An 18-year-old who had been abandoned by her parents and was made homeless has recently been granted acceptance into Harvard University, where she shall begin her first semester in Autumn.

Dawn Loggins, a recent high school graduate from North Carolina, recently turned her life around by being enrolled at one of America’s most sought-after educational facilities. The hardworking girl managed the feat – fraught with bullying and a lack of security amid a broken home – despite a showering of personal setback. However, wanting to separate her life from that of her drug-using parents, her determination kept her afloat.

“I looked around at my family and I saw the neglect, the drug abuse, the bad choices and I saw my family living from pay check to pay check,” she disclosed to WBTV. “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.”

Not able to live with her parents, a then-middle school Ms. Loggins spent some time at her grandmother’s house, where her situation was still far from ideal. “There was trash all over the house,” she explained. “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,” which led to torment in the classrooms.

Despite the adversity – which led her to bounce from one school to another – the intervention of a school guidance counselor, who recognised Dawn’s condition, was vital in her turnaround. She is said to have taken her on a clothes shopping trip, before helping her to get her a job as a high school custodian.

With more stability behind her came an added drive, as she made it her aim to maintain her consistent run of ‘A’s on her academic record with supplementary online classes, despite missing two months’ worth of schooling. “There would be times we went without power or water for months at a time,” Dawn explained: “I remember doing my homework by candlelight ‘cause I am that determined to succeed.”

Her hard work paid off when she was greeted with a letter which read: “I am delighted to report that the Admissions Committee has asked me to inform you that you will be admitted to the Harvard College class of 2016… We send such an early positive indication only to outstanding applicants…,” as well as being accepted by each of her four other university options.

Ms. Loggins aims to major in Biology, an area where she’s able to expand on her interest in animal habitats. “I want to help with new discoveries and I want to help make the world a better place.”

Dawn summarised: “If there is anybody at all who has a dream then they can definitely make it happen. There are no excuses. It depends on you and no one else.”