校園生活:哥大52歲清潔工獲學士學位

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.

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.

美國哥倫比亞大學一名52歲的清潔工上週日與其他同學一起參加畢業典禮，正式獲得該校古典文學學士學位。據悉，這名清潔工名叫菲利帕奇，1992年從前南斯拉夫來到紐約，去美國之前曾經就讀於貝爾格萊德的法學院。因哥倫比亞大學規定全職僱員可以免費聽課，菲利帕奇在19年間完成了基礎的語言課程和古典文學的所有課程。他每天上午上課，下午2點半到晚上11點完成清潔工作，然後繼續熬夜學習。每逢考試或學期論文，他還得熬通宵看書，天亮以後接着去上課。菲利帕奇表示，他下一步的理想是獲得羅馬和希臘古典文學的碩士和博士學位，希望能夠以後能當老師，教書的同時把他喜歡的古典文學作品翻譯成自己的母語－阿爾巴尼亞語。