost their apartment. Her mother, who suffered from AIDS, became increasingly ill and was sent to hospital, while her father struggled from shelter to shelter. Rather than submit to the dehumanization (非人性化) and sadness that had characterized her brief experience in childhood, Murray chose to look after herself.

When Murray was 16, her mother died, which was a big shock to her and caused her to question where her life was going. With an eighth-grade education, Murray decided that, as she said, “Life rewards action. I was going to go out there and… have action in my life every day.”

After Murray was admitted to an alternative high school, she took a double course load and completed high school in only two years. The school took its top 10 students, including Murray, on a trip to Boston, where the group walked through Harvard Yard. Later, she was admitted to Harvard with scholarship and graduated in 2009. During this period, her father also passed away due to AIDS.

Along the way, Murray began to tell her story through writing and public speaking. Her tale was adapted by Lifetime Television in the 2003 film “Homeless to Harvard: the Liz Murray Story.” She is also an enthusiastic writer whose the best-selling memoir(回忆录), “Breaking Night,” was published in 2010. Now a member of the Washington Speakers’ Bureau, Murray has found she has a skill for sharing her insights with audiences across the country, and she has founded a company, Manifest Living, which works to enable adults to create extraordinary things in their lives.

In all she does, Murray shows ambition - not only to achieve material goals and accomplishments, but more importantly, to overcome great difficulties and achieve the very best she can.

Ambition. Pass It On!

My zodiac sign (生肖) is horse.I live in a small town in Yunnan on the historic Tea Horse Road. I remember when I was very young, old people told me about the horse-carriage traders who had traveled that trail for centuries, carrying tea, silks, ivory, and other goods to markets as far away as India. There was usually a head horse leading the way.

My family has lived in my hometown of Xizhou for many generations. I have to admit that when I first heard that Paul Salopek was going to walk the entire globe on his own two feet without any modern transportation, I was blown away. I couldn’t imagine that there could be such an unusual person in the world. So it was even more surprising when one day last May, I found myself buying a standing-room ticket on a high-speed train to Shanghai to meet him.

Paul told me it was his first time in China. He talked to me with excitement about the history and discovery in my region of China. One would cross a thousand oceans and climb a thousand mountains to meet people one is destined to meet, a Chinese saying goes. I think destiny brought me Paul. I finally made my biggest decision. I would try my best to accompany Paul for hundreds of miles on his walk toward my home of Yunnan.

On September 28, we finally set out. We woke up at sunrise and rested at sunset. Nature does not hurry. We climbed a lot of mountains, only to reach yet another mountain; we crossed a lot of rivers, only to reach yet another river. We met many people on the road, many beautiful souls, simple souls, warm souls, decent souls. I came to an unexpected realization. Walking for its own sake, while healthy and admirable, is only a small part of the benefit. A deeper reward is rediscovering the world around us, shortening the distance between each other, and sharing each other’s cultures.

I come from a broken family. After we grew up, my sister and I could go years without speaking. And that is where this story begins.

My sister Jeanne and I were born only 14 months apart, but by the time we were teenagers we had lost touch. By age 19, I had moved away from our home in Wisconsin to live on my father’ s horse farm in Virginia. Jeanne got married at 18, moved to Chicago. We lived separate lives, and our connection somehow ended.

Fast-forward about five years. I was 24 and on a trip with my fiancé to New York City, a place I had never been. During a day of sightseeing, we were crossing a very busy street loaded with people. Everyone was in a hurry. I had laughed at something my fiancé said, and I suddenly heard my name yelled from somewhere behind me, “Cheryl!” I froze in my steps in the middle of the road. Tears welled up in my eyes. I knew without a doubt that it was my sister Jeanne. I yelled back before even turning to look, “Jeanne?”

It was her. I began pushing people out of my way to get to her. The crowd started to part—even by New York standards, we must have seemed crazy. And there we were, standing in the middle of a Manhattan street, facing each other and smiling. I couldn’t believe it.

I later asked how she’ d known it was me—she never saw me! She said it was my laugh. I wouldn’t say my laugh is all that unusual, but I guess to a family member it’ s infectious. It hits your heart and goes deep in your mind.

Since that time, my sister and I have never been separated. We both moved back to Wisconsin. We talk daily. Many years have passed, and we are now in our 50s. I truly believe God played a huge part in bringing us together. But our meeting by chance wasn’t just a sign. I see it as more of a lesson, a reminder not to lose touch with loved ones. It is too easy to remain lost. After our sister-to-sister miracle, I don’ t plan to let that happen again.