`STUPID' JANITOR MAKES IT TO HARVARD

SHE was bullied, ditched by her parents and left homeless. Dawn Loggins, a senior from Burns High School still made it to Harvard despite having the odds stacked against her.

The 18-year-old remembers middle school to be a time when she was staying with her grandmother who would not shower. Neither did her grandmother make her shower and there would be days Loggins would forget to brush her hair.

Her wardrobe was made up of two dresses and she favoured a burgundy striped one with a black flower stitched at the bottom, reported Cleveland's Shelby Star.

Being young comes with the drawback of insensitivity. Her hygiene and limited dress sense would gross the other students out, which eventually made her a target in school.

The other girls would tease the cute boys in class by saying Loggins liked them.

To deal with it she kept quiet and the other students called her stupid. But she never gave up and worked herself out of the vicious circle.

Speaking to WBTV, Loggins said: "When I was younger, I looked around at my family and I saw the neglect, the drug abuse, the bad choices and I saw my family living from paycheck to paycheck, and I just made a decision that I was not going to end up like my parents."

Her guidance counsellor at Burns High School, Robyn Putnam, took special notice of Loggins when she saw the the girl's previous transcripts. She was straight A-student with a slew of school transfers.

Putnam, and other faculty members including a dentist, helped the girl as much as they could financially to get through school.

Loggins also did her part by working as the school's janitor. She would put in two hours before school starts and another two after school. Done with cleaning, she would then head back to her friend's place to complete her homework and study.

Soon it was time for college applications, and Loggins was not sure how to go about it. A parent of another student, Carol Rose, helped Loggins with her college application.

Loggins had picked out North Carolina State University, Davidson College, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She was not confident of applying to Harvard, and it took a lot of persuasion from Rose before she hit ‘send’ on her Harvard application.

In March 2012, she received a letter from Harvard that read, "Dear Ms. Loggins, I am delighted to report that the Admissions Committee has asked me to inform you that you will be admitted to the Harvard College class of 2016…We send such an early positive indication only to outstanding applicants…"

The Shelby Star also reported that Harvard has offered the teen financial that will cover tuition, room and board. The school is also looking for a job for her on campus.

The teen aims to join the ranks of Harvard and study animal habitats. (asiaone)