95后垃圾清洁工小哥考上哈佛，背后故事太励志了

今天要说的故事主人公，是美国一位24岁的垃圾清洁工小哥里恩·斯塔顿。

图源：Bored panda

整整三年的时间，斯塔顿每天天不亮就起床，凌晨四点穿上荧光黄色的垃圾清洁工制服开始工作。在早上清理垃圾的工作结束后，他便前往马里兰大学上课。

图源：CNN

有时候时间紧张没来得及在上课之前冲澡，小哥便会坐在教室的后面，避免同学们的目光和议论。

而就是在这样的条件下，斯塔顿最近收到了来自哈佛大学法学院的录取通知书！

图源：CNN

For three years, Rehan Staton awoke before sunrise.

He would dress in his neon-yellow uniform about 4 a.m. and head to Bates Trucking & Trash Removal in Bladensburg, Md. He spent his mornings hauling trash and cleaning dumpsters, then went to class at the University of Maryland.

When there was no time to shower between work and class, he would sit at the back of the lecture hall to avoid inevitable glares and judgment from his peers, he said.

Although it wasn’t Staton’s first time being a sanitation worker, he hopes it is his last: The 24-year-old Maryland man was recently accepted to Harvard Law School.

据《华盛顿邮报》(The Washington Post)报道，斯塔顿考上哈佛这一路走来并不容易。

斯塔顿表示，在8岁以前，自己的生活过得挺好，和哥哥一起上着私立学校。然而就在8岁母亲离开了家之后，一切都变了。

图源：CNN

斯塔顿的父亲不得不同时打两三份工来勉强维持家庭开支，而他和哥哥很快面临家里揭不开锅的处境。而那时候，家中的亲戚也都开始疏远他们，父子三人只能相依为命。

Rehan was born and raised in Bowie, Maryland. "Life was pretty normal until I was eight years old," Rehan says. During that time, his mother left his father and moved out of the country.

After she left, the previously stable household faced financial difficulties as Rehan's father tried to raise his two sons on his own.

After years of private school and an otherwise "solidly middle class upbringing," Rehan says, he and his older brother soon faced food insecurity while their father struggled to keep their house, often working two or even three jobs at a time to keep the bills paid.

During this time, the family of three was ostracized by many of their extended relatives and had to rely on each other for support.

这样的家庭生活也让斯塔顿的成绩受到严重影响，甚至连学校里的老师都不相信他的学习能力，建议将他转入特殊教育班。但在一位辅导老师的免费帮助下，斯塔顿在那一年成为了优秀学生。

Staton said growing up was tough and he used to struggle in school. One teacher even suggested he switch to a special education class.

But with help from a tutor, who worked with Staton for free, he ended up excelling.

"I actually ended up getting honor roll that same year, in 7th grade, when my teacher tried to stick me in special education. And I actually ended up getting an A in his class," he said.

渐渐地，斯塔顿也发现了自己在拳击和武术方面的兴趣爱好，希望成为一名职业体育选手。然而，一次受伤击碎了他的职业梦。

图源：CNN

而他申请的每一所大学都拒绝了他，没有其他出路的斯塔顿只好成为了一名垃圾清洁工，然而令他没想到的是，正是这段经历改变了他的一生。

Rehan continued to improve academically while training to be a professional boxer in high school.

However, his dreams were cut short when he suffered a double shoulder injury in the 12th grade. In a moment, his hopes of going pro after graduation were dashed.

He hurriedly applied to a number of colleges before the year was out but was rejected from every school he applied to.

斯塔顿表示，正是他这些来自社会底层的清洁工同事鼓励着他，让他重返校园。

That’s when he went to work at Bates Trucking & Trash Removal. But to his surprise, it was his co-workers there who encouraged him to reapply to college.

"It was the people that were on the bottom of the hierarchy who really lifted me up," Staton said.

在同事们的鼓励下，2014年斯塔顿进入包伊州立大学学习，开始在学校里大放光彩：成为了多个组织的负责人，获得了众多学术荣誉，并在第二个学年结束时，决定去法学院深造。

斯塔顿的哥哥当时也在包伊州立大学就读，看到了弟弟的潜力后，他毅然离开学校继续工作，全力支持家庭。

两年后，斯塔顿转学进入马里兰大学就读，并于2018年作为毕业生代表发言。

图源：Bored panda

"I became the president of organizations. I was winning so many scholastic accolades — it was crazy." By the end of his second year, Rehan decided he wanted to go to law school.

Rehan's older brother, Reggie Staton, 27, was a Bowie State sophomore when his brother enrolled. Moved by the potential his brother had to flourish at school, Reggie dropped out to return to work and support his family.

Two years into his successful matriculation at Bowie State University, Rehan transferred to University of Maryland, where he graduated and was chosen to be student commencement speaker in 2018.

但在校园之外，他的生活还是充满了重重挑战与磨难。在马里兰大学就读期间，斯塔顿的父亲发生了中风。为了支付父亲的医药费，斯塔顿再次当起了垃圾清洁工，一边上学一边工作。而平衡好工作与学习并非易事，尤其是斯塔顿的目标还是对成绩要求颇高的法学院。

Although he was succeeding as a student, Staton continued to face personal hardships. In his second semester at the University of Maryland, his father suffered a stroke.

Staton started working at the trash company once again to help pay his father’s medical bills while staying in school.

Balancing work and college was not easy, Staton said, especially because he wanted to apply to law school and needed to maintain his grades.

但功夫不负有心人，从马里兰大学顺利毕业后，斯塔顿顺利地在一家咨询公司找到了工作，同时准备起了美国法学院入学考试（Law School Admissions Test）。最终，哈佛大学、哥伦比亚大学、宾夕法尼亚大学、南加州大学等都向他发出了offer！

图源：CNN

Over the course of the following year, Rehan worked in political consulting with the Robert Bobb Group, a firm in downtown DC, while studying for the LSAT. He was accepted to law schools at Harvard, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, and Pepperdine this Spring.

今年秋天，斯塔顿将前往哈佛大学法学院继续深造。回顾自己的过往经历，斯塔顿是这么说的：

“没人能保证人生就是公平的，但如果你一直坚持目标，一切就会如期而至。”
“No one can promise that life will be fair, but if you keep your eyes on the prize, everything will fall into place.”

综合来源：CNN Washington Post CBS Bored panda