Facing war in his homeland, Gac Filipaj traveled to America in search of a better life and a job so he could send money back home to relatives.
盖克·菲利帕在他的家乡面临战争时，前往美国寻求更好的工作和生活，想攒钱寄给家乡里的亲戚。

Now, 20 years after leaving the former Yugoslavia for America without speaking a word of English, Filipaj has earned a B.A. in Classics -- with department honors -- from Columbia University's School of General Studies, where he has worked as a janitor for the past 19 years, the New York Daily News reports.
据《纽约每日新闻》报道，菲利帕在20年前离开前南斯拉夫去往美国时还不会说一句英语。现在他获得了古典文学的文学学位，还在系里赢得了荣誉。授予他学位的是美国哥伦比亚大学普通教育学院，在过去的19年里，他一直在那里做清洁工。

On Sunday, the 52-year-old will join hundreds of other undergraduate students at commencement to receive his degree and then take a break for two days. After that, he said operations will return to normal as he goes back to work as a janitor.
本周日，这位52岁的大叔会和其他成百上千名毕业生一起，在毕业典礼上收到学位证书，接着他会休息两天。在那之后，他说一切都会恢复正常，他还会继续做清洁工。

"I think I'm going to stay at Columbia," Filipaj told the Daily News. "If I can get a job better than cleaning, good. If not, there is nothing shameful about that work."
“我想我还会待在哥伦比亚大学”，菲利帕告诉《纽约每日新闻》的记者。 “如果我能找到一份比做清洁更好的工作，那很好。如果找不到，这份工作也不丢人。”

In a press release issued by Columbia University, Filipaj said he took a job as a janitor at the University in order to take English language classes, and then enrolled in the general studies program.
在哥伦比亚大学发布的一份新闻稿上，菲利帕说他在大学做清洁工就是为了学习英语语言课，后来被普通教育学院录取。

"First, for six years, I worked in the dormitories as a heavy cleaner, and then, when the student union Lerner Hall opened, I began working there in 2000," Filipaj said. "As a student, I was working on English-language courses and eventually my English proficiency was at a high enough level to be eligible to begin taking classes part-time through the School of Continuing Education and then the School of General Studies."
“刚开始的6年，我在宿舍里做繁重的清洁工作，后来学生会的勒纳厅开放了，从2000年起我就一直在那里工作。” 菲利帕说。“作为一名学生，刚开始的时候我学习英语语言课程，过了一段时间，我的英语水平达到了去续教育学院上课的水平，我就拿出了一部分时间在那里学习。后来又在普通教育学院上课。”

Filipaj said his grueling schedule -- classes in the morning, then work until 11 p.m. -- was too much to bear at times. "I had some very difficult moments," he told the Daily News. "Some days, I was so tired."
菲利帕说他的时间表排得非常紧：早晨上课，接着工作到晚上11点，紧凑的时间安排有时让他难以忍受。“我度过了一段苦日子，”他对《纽约每日新闻》的记者说。“有时，我很累。”

Filipaj said he plans to further his education and hopes to take courses in classics, foreign languages or philosophy. "I would say that I have fulfilled half of my dream—going to graduate school would complete it," Filipaj said in the Columbia press release.
菲利帕说他计划进一步接受教育，希望能学习经典文学、外语或哲学。“可以说我已经实现了一半的梦想——当上研究生才会完梦。”菲利帕在哥伦比亚的新闻报道中说。

Columbia, a member of the Ivy League, is one of the nation's elite schools and accepts only 10 percent of applicants. Columbia support staff, however, have their tuition exempted, according to Columbia human resources website.
哥伦比亚大学是美国的常春藤名校，作为美国的精英学校，录取率仅有10%。不过根据哥伦比亚人力资源网站，哥伦比亚大学支持员工学习，并且免除他们的学费。

The Tuition Exemption Benefit Program pays tuition costs for undergraduate and graduate courses at Columbia University, Barnard College and Teachers College -- all without having to solve equations late at night like Matt Damon's character in Good Will Hunting.
哥伦比亚大学的学费免除受益项目为学校的员工在哥伦比亚大学、巴纳德学院和师范学院所上的本科生和研究生课程支付学费的费用，——所有员工都不需要像电影《心灵捕手》里面的马特·达蒙那样解方程式直至深夜。

According to , Columbia's total cost of attendance was $59,117 in 2012, which includes room and board. Tuition and fees cost $45,290. Of all undergrads, the site reports that 51.5 percent of undergraduates were found to have financial need and were eligible for an average award of $40.259.
根据高校电子数据网站，2012年在哥伦比亚大学上学的总费用高达59117美元，其中包括吃住的费用。学杂费是45290美元。该网站报道本科生中有51.5%的人有经济方面的需要，平均每人能得到40.259美元的奖学金。

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