She was forced to go to a small college in New Jersey by her parents. One fight made her leave home and pursue NYU
For her, going homeless was better than going back home.
Miriam Shoman (@miriamrshoman) dreamed of attending a major university during her senior year of high school. Even after her parents allegedly prevented her from pursuing her dream, Shoman said she still got into New York University (NYU).
“After my senior year in high school, I was forced against my will to go into a small college in New Jersey—the same college that my boyfriend goes to,” Shoman shared on TikTok. She said she didn’t plan to go there because she worked hard to get good grades in high school. She’s also a fencing athlete and had her sights set on other universities.
“NYU was my safety school,” Shoman said. Her target school was Cornell University, and she aspired to Columbia University. However, if nothing else worked out, she still wanted to go to NYU. Given her plans, Shoman said the small school in New Jersey was not part of them.
“I went to that school for about two months, and I was going to school with a flip phone,” Shoman said. She said her father was going to upgrade her flip phone to an iPhone on her 18th birthday. They needed her number, so she gave it to them.
Going homeless over a simple message
“I honestly believe that everything happens for a reason, because it’s just so crazy that this just happened the way it did,” Shoman commented. She explained that a man from her math class asked for her number beforehand so that they could collaborate on homework. She continued, “My dad had told me that if anything happened with a guy ever again, I was done.” However, the man from her math class texted her to ask her out. It seemed like an innocent gesture, like a man offering a motorcycle ride to their friend’s sister, only for it to be misconstrued by Wattpad. Similarly, Shoman said her father misunderstood the situation.
“And my dad saw the text, and he completely lashed out at me. I got my room taken away again,” Shoman said. She had talked about her strict parents before, and alleged that they even enlisted her in the army for talking to a male friend over the phone. However, Shoman said that this time, her dad told her she was “done.” She alleged that he would stop paying for her college and that she would only work and then go home. At the time, she worked at a juice bar, and it seemed like that was what the rest of her life would look like.
“That was my 18th birthday,” Shoman recalled. She realized that she had to leave home and believed that she would die in her household if she didn’t do anything about her situation. The next morning, she took her contacts, a change of clothes, her toothbrush, and her bag. She left for school without her phone or any money.
Going after her NYU dream
“I’m just going to go about school normally and just figure it out,” Shoman said. During math class, cops showed up at her door. They explained that her parents filed a missing-person report because they thought she ran away with her classmate, whom they presumed she was dating. She added, “Meanwhile, I didn’t even know this guy.”
She didn’t return home, and Shoman said she became homeless for nine months. Homelessness can take form in many ways, and for one former Delta Airlines flight attendant trainee, sleeping at the airport lounge was his only option. Meanwhile, Shoman went house-hopping with friends, sleeping on campus and in train stations.
By spring semester, Shoman ended up dorming at her school in New Jersey. She was no longer attending classes but had reached out to a college coach at NYU. Shoman said she was interested in being recruited, and he recruited her for the following year.
“I’ve been working full-time ever since, and I pay for school. I’ve had zero contact with my parents,” Shoman said. She said she’s currently a senior at NYU and has only two semesters left before graduation. Shoman believes her circumstances got worse before they got better, but even on days she had no food and shelter, she still found it a preferable fate than being at home.
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