May 5, 2012
"So I would go months at a time without showering. I would wear the same dress to school for months at a time."
Says Lawndale, North Carolina teenager Dawn Loggins, who was just accepted for admission, with a scholarship, to Harvard University.
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50 comments:
It's amazing how little it takes to spark a miracle when someone wants to work hard and build it. Her most powerful asset is gratitude - taking nothing for granted.
And,...? So what?
Not everybody prioritizes the same way (I did shower this morning, BTW) and getting into Harvard sounds, to me, like a much more vital endeavor than meeting anyone else's standard of cleanliness.
I applaud her for recognizing that and meeting her goal.
Where's her check box?
'If there is anybody at all who has a dream,' Ms Loggins told WBTV, 'then they can definitely make it happen. There are no excuses. It depends on you and no one else.'
No "Head Start" program?
Others in her community pitched in as well with her school offering her a job as a high school custodian. A local dentist gave her toothpaste and a toothbrush.
And they laughed at Newt Gingrich.
Striving: To reach her dream, the then-high schooler worked as her school's custodian and took classes online to catch up after deemed a drop out after missing two-months of school.
I wonder if she is 1/32 indian?
And thus the liberal brainwashing begins...
She has dark hair and high cheek bones. If only she had known...
Crack - you should pay closer attention to the story. She didn't shower due to neglect, not some heroic reasons.
See? There is no such thing as being stuck in poverty in America and no such thing as need and we don't need any stinkin' gummit programs a'tall. It all comes down to work ethic, silly.
God, Reagan said long ago that poor people bring it on themselves, why didn't the conversation end there?
BTW - blogger subscription doesn't work again, even though I checked the "subscribe" box.
Good for her. This is a great story - I wish I knew how to send her $100 to show I appreciate her slugging it out against long odds. I am sure she could use it.
The young woman lacks entitlement mentality. Good for her.
Incredibly impressive. I imagine big things ahead for her, with that kind of drive against adversity.
She was so poor she couldn't afford another A to stick on the end of "North Carolina."
It's narrative, tedious even if true.
Call it reader rape.
Dawn Loggins is Charlotte Simmons.
Alex,
Crack - you should pay closer attention to the story. She didn't shower due to neglect, not some heroic reasons.
What you mean is, I should've clicked the link and read the story, but I didn't - I reacted to Ann's quote - and, as far as I'm concerned, one man's "neglect" is another man's difference in priority. I've spent many a week in the studio, more interested in staying in "the zone," than anything else - including showering or eating - because that's what makes a great work.
You just sound like my ex-wife. Fuck that bitch.
Nobody'll ever call either of you "geniuses"...
Will Harvard teach her to be slovenly and resentful again? Stay tuned.
Great story. She is fortunate to have overcome all this and gotten into Harvard and Harvard is fortunate to have her join its student body.
Will Harvard teach her to be slovenly and resentful again? Stay tuned.
No, but going to Harvard will guarantee that a certain element of the population will be resentful towards her. But that's a small price to pay.
I guess her name isn't Julia.
Having gone to a elite top 20 college from an 86 student high school (we played 6-man football), I hope she is prepared for a severe case of culrure schok. It's social not intellectual and much harder on you that academics. Lucky for me, my University provided help in the form of letting me know what I was going to face and why.
A year later my girl friend got a similar deal further East. No University support. She climbed into herself and stopped communicating, took a huge hit in self-esteem, and dropped out (a promising future lost). She tried to do it all on her own because she thought intelligence and strength could cut it against a vicious girl's school culture.
The mots about checking a box is not so far off the mark. Part of the application is recommendations. Well connected applicants have an advantage. But an applicant with no connections other than high school councilors and teachers telling them how poor she is and how hard she tries and all the disadvantages she is enduring is pretty much the same thing as checking a box and now Harvard help a good part of the way but not all of the way and then with satisfaction make a check mark on their own list of diversities.
I am Charlotte Simmons.
What a great story. Made my day. Really.
I am Charlotte Simmons' bile duct.
Assisted by teachers and custodians? I'm sure the writer meant "union thugs."
Now that she's of legal age it is appropriate for me to point out that despite (allegedly) going months without showering she certainly does not go more than a few days without shaving.
"She was so poor she couldn't afford another A to stick on the end of "North Carolina.""
LOL.
Fixed.
"But an applicant with no connections other than high school councilors and teachers telling them how poor she is and how hard she tries and all the disadvantages she is enduring is pretty much the same thing as checking a box and now Harvard help a good part of the way but not all of the way and then with satisfaction make a check mark on their own list of diversities."
These things are obviously plus factors. I've done admissions committee work, and I was always impressed by stories like this (and embarrassed for people trying to work this line where they weren't really that bad off).
BTW, speaking from personal experience and subjectively, it's more impressive when the person doesn't portray herself as a big victim, but tells the story factually and demonstrates strong values and maturity about dealing with obstacles.
The best personal statements I read were from immigrants.
The young lady deserves a lot of praise. Her spirit is really what this country is supposed to be about.
harrogate said...
See? There is no such thing as being stuck in poverty in America and no such thing as need and we don't need any stinkin' gummit programs a'tall. It all comes down to work ethic, silly.
I don't recall reading that the government saved her. Her own disgust at her family is what got her off the vicious cycle. People in the community helped her, but I saw no mention of government.
Her work ethic and willingness to make something of herself did that.
somefeller said...
Will Harvard teach her to be slovenly and resentful again? Stay tuned.
No, but going to Harvard will guarantee that a certain element of the population will be resentful towards her. But that's a small price to pay.
Nobody's going to resent her success. Some people may have a problem with Ivory Tower theoreticians who think they should dictate how everybody else should live, but this young lady is in a solid scientific field and should have her feet firmly on the ground.
Good luck to her -- she will need it. She has many strikes against her.
I hope she stays a courageous girl and never gives in to become a "Julia."
edutcher,
your response to me illustrates an irony that seems to afflict many. being so utterly enthralled with narrative, how can your reading skills be so subpar?
Call me a cynic but I don't believe her story.
Obama will take credit in 3...2...
Robert, I was also skeptical, but it looks legit and truly inspirational. Note that she had a lot of support from the school community after the family let her down.
Four part series with details here:
The rest of the story
Her sister is in the comment section.
harrogate said...
edutcher,
your response to me illustrates an irony that seems to afflict many. being so utterly enthralled with narrative, how can your reading skills be so subpar?
Because I read the actual words in the article, not the Lefty pipe dream harro thinks he saw.
despite raised in a home of drug use and later abandoned by family
That is impressive. I envy her strength of character. A lesser person would have submitted to their environment.
Well, this is only the beginning. There will be many more temptations and distractions to test her mettle.
Good luck in all her chosen endeavors.
I am most impressed by the fact this woman, at such a young age, was able to look at the environment she was born into - and see that she wanted to make sure she didn't follow the same path the rest of her gene pool has.
It is rare, even amongst those with secure upbringings, to look at our family of origin with objectivity - to take what we value from our backgrounds, and discard that which holds us down. Strictly anecdotal - but I'd say it takes most people 30 years or so to see clearly the effects our parents had on us.
What were her test scores? Maybe they were high enough to get her without the story, and we're all talking about nothing much at all.
"Because I read the actual words in the article, not the Lefty pipe dream harro thinks he saw."
Oh good Lord you are an embarrassment. Do you have anything in there to say that does not read like a programmed message?
Here, I will help. My comment was not a response to the article or to her at all. It was and is a distillation of this thread and the political narrative that this thread so faithfully echoes.
But really I am more concerned about your ability to read and think than about the playout of another bootstrap story. Really. Read more.
Actual diversity.
One would think Harvard could throw in the for the books and whatnot. Harvard's endowment is enormous.
Freeman, they'll be giving her around 55k per year, with sponsored work for the difference.
It's all based on financial need.
Isn't it a bit odd that this story comes to us courtesy of a British paper? No doubt, it's hard to see folks like this when you're flying over at 30,000 feet. For sure, then, it couldn't make it into the NYT.
Harro: Here, I will help. My comment was not a response to the article or to her at all. It was and is a distillation of this thread and the political narrative that this thread so faithfully echoes.
In other words, you're so wise that you can look past minor things like the actual facts of this case to boldly claim that your politically-favored meta-narrative still holds.
And so, the grave danger that you might alter your dogma in the presence of contrary evidence has been averted. Verily, the world breathes a sigh of relief.
When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?: John Keynes
Bless her.
I suspect there are a lot of kids out there in the same circumstances and a lot of teachers who pitch in to help. Sister had a kid show up for his math final this winter after his house had burned to the ground at 6 a.m. How many of us would have blown off the test and lobbied for a retake? (Sis and another teacher went out at lunch time and bought him a winter coat and underwear. He and his dad are among the working poor.)
Her school, with many marginal families, actually has an informal program to teach kids about personal hygiene and provides deodorant and other products. But it is a very touchy issue.
Manty,
Please. Her story, like any isolated success story, is heartwarming and all of that.
But it doesn't count as some sort of "evidence" for drawing away, or denying altogether, social safety nets. Nor does her story operate as an indictment of people who are stuck in poverty.
What about the many many who grow up in poverty and just go on being poorer still, but who don't make it into the news at all. Do they deserve the anonymous suffering they experience?
Or would you rather have a half Boehner, half Crocodile-style cry and pat yourself on the back, to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner?
Let me see if I can answers some of the questions I notice.
Yes, the story is true. I've watched many times, sitting up until 3 am doing her homework by candle.
Her SAT scores [or whatever they call them today] were 2210
Her GPA is at least 3.98 and probably at 4.0 now.
Besides Harvard, she was also accepted to NC State, UNC Chapel Hill and Davidson.
No, she not Indian and her hair is blonde.
She plans a double major geared toward her dream of becoming a biomedical researcher.
She really hates the attention but allowed the stories and interviews because she wanted to bring the plight of homeless teens to the forefront and also to show them that they CAN do it.
A trust fund was set up for her at Burns High School and she is now working with an attorney to have those funds transferred to a private trust in her name to help other students in the same boat. It will be under the umbrella of another NC educational trust.
She will be on the Today Show either late this week or early next.
She is a truly amazing person.
The original story was in the Shelby Star out of Shelby NC and you can read it there. It was picked up by newspapers everywhere
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