Posted on 05/20/2012 3:49:52 PM PDT by magellan
LAWNDALE, NC (WBTV) - 18 year old Dawn Loggins has an amazing story to tell. She has been homeless, abandoned by her parents, and called a high school dropout.
But she didn't let those challenges stop her from living her dream of one day attending an Ivy League University.
She was accepted to Harvard University. She said her motivation came from her experiences.
"When I was younger," Loggins said. "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. I wasn't going to end up having to decide should I buy food this month or should I pay my rent."
The graduating senior's struggles started when she was forced to live with her grandmother. Her parents abandoned her.
"When I lived with my grandma," the senior said. "There was trash all over the house. She never really explained to me like that it was important to shower - it was important to take care of yourself, so I would go months at a time without showering. I would wear the same dress to school for months at a time."
During that period, she says that's when the teasing and bullying started at school.
"They would say you are pretty, pretty ugly," Loggins said. "It actually got so bad at a point in middle school, I would go home everyday and just cry."
At 13 Loggins' mother and step-father came and she lived with them. Things didn't get better.
"We were evicted several times," the senior said. "I went to three different middle schools, three different high schools."
The graduating senior said when she and her family did have a place to stay, it was still rough.
"There would be times we went without power or water for months at a time," Loggins said. "I remember doing my homework by candlelight cause I am that determined to succeed."
And she did succeed. She gasped when she opened her acceptance letter from Harvard.
"I was proud of myself," the student said. "Because not only was I able to get into Harvard, but I was able to distinguish myself from the other 36,000 other applicants."
When Loggins enrolled into Burns High School as a 10th grader, she was considered a high school drop out. She had missed two months of school. She says she took online classes so she could catch up in her work. Now she is taking AP and Honor classes.
"If there is anybody at all who has a dream," Loggins said. "Then they can definitely make it happen. There are no excuses. It depends on you and no one else."
Loggins wants to major in Biology.
"I want to help with new discoveries," Loggins said. "And I want to help make the world a better place."
The student is now on her own. She makes a living as a custodian at Burns High school.
Harvard is giving her some scholarship money - to get the rest of the money she will have to work for. She says the community has helped her get this far and is grateful for all they have done.
"There is always help for those who ask for it," Loggins said. "There is always help for people who need it. The generosity of this community is amazing."
Anyone who wants to donate to the fund established for Dawn Loggins at Burns High School may do so at this address:
Burns High School/Dawn Loggins Fund
307 East Stagecoach Trail
Lawndale, NC 28090
Make checks payable to "Burns High School/Dawn Loggins Fund"
This young lady is the antithesis of the Occupy Wall Street clowns.
Definitely watch/listen to the video.
No child should have to go through that hell. May G-D be with her. The occupansies could learn a lot from a bright yound lady like this.
Something is up. I smell some kind of demogogic eruption in the making. The coincidence is too much. I bet there are other similar headlines around the country, or will be soon.
No child should have to go through that hell. May G-D be with her. The occupansies could learn a lot from a bright young lady like this.
>> No child should have to go through that hell. May G-D be with her. <<
Harvard’s not THAT bad.
(Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Bad Dangus! Bad Dangus!)
You bring up an interesting point. Leftist do make long term preparations for political stings. They lay the groundwork, so you are right to be suspicious knowing of a similar event in the works. Just too convenient.
I too am on high alert. These stories used to impress me, but Obama’s composite created persona of a “foreign student:” who some how got a degree from Columbia and Harvard law without ever meeting anyone. To me they are all suspect now. This girl needed told about showers? Blames grandma. Come on! If she is so smart, figure it out. House always messy? Can she clean? Sounds like a garden variety victim to me. And how is Hah-vahd going to help her? Turn her even more Lib.
I'm with you. I think we've just seen the invention of yet another urban myth. LIES for whatever reason are still lies. This one is FEMALE, homeless but Harvard bound. Maybe they'll "discover" that she's native American or some such tragic minority.
I wonder who the next Obama will be after Obama.
Obama? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
This girl is white, and sooner or later someone is going to wonder why Harvard should give preference to, say, Obama's daughters over this white girl.
Good catch. NC and OH...2 crucial states to win in November.
(Do colleges wash students out anymore? The place I went to seemed proud to tell us at Freshman orientation: Look to your left and look to your right. One of the three of you won't graduate.)
ML/NJ
pity. She started off so strong...
Oh, must have been an editorial error. They will correct the names of the states, countries and all other locations to legitimatize the scam. When do you think she’ll run for president?
She did her homework by candlelight (couldn't do it during daylight hours - after school)?
She took online courses to keep up? Where, the public library? Or could her family afford internet?
Does the girl claim Cherokee ancestry?
Just to let people know. If you have a family income of sixty thousand or less you do not pay a single penny to go to harvard. No money for books, tuition, room and board or health insurance. Harvard has a very large endowment fund and can afford to be very generous. I am sure the donations will be put to good use but not for harvard education as that will be gratis.
I am so sick and tired of this phrase “living paycheck to paycheck” as though it is bad, unfortunate or unusual. The ones with paychecks are the lucky ones. And most families live paycheck to paycheck. So what?
yes, but was she at least 1/64 Cherokee Indian?
“I am so sick and tired of this phrase “living paycheck to paycheck” as though it is bad, unfortunate or unusual.”
It is bad; not pointing fingers (I do it), but living without savings is stressful. I don’t waste money; I just don’t want strangers caring for my children. It is difficult, though not unusual.
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