Determined Richmond Student With 16 Housemates And No Home Computer Maintains Near-Perfect GPA

RICHMOND (KPIX 5) -- When Antonio Gonzales was just a little boy, he promised his grandfather he would go to college.

He keeps that promise close to his heart and is now a top student at Richmond High. But to really understand what that takes, you have to see Antonio at home.

He lives at his grandmother's in Richmond, along with 16 other people. He shares a bedroom with his sister and mother; he sleeps on the floor.

"The primary thing is food," he says. "When there's 17 people in one house, it's actually hard to supply everybody with food and sometimes there's days when there's actually nothing to eat."

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But for a determined student there's another problem: finding a quiet place to study. Their home is full of constant sounds of children, people coming and going, the ever-present noise of the television, and a dog occasionally barking.

Antonio works on his math first - his best subject. Because it's easy for him, the background noise doesn't bother him. He helps his little sister with her math as well.

But when he really needs to concentrate, he has to wait until night, when the house quiets down.

In their room, after his mother and sister are asleep with the lights out, Anthony uses the flashlight app on his cellphone to read.  "I usually do my homework sometimes all the way until 3 or 4 in the morning," he says. If he is too tired to stay awake, he sets his alarm for 5 a.m. and wakes up early to finish.

They have no functioning computer at home, so he had to use the computers at school, often in the library, or at the college center. Angel Ponce-Larsen was his history teacher and understands the importance of a computer to get to college.  "When there are projects or research, (and) a lot of teachers assign that, he has to essentially work at lunch, work after school, that's his only option."

Still, Ponce Larsen has come to expect excellent, out-of-the-box work from Antonio.  "He's a thinker. He's a kid that's constantly asks questions. That's a kid that needs to be in college."

With his Advanced Placement Antonio was accepted into a summer program at UC Berkeley. He loved it. "It was a fun experience meeting people from backgrounds, different schools, different personalities.  That was quite something and then working along and together with them it was something that I will always remember."  Cal is his dream school and not an unrealistic one, given his grades.  Counting his advanced placement classes, Antonio has a 4.0 GPA

But until he gets to college, he still faces daily challenges.  During after-school tutoring, Mr. Ponce-Larsen noticed another pattern.

"He would always ask for food even on the days he (didn't) come to my specific tutoring," says Ponce-Larsen, "he always came and asked if he could get food."

"When there's no food at home, usually what I do is I wait until the next day so I can go to school and actually eat breakfast. They have a free breakfast here at school."

But then, there is that promise.

"Every time I'm ready to throw in the towel I remember the promise I made to my grandfather," says Antonio. He always kept on telling me that education is important if you want to be successful in the future."

And now, Antonio says he wants to finish college for his sister and mother. "I want to be able to get my family a stable place to live in and not to worry about not having food the next day."

Antonio will be the first in his family to go to college.