2008 Woodie Awards
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 7/31/08 Section: News
Formerly homeless student to enter Penn
After an 'unstable,' childhood, says hard work led to success
Alissa Eisenberg
When Elizabeth Murray joined the Harvard class of 2003, her story became a national sensation. She lived on the New York City streets for years after being born to drug-addicted parents and eventually found inspiration in education after her mother's AIDS-related death - a story that was turned into the Emmy-nominated Lifetime movie, Homeless to Harvard.
Ultimately though, Murray ended up dropping out of Harvard after just one semester, returning and then leaving again - a path that incoming freshman Steven-Vaughn Lewis hopes to avoid.
Vaughn-Lewis, whose story recently captured the attention of many across the nation after an early July feature in The Philadelphia Inquirer, grew up in and out of foster care, which was punctured by a short stint of homelessness.
"My childhood was very different from most," he said. "It was completely unstable."
After moving around - from Los Angeles to Philadelphia and many cities in between - Vaughn-Lewis and his brother were eventually adopted by his grandmother, who gave him "the stability necessary to continue [my] life," he said.
But his new neighborhood was stricken with poverty and more than a dose of violence out there for young men on the streets. His grandmother helped keep him off the streets by giving him a curfew and making sure he had a job.
"My grandmother ... cut me out of that [violent] environment," he said. "She didn't let me go out and hang with the boys, so I studied a lot instead."
Although Vaughn-Lewis wasn't always enrolled in elementary schools, after attending public school near his grandmother's house he transferred in the sixth grade to Julia R. Masterman Middle School, which Newsweek rated the 74th best public school in the nation in 2006 - the highest rank of any public school in Pennsylvania.
At Masterman, Vaughn-Lewis was inspired by his biology and chemistry teachers. He went on to conduct research at Penn on the relationship between smell and memories during his sophomore year of high school. The research won him a gold medal in the George Washington Carver Science Fair and inspired him to apply to Penn.
Ultimately though, Murray ended up dropping out of Harvard after just one semester, returning and then leaving again - a path that incoming freshman Steven-Vaughn Lewis hopes to avoid.
Vaughn-Lewis, whose story recently captured the attention of many across the nation after an early July feature in The Philadelphia Inquirer, grew up in and out of foster care, which was punctured by a short stint of homelessness.
"My childhood was very different from most," he said. "It was completely unstable."
After moving around - from Los Angeles to Philadelphia and many cities in between - Vaughn-Lewis and his brother were eventually adopted by his grandmother, who gave him "the stability necessary to continue [my] life," he said.
But his new neighborhood was stricken with poverty and more than a dose of violence out there for young men on the streets. His grandmother helped keep him off the streets by giving him a curfew and making sure he had a job.
"My grandmother ... cut me out of that [violent] environment," he said. "She didn't let me go out and hang with the boys, so I studied a lot instead."
Although Vaughn-Lewis wasn't always enrolled in elementary schools, after attending public school near his grandmother's house he transferred in the sixth grade to Julia R. Masterman Middle School, which Newsweek rated the 74th best public school in the nation in 2006 - the highest rank of any public school in Pennsylvania.
At Masterman, Vaughn-Lewis was inspired by his biology and chemistry teachers. He went on to conduct research at Penn on the relationship between smell and memories during his sophomore year of high school. The research won him a gold medal in the George Washington Carver Science Fair and inspired him to apply to Penn.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
kb
posted 7/31/08 @ 1:52 PM EST
Why did the Inquirer find this story before the DP?
Iceman
posted 7/31/08 @ 4:22 PM EST
Published in the Inquirer July 1. Published in the DP July 31? What took so long? All the work was apparently done for you.
Mark
posted 8/02/08 @ 3:52 PM EST
it's great that Vaugh-Lewis is coming to penn.
but by no means does this show that penn is doing it's part in accepting underprivileged students. i mean, this kid came from masterman! how about accepting more impoverished students who WEREN'T able to transfer to such prestigious high schools?
csha
posted 8/02/08 @ 10:04 PM EST
Um, I know of two other students that were homeless before coming to Penn, and one that is a student and currently homeless. This isn't anything new.
Nuke
posted 8/03/08 @ 12:08 PM EST
The credit should go to Masterman School, not to Penn, as this article suggests.
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