Rehan Staton is a young man working as a garbage collector and was greatly surprised to get accepted into his college of choice. When he received emailed acceptance letter of his admission to Harvard University, his reaction was so moving that it went viral on social media.
At 24, he never believed that his wishes to study and get a professional career could be fulfilled, because due to financial problems, during his adolescence he was forced to sacrifice his education and work in the sanitaion field in order to help provide for his family.
After the abandonment of his mother severely affected his father, who lost everything he had and went bankrupt. While working in sanitation, Staton found a way to balance out financially, without neglecting his dream of being a lawyer.
With the support of his father, siblings, and coworkers, Rehan had the opportunity to study at a state university, from which he was able to graduate with high grades. Getting out of work and heading straight for school was a challenge since sometimes, he did not have time to shower and change. Rehan had to sit away from everyone to avoid being smelled. However, he never imagined that he would have the opportunity to study at Harvard. The young man’s reaction went viral.
A year after graduating, he applied to study law at various universities, being selected on three of them: Columbia University, the University of Southern California and the University of Harvard, some of the most sought after colleges around the world.
“When I look back on my experiences, I like to think that I made the best of the worst situation,” the young man told CNN.
