Man who used to be homeless now living his dream as a student at Cambridge University

Cambridge University.
(Image credit: Graeme Robertson/Getty Images)

Geoffrey Edwards still can't believe that after being homeless for so many years, he's now a student at Cambridge University.

The 52-year-old said he's "still getting used to the idea" that he's studying English literature at Hughes Hall. "Going to Cambridge University was a dream of mine," he told the Cambridge News. "This is what I have always wanted to do, but no one in my family had been to university, so I didn't consider it." He worked for some time as a field laborer, but eventually he couldn't find jobs and lived on the streets.

Edwards said he was stuck in "a rut," but started selling copies of The Big Issue, a newspaper distributed by homeless people. That gave him "back a bit of self-respect," he said, and soon, he was taking classes at Cambridge Regional College, which prepared him for Cambridge University. Being accepted to such a storied institution, he said, is "the first thing I am proud of in my life."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.