I fled my home country of Bosnia during a civil war in 1992 when I was only a teenager. I eventually landed in California as an 18-year-old with one suitcase and settled in with a host family.

Every time I turned on the news, I saw horrifying pictures of what was going on back home. My home, my community, and everything I had known in Bosnia was gone. I lost many friends in the war.

I learned as a young adult not to get too attached to material things; they can be gone in an instant. But there were some things I knew no one could ever take from me—an education and my love of science.

 …