Janitor Filipaj, the Dream Pursuer
Verena Dobnik
1 For years, Gac Filipaj mopped floors, cleaned toilets and took out trash at Columbia University. A refugee from war-torn Yugoslavia, he made a living working for the Ivy League school since 1993. But Sunday, May 13, 2012, was payback time: The 52-year-old janitor put on a cap and gown to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in classics.
2 As a Columbia employee, he didn’t have to pay for the class he took. His favorite subject was the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca, the janitor said to the Associated Press reporter during a break from his work at the student union building he cleans. “(1) I love Seneca’s letters becau they’re written in the spirit in which I was educated in my family — not to look for fame and fortune, but to have a simple, honest, honorable life小肚腩,” he said.
3 For Filipaj, the degree comes after years of studying late into the night in his Bronx apart
ment, where he’d open his books after a 2:30– shift as a “heavy cleaner” — his job title. Before exam time or to finish a paper, he’d pull all-nighters, then go to class in the morning and then to work. As his mother tongue is Albanian, it took him almost ven years to learn to master the English language before he was admitted to the School of General Studies. (2) His graduation with honors resulted from his strong will to overcome all the difficulties he ran into in the following dozen years of studies, including readings in ancient Latin and Greek.
月饼的英语4 On Sunday morning on Columbia’s Manhattan campus, Filipaj flashed a huge smile and a thumbs-up as he walked off the podium after a handshake from Columbia President Lee Bollinger, who presided over a ceremony in which General Studies students received their graduation certificates.
米线怎么做5 “This is a man with great pride, whether he’s doing custodial work or academics,” said Peter Awn, dean of Columbia’s School of General Studies. “(3) 指标生什么意思He is very humble and grateful, but he’s one individual who makes his own future.”
庆国庆资料
6 It’s been a long road for Filipaj who fled to the United States in 1992, leaving behind his parents and siblings on a family farm in Montenegro, then a Yugoslav republic. Filipaj has always been a dedicated student. When he was living in Montenegro and working on his family farm, he attended the Law College in Belgrade as a part-time student, but he was unable to finish his degree due to the cruel civil war and had to leave his homeland during the last year of his studies.
7 At first in New York, his uncle in the Bronx offered him shelter while he worked as a restaurant busboy. “I asked people, which are the best schools in New York?” he said. Since Columbia topped his list, “I went there to e if I could get a job.” Filipaj was accepted at Columbia as a janitor.
8 Part of his $22-an-hour janitor’s pay still goes back to his brother, sister-in-law and two kids in Montenegro. Filipaj has no computer, but he bought one for the family, who income comes mostly from lling milk. Filipaj also saves by not paying for a cellphone; he can only be reached via landline.
海草怎么画
9 During the interview with the Associated Press, Filipaj didn’t show the slightest regret or bitterness about his hard life. Instead, he cheerfully described encounters with surprid younger students who wondered why their classmate was cleaning up after them. “They say, ‘Aren’?’” he said with a grin. 氯气电子式
10 His ambition is to get a master’s degree, maybe even a Ph.D., in Roman and Greek classics. He hopes to become a teacher someday, while translating his favorite classics into Albanian.
危成语11 For now, he’s trying to get “a better job,” maybe as supervisor of custodians or something similar, at Columbia if possible. He’s not interested in furthering his studies to make more money. “(4) The richness is in me, in my heart and in my head, not in my pockets,” said Filipaj, who is now an American citizen. 12 Soon after, the spirited, 5-foot-4 janitor picked up a broom and dustpan and went back to work.
清洁工菲利帕：一位追梦人
弗里那·多布尼克
1 多年以来，盖茨·菲利帕一直在哥伦比亚大学做拖地板、打扫厕所和倒垃圾的工作。他是一位来自遭遇战难的南斯拉夫难民，自1993年以来，他靠为这所常青藤大学打工谋生。但是，2012年5月13日这个星期天是个回报 的日子：52岁的清洁工获得了古典文学学士学位，头顶方冠身着长袍，参加毕业典礼。
2 作为哥伦比亚大学的雇员，他可以听课而无需缴纳学费。在打扫学生会大楼的休息间歇，他对美联社记者说：他最喜欢的学科是关于罗马哲学家、政治家塞涅卡的学科。“我喜欢塞涅卡的作品，因为这些作品中弘扬的正是我的家庭教育所推崇的精神——不追名逐利，过简单、诚实、体面的生活，”他说道。
3 对于菲利帕，这个学位来之不易。多年来他经常在布朗克斯公寓里学习到深夜。在这里，他作为一个“负责重活的清洁工”（他的工作头衔），干完下午2:30到晚上11点的晚班后，才开始学习。考试前或者要交论文前，他会通宵学习，第二天上午去上课，之后再去工作。由于他的母语是阿尔巴尼亚语，所以在被录取入读通识教育学院之前，他花了几乎7年的时间才学会了英语。他以优等成绩毕业，是因为他有坚强的意志去克服长达12年的学习中所遇到的一切困难，包括阅读用古拉丁语和希腊语写的文献。
