Amiyah Murphy-Allison, a third-year UCF social work student, is rewriting her life story. The 20-year-old has endured more loss and hardships than most people her age, and at one point people in her community told her she would never amount to anything.<\/p>\n
But thanks to loving friends and some adult role models, she came to learn that she is in charge of her future.<\/p>\n
Life didn\u2019t start easy for Murphy-Allison, who was born to a 16-year-old mom who had to overcome many struggles of her own. Her mother tried to break away from Murphy-Allison\u2019s abusive stepfather when she was 8. Her mom was packing up the kids and her belongings when her stepfather unexpectedly returned home.<\/p>\n
In the struggle to get away, her mom was murdered by her stepfather. Murphy-Allison and her three siblings \u2013 all of whom had witnessed the event \u2013 were not harmed physically.<\/p>\n
The stepfather was ultimately convicted and imprisoned.<\/p>\n
Amiyah Murphy-Allison didn\u2019t like where she was heading with her life, but also didn\u2019t see how she could change it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Murphy-Allison \u2013 the eldest child \u2013 and her siblings were taken in by their maternal grandparents in Illinois. But less than two years after their adoption, Murphy-Allison\u2019s grandfather died from lung cancer.<\/p>\n
Soon after, Murphy-Allison \u2013 then in middle school \u2013 began hanging out with the wrong crowd and participating in what she calls \u201cadult activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing things I had no business doing,\u201d Murphy-Allison said.<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t like where she was heading with her life, but also didn\u2019t see how she could change it. Things came to a head one day when she broke down at school, on her late mother\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n