Reading
Comprehending Robbie Wilde clearly knows how to face life's challenges in chasing his
dream. In the articles that follow there are two more success stories
one is about an old refugee who got a degree from a famous American
university and the other is about a Chinese whose failed American dream
led to his Chinese dream
Reading 1
Janitor Filipaj
the Dream Pursuer
Verena Dobnik
I For years, Gac Filipaj"mopped floors, cleaned toilets and took out trash at janine
Columbia University. A ref
ar-torn
de a ivin
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 pur
bachelor's degree in classics
2 As a Columbia employee, he didn't have to pay for the classes he took. His re
favorite subject was the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca, the janitor said cia
to the Associated Press reporter during a break from his work at the student union
building he cleans. "(1)[love Seneca's letters because they re written in the spirit in
a simple, honest, honorable life, "he si t to look for fame and fortune, but to ave
which I was educated in my family-not
3 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 As his mother tongue is Albanian
