Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard

School won’t start for a few months, so Liz searches the classifieds for a job. She manages to find work with the New York Public Institute of Research, a non-profit organization that is collecting funds to help the environment. Liz gets a job canvassing neighborhoods and collecting donations. Because she works on commission, the more she collects, the more she earns. At first, her supervisors don’t think she can perform, but she doubles her quota, so they start sending her to more upscale, suburban areas. One of her coworkers, Ken, often canvasses with her, and Liz starts to develop a crush on him.

While riding the subway, Liz sees Sam in a train opposite the platform. Their gazes meet and they eventually get off at the same stop so that they can give one another a hug and catch up. Liz feels left out when Sam talks about her friends at the group home, but then she suggests that Sam apply for the same alternative high school she’ll be attending (Liz calls it Prep) and Sam does.

Later, Liz goes to a sleepover at Ken’s family’s home. She has a plan to earn Ken’s affections that begins with snagging a sleeping bag right next to him. As the party of NYPIRG workers talks about college, Liz starts to wonder if college might be something she could do. When it comes time to sleep, she’s delighted to find that Ken is next to her, but when she hears him snoring she knows that no romantic advances will occur that night.

The next morning, after seeing Ken interact with another girl named Anna, Liz realizes Ken doesn’t have feelings for her—he was just being nice. Overwhelmed by all that Ken and his family represent—wealth and family solidarity—Liz bursts out into laughter and feels embarrassed.

Liz hopes to complete four years of high school in only two years, so she fills up her schedule with classes at Prep and other schools. Not only does she want to finish quickly, she wants top marks. However, Liz soon discovers that this is easier said than done, and often faces the battle of trying to make herself wake up and go to class instead of sleeping in. She manages to get to school, though, and soon finds that she would not want to disappoint her teachers.

Time passes and Liz starts to not only tolerate school, but to love it—she loves her teachers and she loves learning. For the first time in a long time, she feels hopeful about her future. She makes a new friend named Eva who often takes her in, offers her food, and gives her clothing. Shortly after, she befriends another student named James, and their friendship morphs into a romantic relationship. Unlike with Carlos, Liz finds their sexual encounters rewarding. When she doesn’t stay at Eva’s apartment, she stays at James’s.

Later, she meets up with her father, who confides in her that he’s been diagnosed as HIV positive. He asks her not to tell Lisa. At first, this angers and frustrates Liz, but then she realizes that her father loves her, and she ultimately forgives him.

Sam attends Prep, too; she works with Liz and Eva on a project about HIV/AIDS, and they earn top grades. Liz and Sam get an apartment with Lisa, but right after they all move in together, Lisa loses her job. Liz is instantly thrust back into fearing for immediate needs such as food and rent. They’re denied welfare, and Liz knows that if she’s going to graduate as fast as she’d like, she can’t stop going to school in order to work. She starts to feel stuck.

She applies for, and wins, a scholarship through the New York Times. Her story is published and she receives national support. People pay her back rent and ask if they can save her time by doing her laundry, and other favors. Liz starts to hope again, and applies to Harvard. She is waitlisted. When she finds out that the university has sent its admission decision, she waits for the mailman to deliver the letter.

The epilogue finds Liz in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she’s waiting for the Dalai Lama to give a presentation. She’s the speaker after him. Liz is invited to ask the final question during the Dalai Lama’s presentation, but before she shares with the reader what her question was—or what the Dalai Lama’s answer was—she takes a couple of pages to explain how she has come to this point, about to follow the Dalai Lama and to speak to seven hundred CEOs from all over the world. Her experiences leading up to and while studying at Harvard inspired Liz to create a series of workshops meant to empower others.

Peter quit using drugs after receiving his HIV diagnosis. His other medical concerns included a damaged heart that required open-heart surgery, hepatitis C, and cirrhosis of the liver. Lisa and Sam managed to reach their goals in school. Sam got married and moved to Wisconsin with her husband and Lisa became a school teacher. Prior to Peter’s death, Liz and her friend Ed were able to take him on one last trip to San Francisco to see the favorite places of his youth. Peter died three weeks after that trip, at the age of sixty-four, after spending the last eight of those years sober.

Returning to the Dalai Lama, Liz reveals her question, which was, “Your Holiness, you inspire so many people, but what inspires you?” (326). His answer was that he didn’t know—he was “just a simple monk.” Afterward, CEOs approach Liz to tell her their interpretations of his answer. Some say it’s simplicity. Others say it’s not knowing things. One CEO claimed the Dalai Lama was arrogant. She finds out backstage that in fact the Dalai Lama never knew her question because the interpreter didn’t translate it properly. Liz decides that“life takes on the meaning that you give it” (328).