Have Pen, Will Write

[Tu-An]

nhưng sao mình vẫn muốn có thêm một người.

You made me smiled with that phrase. Cute. ;)

[buiminhese]

Cho buiminhese ké thêm tí nữa. Hôm nay buiminhese vo vo tuyết ngồi ăn, nó như kem, nhưng là kem không có đường. Tuyết bắt đầu tan, trơn lắm, đi trên tuyết tan, xém tí té dập mặt luôn, nhưng vẫn thích. Thích quá. Tuyết năm nay thật là kỳ, đợi buiminhese qua mới rơi đợt hai. Thích nhỉ.

[Hoangthaimy]

buiminhese không tập trung học bài được. Tuyết rơi ngoài trời đẹp quá, tuyết phủ trắng những con đường, tòa nhà, tram... mấy người đi bộ hai bên vỉa hè cứ trượt chân ngả ngả nghiêng nghiêng.

Mùa đông đầu tiên của buiminhese, đẹp quá Bear ạ. Mùa đông này buiminhese mặc dù không ăn Tết ở nhà, nhưng cũng không nhớ nhà lắm, vì ở đây có nhiều cái mới lạ lắm, khiến buiminhese há hốc mồm liên tục. Không biết mùa đông sau như thế nào, chắc sẽ nhớ nhà lắm.

Tuyết đẹp quá, đẹp quá đi, làm sao để lưu lại hết cái ấn tượng đầu tiên này nhỉ. Chết rồi, buiminhese yêu mất rồi. Người cứ lâng lâng, lâng lâng, đầu óc không tập trung được cái gì hết, chỉ ngồi đấy ngắm tuyết rơi, thế mà cả mấy tiếng đồng hồ trôi qua rồi.

Giờ mới đọc được cái này, vậy mà không chạy ra ngoài, mặc thất ấm, rồi nằm ngoài đó lun...hihi
Vẫn còn một mùa đông nữa...Nhớ làm nha, hy vọng lúc đó đã có
"một bàn tay nắm lấy một bàn tay" rồi...^_^

[Bear Lac Loi]

I read this today, and I had nothing but tremendous admiration toward this man's determination.

He came to the US as a refugee from Yugoslavia in 1992. While working as a janitor at Columbia University to support himself in New York and his family back home, he learned English and attended classes at the university. Last weekend, he graduated with honors at the age of 52.

Most people in Vietnam may not know of Columbia University: This is one of the best of the best universities in the world. In 2012, It is ranked No. 4 in the US, after Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, beating the most commonly known as prestige universities such as MIT, Cal Tech, and Stanford.

Only the brightest students in the US apply for Columbia University. Even so, the admittance rate last year was just 6.4%. Not only must this man compete against the best students half his age, he beat them all when graduated with honors.

Here is his story:

--- o0o ---

Ivy League school janitor graduates with honors
By VERENA DOBNIK | Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — 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.

As a Columbia employee, he didn't have to pay for the classes he took. His favorite subject was the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca, the janitor said during a break from his work at Lerner Hall, the student union building he cleans.

"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.

His graduation with honors capped a dozen years of studies, including readings in ancient Latin and Greek.

"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 and professor of Islamic studies. "He is immensely humble and grateful, but he's one individual who makes his own future."

Filipaj was accepted at Columbia after first learning English; his mother tongue is Albanian.

For Filipaj, the degree comes after years of studying late into the night in his Bronx apartment, where he'd open his books after a 2:30-11 p.m. 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.

On Sunday morning in the sun-drenched grassy quad of 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.

Later, Filipaj got a big hug from his boss, Donald Schlosser, Columbia's assistant vice president for campus operations.

Bollinger presided over a ceremony in which General Studies students received their graduation certificates. They also can attend Wednesday's commencement of all Columbia graduates, most of whom are in their 20s.

Filipaj wasn't much older in 1992 when he left Montenegro, then a Yugoslav republic facing a brutal civil war.

An ethnic Albanian and Roman Catholic, he left his family farm in the tiny village of Donja Klezna outside the city of Ulcinj because he was about to be drafted into the Yugoslav army led by Serbs, who considered many Albanians their enemy.

He fled after almost finishing law school in Belgrade, Yugoslavia's capital, where he commuted for years by train from Montenegro.

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 says. Since Columbia topped his list, "I went there to see if I could get a job."

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, whose income comes mostly from selling milk.

Filipaj also saves by not paying for a cellphone; he can only be reached via landline.

He wishes his father were alive to enjoy his achievement. The elder Filipaj died in April, and the son flew over for the funeral, returning three days later for work and classes.

To relax at home, he enjoys an occasional cigarette and some "grappa" brandy.

"And if I have too much, I just go to sleep," he says, laughing.

During an interview with The Associated Press in a Lerner Hall conference room, Filipaj didn't show the slightest regret or bitterness about his tough life. Instead, he cheerfully described encounters with surprised younger students who wonder why their classmate is cleaning up after them.

"They say, 'Aren't you...?'" he said with a grin.

His ambition is to get a master's degree, maybe even a Ph.D., in Roman and Greek classics. Someday, he hopes to become a teacher, while translating his favorite classics into Albanian.

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.

"The richness is in me, in my heart and in my head, not in my pockets," said Filipaj, who is now an American citizen.

Soon after, the feisty, 5-foot-4 janitor picked up a broom and dustpan and went back to work.

--- o0o ---

Sources:
Story: http://news.yahoo.com/ivy-league-school-janitor-graduates-honors-182936684.html (http://news.yahoo.com/ivy-league-school-janitor-graduates-honors-182936684.html)
National University Rankings: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

[buiminhese]

Dear Bear,

Could I ask you a question?

I read your stories in this corner about your previous life; and I wonder your feeling as a refugee in another country. Have you ever had the inferiority complex of being a refugee, Bear?

[Bear Lac Loi]

Dear Bear,

Could I ask you a question?

I read your stories in this corner about your previous life; and I wonder your feeling as a refugee in another country. Have you ever had the inferiority complex of being a refugee, Bear?
Hello Buiminhese,

I am not sure I was a refugee in my previous life but I sure am this life, and I have always been proud of it.

[buiminhese]

Hello Buiminhese,

I am not sure I was a refugee in my previous life but I sure am this life, and I have always been proud of it.

Thank you for your answer, Bear. I hope that I can meet you today.