Working Full Time as Janitor at Columbia University, Man from Former Yugoslavia Earns Columbia Degree in Classics

Gac Filipaj immigrated from the former Yugoslavia to the US in 1992.

After settling in the Bronx, he started studying English, then got a job at Columbia University as a Janitor.

Taking advantage of tuition reduction for employees, Filipaj then enrolled in classes at Columbia. While working full-time as a janitor, Filipaj started studying the Classics in 2000, and he’s now earned his bachelor’s degree.

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Marco Werman: In many ways our next story is like that of many immigrants here in the U.S. Gac Filipaj left his home in the former Yugoslavia in 1992. He settled in the Bronx and started taking English classes. After a while, Filipaj landed a job as a janitor at Columbia University. That’s where the story changes a bit. Taking advantage of the tuition benefits for employees, Filipaj enrolled in Columbia’s School of Continuing Education and then its School of General Studies focusing on the Classics. Now, Gac Filipaj who is 52 will earn his Bachelor’s Degree from Columbia on Sunday. Mr. Filipaj, I know you are in the middle of a 16-hour shift right now, so thank you for taking a few minutes of your day to speak with us. How long has it taken you studying part-time while working to earn this degree?

Gac Filipaj: It took me 12 years.

Werman: Twelve years.

Filipaj: But prior to that, occasionally, I was taking English classes for foreigners.

Werman: And you were working the whole time.

Filipaj: Yes, I was working full-time and I was just a part-time student.

Werman: That’s a tough schedule. Tell me about your story. Where did you live in the former Yugoslavia before you left?

Filipaj: I lived in Montenegro. I am from the countryside. Ethnically, I am Albanian. I registered in 1978 at the law school in Belgrade as a part-time student and was working and helping my family in the family farm. Then, the troubles, political troubles started in Yugoslavia and I finally had to come to the territories of Uncle Sam, and I’m lucky and happy for that. I moved to the United States in 1992.

Werman: Then, how did you end up at Columbia?

Filipaj: I took English classes in a high school in the Bronx and one of my English teachers, after I asked which is the best University in New York, told me it is Columbia University. So, I said that I’m gonna try to find a job and to work for Columbia and he said, “Yeah, you may even take classes over there.” He said, “You may even get the chance maybe to go to college.” Now, today I am done; I’m finished.

Werman: Yeah, you must feel great.

Filipaj: Yeah.

Werman: What was your favorite class?

Filipaj: My favorite class was ‘Supervised research in Latin Literature’ studying Seneca’s Letters.

Werman: Interesting. Gac, did your fellow students in Columbia know that you also worked as a janitor at Columbia?

Filipaj: Some of them did not know and then they come to the building where I work. I have a seen couple of times that when they saw me the first time they were surprised a little bit, you know, like the reaction, “Oh, this guy is in my class but he cleans; he’s a cleaner.”

Werman: You’ll be officially graduating next week but you’re still working full-time as a janitor at Columbia. Given the economy right now, I suppose you don’t want to give a job up like that.

Filipaj: I have to make my living and I cannot quit my job yet. So, I’ve worked and I’ll be working until I find something better, hopefully.

Werman: You know, if you think of your own travels from Montenegro to the United States and then your studies and your work at Columbia, it kind of sounds like an odyssey, you could say. Is there a piece of literature in your studies of the Classics that you kind of relate to?

Filipaj: I don’t know about that but I do love the Iliad more than the Odyssey.

Werman: Why do you like the Iliad more than the Odyssey?

Filipaj: I think tragic endings draw me more than the happy ones. Odyssey survived, Achilles died. So, I just admire more people who being heroes sacrifice everything, even the life.

Werman: It sounds like a very Balkan spirit. Am I being too presumptuous?

Filipaj: Maybe, maybe, I don’t know [laughs].

Werman: [laughs] Okay. Gac Filipaj will be graduating from Columbia University this Sunday. Gac, congratulations again. Thanks for speaking with us.

Filipaj: Thank you very much.

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