The school bell rang at 3:35 p.m., sending all the students home. While most students went home, Anthony stayed after school to do homework, not wanting to leave school. This was because “home” was a completely uncertain place for Anthony. This became especially true toward the end of his senior year in high school in Los Angeles. His father suffered from alcoholism. This problem led to Anthony's father being fired from his job and after selling everything he owned, Anthony's family was evicted from their small studio in the MacArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. At that time in his life, he and his family found shelter in the three doors of his mother's minivan. As the last month of high school approached, Anthony found comfort and distraction from all of his family's problems by doing what he loved most, problem solving in math and science. It’s just one of many life experiences I had growing up. My name is Anthony. My full name is Gilbert Anthony Zepeda, and in science I found a way to escape being at home and facing difficulties....