Custodian graduates from Columbia

[davehead21]

NEW YORK — For years, Gac Filipaj mopped floors, cleaned toilets and took out trash at Columbia University.

A refugee from war-torn Yugoslavia, he eked out a living working for the Ivy League school. But Sunday was payback time: The 52-year-old janitor donned a cap and gown to graduate with a bachelor's degree in classics.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/news/arti...aduates-with-honors-3555662.php#ixzz1utRPG7XA

This story truly makes me smile. I don't even know this man and I am so proud of him.

 

[Jacie Estes]

What a great story, kudos to him. Imagine the language barriers he had to overcome. Good job, Gac!

 

[Reader]

Well done, Gac, quite an accomplishment! I love this quote from him:

"I love Seneca's letters because 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," he said.

And he went back to his custodial job at the school?