Dawn Loggins - from homeless in high school to Harvard

Dawn Loggins at high school graduation

Last summer, after returning from a prestigious academic summer program in Raleigh, N.C., Dawn Loggins found her parents were gone from the home they shared in North Carolina. She had no way to reach them because their phone services had been disconnected. It would be a few months before she learned that they had gone to Tennessee for a visit and decided to stay.

Before her homeless ordeal, Dawn recalled having to do homework by candlelight because the power had been disconnected and having to cook noodles on a wood stove after her mother and stepfather lost their jobs.

Loggins worked as a custodian at school from 6 a.m. until the students arrived at 7:40 a.m. every weekday, but she stayed focused on her schoolwork. She would do another two hours of custodial work after school each day and then do the homework for her honors and advanced placement classes until midnight or later on most days. It resulted in a 3.9 grade-point average and a 2,110 on her SAT.

After being abandoned by her parents, Logins initially crashed on couches at friends’ houses until school bus driver Sheryl Kolton, the mother of a friend, opened up her home when she was apprised of Dawn’s situation by her guidance counselor.

One summer later, Loggins is preparing for her freshman year at Harvard University after a remarkable rise from hardscrabble circumstances to acceptance to the class of 2016 in one of the most prestigious schools in the world.

Relying on a part-time job as a school custodian and the generosity of others in her community, Loggins persevered to remain a straight-A student. Her reward was becoming the first person from her high school to ever be accepted to Harvard.

“There were times when I felt like it would be easiest if I gave up,’’ the 18-year-old told NBC News. “But it was never in me to give up, because I realized that I was never going to be successful unless I got an education.’’