But what matters most to him is being in school.

When I was first beginning to recover from my vicious drug addictions, I wandered homeless, in and out of an abusive and drug fueled relationship and desperately tried to get my life together.  I attended a small community college in a little California town and survived the worst of the winters by sleeping behind the bleachers in our gym.  It was definitely not the Ritz, but I can tell you that it probably saved my life in that it kept me from freezing to death when the mercury was rattling like a dried pea in the bottom of the thermometer; a fairly common occurrence in the Sierra Nevadas during the dead of winter. 

I'll never forget, not will I ever be able to repay, what education did for me and today I promote college to every one of my clients.  I often help folks through the initial process of their FAFSA and help guide them into their first couple of semesters because school counselors, God bless em, often have no freaking clue how hard it is for re-entry students to return to school, especially if they've been out for an extended period of time.

So when I see people like the gentleman discussed below, I'm thrilled that he was able to overcome the barriers and get probably the most important thing in his life accomplished, his education.

WATCH: Homeless UCLA Student Shows Where He Slept On Campus

First Posted: 08- 5-10 08:41 AM   |   Updated: 08- 5-10 01:04 PM

When UCLA student Diego Sepulveda had no place to sleep, he took shelter in the school's student lounge. He worked multiple jobs to pay for his classes; because he's an undocumented immigrant, he's not eligible for loans or scholarships. He often went hungry and wore the same clothes for days in a row.

But what matters most to him is being in school.

Profiled first by NPR and now by ABC World News, Sepulveda's story of being homeless at college is capturing the nation's attention not only as a symbol of the perilous situation for young illegal immigrants, but also for his perseverance in obtaining a piece of the American Dream. He now lives in a dorm on UCLA's campus, free of charge.

WATCH as he retraces his steps as a homeless college student for ABC World News: