1 of 2

11A.1.1: Get Inspired

Do Now: Who is someone you know that has succeeded in their college and/or career goals? What steps did they take to succeed?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

NAME: _____________________________

DATE: _____________

1. A LONG JOURNEY

As a child, Abraham Garang was forced to flee his home in Sudan. Caught in the midst of a civil war, he and hundreds of other children (many of whom died on the journey) lived in constant fear of capture, sickness and attacks. For 15 years he lived in both the wilderness and refugee camps. He was finally allowed to come to the U.S. through a special refugee program.

Although he doesn’t even know his real age (the area in which he was born had no doctors, schools or birth records), Abraham has persisted at getting an education. He took high school classes at a local community college in North Carolina until he earned his GED. He was then accepted at Lynchburg College through a program for Sudanese refugees. The program included full tuition, room and board. After graduating with a degree in accounting, Abraham hopes to visit Sudan and help build a school.

Henshaw, Ashley. “Most Inspiring College Application Stories.” Campus Explorer, www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/B10EFFB3/Most-Inspiring-College-Application-Stories/.

Key Message to me:

Abraham’s journey shows that overcoming obstacles is possible, even in the worst situations.

2. A JANITOR GRADUATES WITH HONORS

Gac Filipaj has long been a regular on Columbia University’s New York City campus, and not just as an undergraduate hustling to his next lecture. For nearly two decades, the Yugoslav native has mopped floors and emptied garbage cans as a school janitor. The work could be exhausting, especially as his shift ran from 2:30 pm to 11 pm. But it offered an irresistible employee benefit: tuition-free courses. Filipaj, who spoke next-to-no English when he immigrated in 1992, signed up for one or two classes each semester, settling on a tough major—Classics—and regularly studying well past midnight. In May 2012, at age 52, he graduated with honors. As he told ABC News: “I have fulfilled half of my dream. Going to graduate school would complete it.” Filipaj plans to begin hitting the books again soon.

A. Costa. “Inspirational Stories: How 5 Extraordinary People Beat All Odds to Graduate | Reader's Digest.” Reader's Digest, Reader's Digest, 8 Feb. 2017, www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/inspiring-college-graduates/.

Key Message to me:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

2 of 2

3. A REFUGEE ORPHAN OPENS A CLINIC

In 2012, Jacob Atem opened the first medical clinic in Maar, South Sudan. “Health care was desperately needed in the village, because there was nothing at all,” he said. It was especially personal for Atem: At age six, after his parents were killed in the Sudanese Civil War, he had walked thousands of miles from Sudan to Ethiopia as the beginning of a harrowing nine-year odyssey through East African refugee camps. When he was eventually selected for a program to bring orphaned “Lost Boys” like him to the U.S., he “didn’t know where [the U.S.] was.” But he thrived, mastering English, graduating from Michigan’s Spring Arbor University, and—after founding the Southern Sudan Healthcare Organization in 2008—starting his studies toward a Ph.D. in health services at the University of Florida. His plan? To gain the expertise that will allow his fledgling clinic to become a “model for the entire nation.”

Key Message to me:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

4. A WOUNDED SOLDIER PURSUES A DREAM

Brian Kolfage had been stationed at the Balad Air Base in Iraq for two weeks when an enemy rocket exploded three feet from where he was standing. His body felt like it was “lit on fire”: his legs were destroyed, his right arm severed, and his survival was touch-and-go. But twelve months and 16 surgeries later, the triple-amputee was out of the hospital—reportedly as the most severely wounded Airman to survive any war. Three years later, with three prosthetic limbs and new skills in his non-dominant left hand, he enrolled in the competitive program at the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, where fewer than one in five applicants was accepted. On track to graduate in 2014, the Pat Tillman Scholarship recipient has a 3.8 GPA and hopes to “revolutionize military architecture.” He noted: “I lost my legs, but I have my head, my brain. I can do everything I did before mentally.”

Key Message to me:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________