For Phyllis Bivins, extreme poverty, hunger, and homelessness were just a part of growing up in 1960's Virginia. Her mother could only afford to raise her on a part-time basis, passing Phyllis around to family members and friends while seeking whatever work was fitting for a woman with a sixth-grade education. Some of the impromptu foster homes were nicer than others, with indoor plumbing, three square meals a day, and nice, clean clothes for Phyllis to wear. But they didn't quell the revulsions that constantly tormented her from childhood into young adulthood, like the unspeakable horrors of repeated sexual abuse and domestic violence.

While enduring the devastating traumas of poverty, abandonment, and abuse, Phyllis somehow found solace in her passionate love for education. School was her sanctuary, providing a relief that a life of pain and scarcity had stolen from her. The endearing words of her third-grade teacher implanted a seed of hope into Phyllis's heart that grew with her, even through her stepfather's savage beatings and an unexpected teen pregnancy. Phyllis was special, with a spirit too bold to be broken, and she was determined to carve out a path for herself that would lead her far away from the only life she'd ever known. Despite her traumatic beginnings, Phyllis's hunger for education, coupled with a relentless resolve to escape, propelled her on a journey to freedom and unimaginable heights.