Alex Chivescu, age 24, is a Harvard graduate, originally from Bucharest, Romania, but brought to the United States in infancy and raised by his divorced mother until age 8 when she was tragically injured in an automobile accident.
Afterward Alex became a ward of the State of Michigan and endured a succession of orphanages and foster care placements, but excelled in school, won a National Merit scholarship -- and gained admission to Harvard College.
"I am proud to have just graduated as a member of the Harvard College Class of 2013, surrounded by my amazing peers, friends, and family. More importantly I am grateful for the strength and support of both the aforementioned here today, as well as the many who are not present but always in my thoughts: teachers, school administrators, foster parents, social workers, judges, lawyers, bosses both past and present, and all others to whom I owe this moment. Thank you"
-- Alex Chivescu, Cambridge, Massachusetts (30 May 2013)
At a crucial juncture, when he was 17, Alex sat down to write the most important letter of his life, sent to a series of strangers whose addresses he had found on the internet, asking them "Will You Be My Parents?":
In 2011 Alex's remarkable quest was profiled in a TV-film for the Hallmark Movie Channel; it can now be viewed on DVD or online.
Finding A Family (2011) - Hallmark movie (89 minutes)
Since he finished Harvard in 2013, Alex has become a national advocate for Foster Care reforms. Here is one of the congratulatory notes Alex received in May 2013:
"From time to time you may stumble, fall, you will have questions and you will have doubts about your path. But I know this: if you're willing to listen to that small voice that is the G.P.S. within yourself, to find out what makes you come alive, you will be more than okay. You will be happy, you will be successful, and you will make a difference in the world." -- Oprah Winfrey
ALLAN CRUSE
04 JUL 2015