Dan-el Padilla Peralta has the sort of intellectual clout most of us can only dream of.
He's assistant Professor of Classics at Princeton and has taught at more of the greatest universities in the world.
He was educated in New York's private school system, whilst also being homeless and living in condemned buildings in the midst of gang violence.
And what's more he carried a secret, which he feared could tear his world apart.
As told to Sam Walker