唐·洛金斯（Dawn Loggins）是一個來自美國的18歲女孩，與同齡人相比，她的成長之路充滿了坎坷。她曾經(jīng)被吸毒的父母拋棄，一度無家可歸，不得不半工半讀來完成中學的學業(yè)……但她從不怨天尤人，而是把困難化作前進的動力。如今她終于迎來了人生的曙光，如愿以償?shù)啬玫搅斯鸫髮W的錄取通知書。讓我們一起來了解這個勵志女孩輝煌背后的故事吧！

It's before sunrise， and the janitor1） at Burns High School has already been down the length of a hallway， cleaning and sweeping classrooms before the day begins.

This particular janitor's name is Dawn Loggins， a straight—A senior at the very school she cleans.

With her long， straight dark blonde hair and black—rimmed glasses， Dawn looks a bit like Avril Lavigne2）. But her life is a far cry from3） that of the pop star.

太陽還沒升起來，伯恩斯高中的保潔員就已經(jīng)沿著長長的走廊，在一天開始之前清掃每間教室了。

這位特別的保潔員名叫唐·洛金斯，她就就讀于她所打掃的這所學校，是一名各方面都非常優(yōu)秀的畢業(yè)班學生。

唐有著一頭長長的深金色直發(fā)，戴著一副黑框眼鏡，看起來有點像艾薇兒·拉維尼。但是她的生活卻與那位流行歌星有著天壤之別。

Growing up in adversity

Dawn grew up in a ramshackle4） home with no electricity and no running water. She often went days， even weeks without showering. She and her brother Shane—who was equally studious5） in his schoolwork—would walk 20 minutes to a public park to fetch water.

\"We would get water jugs and fill them up at the park， using the spigots6） in the bathroom. And we would use that to flush7） the toilet or cook with. Stuff like that，\" the 18—year—old says.

Dawn had trouble doing homework at nighttime because her home had no electricity. \"I remember doing my homework by candlelight because I am determined to succeed，\" she says. \"A lot of people use bad situations as an excuse， and instead of doing that， I use them as motivation.\"

Abandoned by parents

Last summer， Dawn was invited to attend a prestigious8） six—week summer program， the Governor's School of North Carolina， to study natural science. The program is reserved9） for the state's top students.

Dawn saw her parents for 30 minutes during a short break in the middle of the summer program. They talked about her school and how she was doing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

But as she prepared to leave the summer program， she kept calling her parents' phone， only to learn it had been disconnected10）.

\"When I returned， my grandmother had been dropped off at a local homeless shelter11）， my brother had just left， and my parents had just gone，\" she says. \"I found out later they had moved to Tennessee.\"

Her voice is steady， \"I never expected my parents to just， like， leave.\"

Getting help from others

For a while， Dawn lived on the couch at friends' homes， while she figured out what to do. The only thing that was clear was that she wanted to graduate from Burns， where she was active in extracurricular12） activities and had a job.

With her parents gone， the community and Burns staff became Dawn's family. Sheryl Kolton， a custodian13） and bus driver for Burns Middle School， had met Dawn before and knew her but not well. She wasn't expecting the phone call she received. \"The counselor14） at the high school just called me one day and asked me if Dawn could come live here，\" Kolton says. A few days later， she and her husband， Norm， agreed.

Shooting for the stars15）

As she began her senior year， Dawn turned her laser beam16） focus to her future： college. She knew she wanted a different path than her parents.

\"When I was younger， I was able to look at all the bad choices—at the neglect， and the drug abuse17）， and everything that was happening—and make a decision for myself that I was not going to end up like my parents， living from paycheck to paycheck18），\" says Dawn.

A straight—A student， Dawn was president of the photography club. She also had started a community service program collecting thousands of letters for active military troops and was involved in National Honor Society.

She wasn't top of her class， and she didn't have a perfect GPA， but she was smart. On paper， she had always fared19） well.

Dawn applied to four colleges within the state： the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill， North Carolina State University， Davidson College， and Warren Wilson College. In December， 2011， she sent one final application off in the mail， to her reach—for—the—stars20） choice， Harvard.

No one from Burns High had been accepted to the elite21） Ivy League22） school. Dawn says， \"I thought about it and just figured， 'Why not？' \"

On a sunny day earlier this year， Dawn came inside after tending23） the garden. There was a letter from Harvard. Cautiously24）， she opened it： \"Dear Ms. Loggins， I'm 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....\" She gasped25） when she read those words.

Not only was Dawn accepted to Harvard， she got a full ride26）. She was offered tuition， room and board， as well as assistance finding an on—campus job.

Helping others

Since Dawn's story has come out， she's attracted attention worldwide from well—wishers sending her everything from simple encouragement to monetary donations.

Dawn doesn't want the money. \"When I get to college， I can work for what I need. And I know my future is going to be great.\"

She hopes to start a nonprofit27） organization to help other teens who've had obstacles in their educations， using the funds that have been sent to her. \"There are so many kids whose futures aren't so sure. I want them to be able to use my story as motivation，\" Dawn says. \"And I want the general public to realize that there are so many kids who need help.\"

在逆境中成長

唐在一所破爛不堪的房子里長大，家里沒有電也沒有自來水。她常常幾天甚至幾周都沒法洗澡。她和她同樣學習用功的哥哥謝恩會走20分鐘的路，去一個公園里打水。

“我們會帶幾個盛水的罐子，從公園公廁里的那幾個水龍頭上接水。我們用打來的水沖廁所、做飯什么的?！边@個18歲的女孩兒說。

因為家里沒有電，所以唐晚上做作業(yè)非常困難?！拔矣浀梦視c著蠟燭做作業(yè)，因為我決心一定要成功，” 她說，“很多人都會把各種逆境當做借口，但我不會這樣，我把逆境當做奮斗的動力?！?/p>

慘遭父母遺棄

去年夏天，唐受邀參加一個為期六周的很有名的暑期項目——北卡羅來納州州長學校，去學習自然科學。那個項目只有該州的頂尖學生才能參加。

在暑期項目進行到一半的時候，唐曾在一次短暫的休息時間里見過她的父母，他們在一起待了30分鐘。父母和她聊了聊她的功課以及她的生活情況，看起來沒什么不正常的。

但是，當她準備結束暑期項目時，她不斷給父母打電話，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)電話已停機了。

“當我回到家的時候，我奶奶已經(jīng)被送進了當?shù)匾患沂樟魺o家可歸人員的收容所。我哥哥走了，我的父母也不見了，”她說，“后來我才知道他們搬到田納西州去了?！?/p>

她的聲音非常平靜：“我從沒想到過我的父母會這樣離開?！?/p>

得到他人幫助

曾經(jīng)有一段時間，唐在朋友家睡沙發(fā)。那時，她思量著自己要做些什么。她唯一清楚的想法是她想從伯恩斯高中畢業(yè)。在那里，她活躍于各項課外活動，并且還有自己的一份工作。

唐的父母離開后，社區(qū)以及伯恩斯高中的員工就成了她的家人。謝莉爾·考爾頓是伯恩斯高中的看門人兼校車司機，她曾見過唐，知道她但并不太了解她。她沒想到會接到這樣一個電話?！坝幸惶欤瑢W校的輔導員打電話給我，問我能不能讓唐住在我家?！笨紶栴D說。幾天后，她和她的丈夫諾姆同意了。

志存高遠

進入高中最后一年，唐將全部的注意力集中到自己的未來上：上大學。她知道她想走一條與父母不同的路。

“在我小的時候，我就見識了所有錯誤的選擇——疏于照顧家人、濫用毒品以及那時發(fā)生的種種——我暗下決心，我將來不能像我的父母那樣，過著‘月光族’的生活?！碧普f。

作為一名全優(yōu)生，唐是攝影俱樂部的主席。她此前還發(fā)起過一個社區(qū)服務項目，為在軍隊服役的士兵們收集成千上萬封信件。她還參加了美國國家榮譽生社團。

她不是班里成績最拔尖的學生，她的平均分也不是最高的，但是她很聰明。她的文筆很不錯。

唐申請了州內的四所大學：北卡羅來納大學教堂山分校、北卡羅來納州立大學、戴維森學院和沃倫威爾遜學院。2011年12月，她發(fā)出了最后一封大學申請郵件，發(fā)送給那所很難邁入的大學——哈佛。

伯恩斯高中還沒有畢業(yè)生被杰出的常春藤盟校錄取過。唐說：“我想了想這件事，然后我想，‘為什么不試一下呢？’”

今年年初，在一個陽光明媚的日子，唐收拾完花園后走進房間，看到一封從哈佛大學寄來的信。她小心翼翼地拆開了這封信：“親愛的洛金斯女士，謹受招生委員會之托，我非常高興地通知您，您已被錄取為哈佛大學的2016屆學生……”她讀著這些話，呼吸都變得急促起來。

唐不僅被哈佛錄取，還獲得了全額獎學金。她的學費和食宿費用都由學校來提供，學校還會協(xié)助她找一份校內的工作。

幫助他人

唐的故事流傳開之后，她受到了世界各地好心人的關注，他們給她送來了各式各樣的東西，從純粹的鼓勵到捐款都有。

唐不想要這些錢?！暗任疫M入大學以后，我可以自力更生。我相信我的未來會很精彩。”

她希望用那些捐助給她的錢成立一個非營利組織，來幫助其他受教育有困難的青少年。“還有很多前途未卜的孩子。我希望他們能夠以我的故事為動力，”唐說，“我也希望公眾能意識到還有許多孩子需要大家的幫助?！?/p>

1.janitor [?d??n?t?（r）] n. 保潔員

2.Avril Lavigne： 艾薇兒·拉維尼，加拿大流行搖滾歌手、歌曲創(chuàng)作者及演員

3.a far cry from： 和……相距很遠，和……大相徑庭

4.ramshackle [?r?m??kl] adj. （房屋等）搖搖欲墜的，東倒西歪的

5.studious [?stju?di?s] adj. 勤學的，用功的

6.spigot [?sp?ɡ?t] n. 龍頭

7.flush [fl??] vt. 沖洗

8.prestigious [pre?st?d??s] adj. 有威望的，有聲望的

9.reserve [r??z??v] vt. （某事物）被保留專用

10.disconnect [?d?sk??nekt] vt. 使不連接，使分離

11.shelter [??elt?（r）] n. （無家可歸者的）臨時收容所

12.extracurricular [?ekstr?k??r?kj?l?（r）] adj. 課外的，課程以外的

13.custodian [k??st??di?n] n. 看門人

14.counselor [?ka?ns?l?（r）] n. 顧問；（學生）輔導員

15.shoot for the stars： 設定很高的目標，志存高遠

16.laser beam： 激光束，文中引申為注意力的焦點

17.drug abuse： 毒品濫用

18.live from paycheck to paycheck： <美俚>花光每月的工資而不留任何積蓄。在美國，工資大多是以支票的形式發(fā)放的，這個短語形容某人盼著下一張工資單過日子的樣子。

19.fare [fe?（r）] vi. 設法應付

20.reach for the stars： 盡力去實現(xiàn)一個很難實現(xiàn)的目標。此處該短語以連字符相連，用作復合形容詞。

21.elite [e??li?t] adj. 杰出的，卓越的

22.Ivy League： 常春藤聯(lián)盟，由美國東北部歷史悠久、教學質量頂尖的八所著名大學組成。

23.tend [tend] vt. 照管，料理

24.cautiously [?k????sli] adv. 十分小心地，謹慎地

25.gasp [ɡɑ?sp] vi. 喘氣，喘息

26.full ride： 全額獎學金

27.nonprofit [?n?n?pr?f?t] adj. （企業(yè)）非營利的