In 1997, I found myself in a situation I never thought I'd be in: alone and begging for money in New York. My father had been separated from our family, and my mother had  recently died from complications related to AIDS. What I remember most about such nights is lying on the cold marble floor and using my backpack for a pillow. Even though I had lost my family,  I made choices every single day to turn my life around. There was the haven for homeless teenagers called the Door, a non-profit organization that provided me with guidance, medical care and food, all of which kept me going while I completed my homework in train stations and under hallway lights. Perhaps the most surprising help though, I did not seek out;it found me.  The New York Times told my story. In the weeks that followed, dozens of strangers reached out to me from all across the United States. At my high school, I began receiving handwritten letters of encouragement. Strangers showed up bearing clothes, books, and even hugs. Since the article mentioned I was applying to Harvard, one woman knitted a blanket for me.  She attached this note to the box it was posted in: "It gets cold in those dorms. May you warm yourself knowing that people care about you". With the help of these people, my life today bears no resemblance at all to my life then. I graduated not only from high school but also from Harvard University. Before these people -- some of them nameless-- I just didn't realize how good people could be. But now I do, and I can say that the people who helped me have forever changed me. They are the reason behind my decision to join the board at the Door so that I can be part of a small team of people opening a high school for homeless teenagers .They are the reason I dedicate my life to opening pathways for others. And they are the reason I travel around the world helping people transform their own lives. According to the passage, the author  _  .
tried to change her life often slept m friends' homes felt lonely because of her illness felt quite desperate for her father