Posted on 05/14/2012 3:20:56 AM PDT by bjorn14
NEW YORK— For years, Gac Filipaj mopped floors, cleaned toilets and took out the trash at Columbia University.
A refugee from war-torn Yugoslavia, he eked out a living at 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, his classes were free. His favorite subject was the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca, he 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 study, 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, now an American citizen, was accepted at Columbia after learning English. His mother tongue is Albanian.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Beyond that, if every American was as familiar with the classics as our Framers were, our nation would not be headed for certain economic and societal suicide.
As for cleaning toilets and drudge labor Americans no longer do, check out the bio and works of Eric Hoffer.
“Ah, Bach!”
Well said...
The article states that he intends to earn a Master’s degree and teach. However, I would like to state that there is nothing wrong with being a janitor. When I used to look up to Bill Cosby (before I knew he was a racist, political hack) I remember hearing him say to a college graduating class, “Don’t ever believe you know more than the janitor.” And I always thought that was great advice. And, I don’t believe this man is a “future OWSer”. He is 52, almost finished law school in his native country,and has continuously worked as a janitor here in the U.S. Kudos to him! I am a “mature student” and he is an inspiration to me.
Having a degree, period, is the key to many jobs (or used to be). Granted that higher paying slots might go to professional degrees, but, hey. the vast majority of grads never work in their fields anyway. Finally, a lot of liberal arts degrees are pretty useless to begin with given the leftist inculcation they are designed to contain. Knowledge in the classics, Latin, Greek and his background of humility, respect for freedom and a sane world view should serve him (and society) better than 99% of ALL grads - professional or not.
What I like best about this graduate, is that he earned his degree, but it doesn’t sound like he feels the world owes him a six-figure income. His expectations are commensurate with the degree. This attitude is the complete opposite of many of the OWS crowd. Plus, he worked within the system to graduate with what sounds like little, or no loan debt. He’s in a much better position to now pursue his graduate studies.
Never thought I’d see achieving an Ivy League Classics degree being denigrated on FR.
As a Columbia employee, his classes were free.”
Amazing...that would be an interesting strategy for someone. Get a job there, and get that benefit rather than paying or borrowing the tuition.
Columbia’s classics department is actually outstanding, and isn’t the cesspool that most others are. It has some great traditional classics scholarship.
That said...this isn’t a career move for him. But I’d reckon he knows that.
I love his attitude. He wants to live a life that is humble and honorable. He takes pride in his profession. I respect that a lot.”
Incidentally, if you think about some of the authors he encountered in the classics program, and you read what he said, this is not entirely surprising. And I agree. It is admirable.
Note: I did have a maid job one summer out at a big YMCA camp in Colorado. We worked hard, but also had time to enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park. This also reminds me that one of the ladies who works at the Joann's near me got her PhD recently. I think she still likes her job cutting fabric.
Re: Eric Hoffa.
Outstanding recommendation!!!
Thank you!!
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2003/06/18/the_legacy_of_eric_hoffer
Why scorn quotes around the word “classics”? Back when the point of getting a university education was universally understood as becoming educated, not getting job credentials (they’re universities, not polytechnics or trade schools), Classics was one of the great majors: you read foundational written works of our civilization in the original Greek and Latin. Why do you think the Founders wrote the Federalist Papers under a Latin pseudonym?
Why scorn quotes around the word “classics”?
...because the difference between our founding Fathers and today’s midget brain, Marxist college student is light years.
“”Why? Never judge a man by the profession he chooses or the money in his pocket.......””
People sometimes look down on me because I work outside doing some nasty stuff everyday. BUT....I haven’t had a real job in 30 years, I make a ton more money than these so called educated folks and I take three months off every year. I have had many idiots with a fancy degree work for me over the years.
I would agree with those who identify a liberal arts degree as unmarketable at least for now. But what i really like about this story is the attitude. We should all be life long learners.
As an individual who has a B.S. degree from the early 80s, I just this semester took my first community college class to learn what I thought was impossible for me, the subject of algebra. I spent 46 hours in the classroom, 30 hours on-line and somewhere around 90 hours in homework/book study and review. What might be an easy A for some on FR for me turned out to be a well earned B. I have nothing but a smile ear to ear and next week will start intermediate algebra. This whole concept of actually learning and enjoying math would have been laughable one year ago.
Set goals and be a life long learner.
Not true. Scholarships are not considered taxable income to the extent that they pay for tuition, books, etc. Anything that covers other things, like room and board, is taxable, but it doesn't sound like he had anything like that.
I doubt our refugee from Albania is a Marxist — folks from former Communist countries tend to be immune. And the soft-minded folks you decry don’t major in Classics: “What? I’ve got to learn to read two languages, besides the Spanish I took in high school, and translate dozens of pages a week? No way, dude. I’ll major in Education [or fill-in-affirmative-action-beneficiary-descriptor-here Studies].”
Why the scorn and abject derision directed toward a janitor? Do you hold yourself as someone who is superior to a janitor? If so, God forbid that you have a life crisis that leaves you without your current job and where you have to take a “less than optimum” job. Your lack of self-esteem will land you in the toilet.
I just gave guidance to a friend of mine who is totally miserable in her current job as a paralegal. That is her background but for a couple of years, due to a lack of good positions in that field in her living location, she worked as a dog groomer and was happy. She then was offered a job back in the legal field, took it and hates it. She wants to go back to grooming dogs but is afraid that friends and family will think that she’s crazy and “doing work that is beneath her”. I advised her that it’s better to be a happy and contented dog groomer than it is to be a miserable paralegal as long as she can pay her bills. In fact, I told her to go get some more experience and then open her own grooming studio!
That’s horse and buggy thinking.
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