From Homeless to Harvard: Liz Murray's Journey to Success - Essay Sample

Introduction

From the homeless to Harvard is a movie that describes a story of a lady, Liz Murray, who suffered under the care of her parents who were drug addicts. Liz turned her life around despite having lived in the streets as a teen. She swore never to be her like her parents. Murray felt that the only way to be successful in life is by studying hard in high school so that she can secure a scholarship at the top university. After she resumed her studies, she became the best student and obtained a place at Harvard University, one of the world's elite universities (Stich, 2016). As an adolescent and a lady in middle childhood, Liz Murray's life events are demonstrated in the cognitive, physical, and psychosocial domains.

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Cognitive and psychosocial developments are variables in adolescents. The domains may limit an adolescent from perceiving and judging as it should be. Also, their thinking may not be similar to those of their parents or guardians. A good example is the case of Liz Murray. Even after she was raised by parents who were drug addicts and made her feel neglected, she still did not give up. At the age of thirteen, she became homeless, where she was prone to drugs and other immoral acts. Despite the challenges, she still chooses to pursue her education and make her dreams come true.

Cognitive Development

Middle childhood and adolescence mark the transition of a person from childhood to adulthood. Cognitive development explains how a child behaves in how an adult should behave. There are three main areas of cognitive development (Dickson et al., 2018). First, a child in middle childhood develops advanced reasoning skills, which include the ability to explore a range of possibilities that are consequences of a particular situation. They think hypothetically and use logic through the thinking process. After Liz went to live with her mother's boyfriend Brick, she felt that since Sam had been her friend all along, she should accommodate her. However, Brick did not want any visitors in his apartment. Liz decided to sneak in her friend since she was also having trouble in her home. A few months later, their secret was known when Brick found Sam in Liz's room and chased her out. Liz felt that she couldn't live her friend to go and be alone in the streets hence decided to go with her. As an adolescent, she understood the pain that Sam was going through and reasoned that if they went together in the streets, they would at least come up with a solution.

The second area in cognitive development is the ability of the adolescent to think abstractly. They move from being concrete thinkers, who only feel of the issues that are directly related to them, to being abstract thinkers who can imagine things that are neither seen nor experienced. Liz portrayed this stage of cognitive development when they visited Boston. They were taken to Harvard University, and as Liz looked at the students reading on the open lawns, she was filled with deep longing. It was this visit that motivated her to work hard so that she can get a scholarship to study at Harvard (Lilly, 2019).

The last stage of cognitive development has operational thinking. Here the adolescents develop a capacity to think about how other people view them. The thought process, together with the emotional and physical changes that occur at this age make most youths to believe that everything they are thinking is about them. Most children hide any trouble that they may be going through, for they fear being judged by the imaginary audience. At school, Liz was always scared of what the other pupils thought about her when they saw her with her dirty clothing that hung heavily off her body. She was also aware of the stench she gave them, but she could do nothing. That lowered her self-esteem, and she was always alone with no friends.

Psychosocial Development

During adolescence, psychosocial development occurs in three stages. The first one is the establishment of autonomy. Here the adolescent struggles to become emotionally as well as economically independent from the parents. Most of the adolescents form peer groups which make them decrease the urge to be involved in family activities and parental guidance. At this stage, the peers are only concerned about how they appear to the others. After Liz met SamSam and decided to accommodate her in their apartment, they began skipping school together. They would hang out together and argue out whose parents are out there working. Liz seems to have forgotten that she had a sick mother and a sister. She only visited them once when her mother was on her sickbed.

The second stage in psychosocial development is a sense of identity (Jessor, 2017). Here the teenager tries to be bold and boost their self-esteem. They identify their self-worth and start to work on their goals and to achieve their dreams. Erickson wrote that the teens in this stage begin to think about their lives as adults. They develop mixed ideas and feelings about several things. After Liz met Danny's friend, Paige, she learned about the alternative high school. Paige told her how the alternative high school had helped her become who she is. Liz wanted to have a better life than what her parents could offer her and Lisa. She, therefore, decided to try it out. She faced many rejections, but the founder of the humanities preparatory academy helped her secure a position in the school. Her dreams of joining the best university and become a better person in the future made her work hard. She also learned to be bold, just like her friend SamSam.

The third area in psychosocial development is the ability for future orientation. In this stage, the youth have already matured and are ready to develop realistic goals. They have developed a sense of self-identity and love it when society treats them like adults (Meeus, 2017). The youths have more responsibilities. After Liz graduated from Harvard University, she took a break to take care of her father, who was suffering from aids. She also used the opportunity and held workshops where she motivated the people using the example of her own life. She felt that she had a role in changing lives to prevent them from being drug addicts or violent. She never wished any child to grow in the same situation that she and Lisa grew.

Physical Development

In these domains, the parents are expected to notice the physical changes in their children. According to Erickson, parents' bonding with their children is essential. The children develop a sense of feeling safe, which motivates them to explore more and push harder. For Liz, the parents were barely there for her. She discovered that her parents were drug addicts at the age of three. At the adolescent stage, children copy what their parents are doing. If it is wrong, they come to regret it later in life (Simpkin et al., 2017). For example, when Liz discovers what her parents do when injecting drugs in their veins. She did the same when her mother bulged on her. She raised her arms the way she saw her parents did and said their singsong, 'Al-l-l done.' All this was copied from what she had seen. Those in middle childhood learn a lot from their parents. Liz's mother came from a violent family, and that's why she ran away at an early age.

Similarly, her father had an alcoholic dad. Although it is not aired in the movie, it could be possible that they found it ok to treat their families the same way. It is the neglect that causes teenagers to indulge in drugs. Assuming that Liz's mother did not tell her that it is terrible to get high, she could not resist the urge to start to indulge in drugs and alcohol.

Under physical development, parents provide guidance and support to their teenagers (Palmer et al., 2018). The process is referred to as scaffolding. Young adults tend to feel mature and do not want to be controlled. However, for Liz, the parents were busy with drugs and did not have time to scaffold her. Even after she decided to follow Sam and stay with her in the streets, the parents did not intervene. Liz's mother was just interested in having a roof under her head; that's why she decided to move to her new boyfriend. Also, after Liz chose to remain behind with her father, her mother did not intervene.

According to psychologists, young girls are supposed to live close to their mothers so that they can be guided unless under unavoidable circumstances. However, to Liz's mother, she did not care much about her daughters (Murray, 2011). Also, under this domain, the parents are expected to encourage and teach their children skills to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In the case, Liz's mother told her not ever to get high so that she does not end up like her. All three domains are essential to child development. The parents have a role in ensuring that the children develop according to the three areas with all the necessary guidance.

References

Dickson, H., Cullen, A. E., Jones, R., Reichenberg, A., Roberts, R. E., Hodgins, S., ... & Laurens, K. R. (2018). Trajectories of cognitive development during adolescence among youth atrisk for schizophrenia. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(11), 1215-1224.

Jessor, R. (2017). Problem Drinking and Psychosocial Development in Adolescence. In Problem Behavior Theory and Adolescent Health (pp. 105-121). Springer, Cham.

Lilly, F. R. (2019). Creativity and Cognitive Development in Adolescence. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1-10.

Meeus, W. H. J. (2017). Adolescent psychosocial development: A review of longitudinal models and research, Correction to Meeus (vol. 52, pg 1969, 2016). Developmental Psychology, 53(3), 580-580.

Murray, L. (2011). Breaking Night Memoir: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.

Palmer, A., Fernquest, S., Gimpel, M., Birchall, R., Judge, A., Broomfield, J., ... & Glyn-Jones, S. (2018). Physical activity during adolescence and the development of cam morphology: a cross-sectional cohort study of 210 individuals. Br J Sports Med, 52(9), 601-610.

Simpkin, A. J., Howe, L. D., Tilling, K., Gaunt, T. R., Lyttleton, O., McArdle, W. L., ... & Relton, C. L. (2017). The epigenetic clock and physical development during childhood and adolescence: longitudinal analysis from a UK birth cohort. International journal of epidemiology, 46(2), 549-558.

Stich, A. E. (2016). From Charity to Equity: Race, Homelessness, & Urban Schools By Ann Aviles de Bradley. Critical Questions in Education, 7(1), 70-74.