{"id":7004,"date":"2025-01-13T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collegetrack.wpenginepowered.com\/?post_type=press&#038;p=7004"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:25:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:25:03","slug":"empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service","status":"publish","type":"scholar_story","link":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering Change: Sebastian&#8217;s Journey from Prince George&#8217;s County to Politics and Public Service"},"template":"","community_tax":[159],"partner":[],"program":[],"class_list":["post-7004","scholar_story","type-scholar_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","community_tax-prince-georges-county-md"],"acf":{"details":{"featured_image":16480,"authors":"","abstract":"","helper_taxonomies":{"article_type":false,"community_tax":[159],"partner":false,"program":false,"role":false,"region":false}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sebastian, a College Track scholar from Prince George\u2019s County, Maryland, spent much of this past fall helping his classmates at American University register to vote. Currently a sophomore, Sebastian believes whole-heartedly in the capacity of politics to effect change. \u201cSome people don't have hope in it, but when others don't have hope, I feel like I have to be the one who has <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hope,\u201d says Sebastian. Sebastian\u2019s love for politics was sparked in high school, when a teacher invited him to join the Model UN club.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it came time to apply to college, he had his eye on American University, an institution well-known for its political science program. Not only was Sebastian accepted, he received a substantial scholarship, made possible by the school\u2019s formal partnership with College Track. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe financial help was an incredible burden lifted off of my shoulders,\u201d he says. Sebastian dove into his classes immediately, declaring a dual major in political science and an interdisciplinary study that combines communications, legal studies, economics, and government. He also joined a friend\u2019s nonprofit dedicated to improving civic engagement among young people. He\u2019s worked closely with his dedicated College Track coach to manage his many commitments.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s an education of how college works \u2014 getting accustomed to it, building an actual <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">schedule and a routine that you can use every day of your life. That way, you can actually be effective academically and also job-wise.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Going to school in the heart of D.C. has enabled Sebastian to pursue internship opportunities <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that have further enriched his academic experience. Last spring, he interned with Congressman Glenn Ivy, who represents Prince George\u2019s County as part of Maryland\u2019s 4th District; this fall, he is interning for Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland 2nd District. Sebastian recently <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">attended a congressional hearing on government oversight and accountability,\u00a0 which he describes as \u201cincredibly inspiring.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sebastian has big plans in both the near and long term. His current goal is to intern at the White House. Eventually, he wants to run for public office, either as a state senator or a state <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">delegate. No matter where he ends up, he knows where his priorities are.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy goal has always been to lift up my community, to represent my community, to help my community. And I want to inspire others to do the same.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;","":null,"drop_cap":false,"helper_width":"narrow"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_stories","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_related_stories":{"manually_curate":false,"posts":""}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Empowering Change: Sebastian&#039;s Journey from Prince George&#039;s County to Politics and Public Service - College Track<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Empowering Change: Sebastian&#039;s Journey from Prince George&#039;s County to Politics and Public Service - College Track\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sebastian, a College Track scholar from Prince George\u2019s County, Maryland, spent much of this past fall helping his classmates at American University register to vote. Currently a sophomore, Sebastian believes whole-heartedly in the capacity of politics to effect change. \u201cSome people don&#8217;t have hope in it, but when others don&#8217;t have hope, I feel like [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Track\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-23T18:25:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1030\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/\",\"name\":\"Empowering Change: Sebastian's Journey from Prince George's County to Politics and Public Service - College Track\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-13T12:00:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-23T18:25:03+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":1030},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/scholar-stories\\\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Empowering Change: Sebastian&#8217;s Journey from Prince George&#8217;s County to Politics and Public Service\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"College Track\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/collegetrack.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Empowering Change: Sebastian's Journey from Prince George's County to Politics and Public Service - College Track","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Empowering Change: Sebastian's Journey from Prince George's County to Politics and Public Service - College Track","og_description":"Sebastian, a College Track scholar from Prince George\u2019s County, Maryland, spent much of this past fall helping his classmates at American University register to vote. Currently a sophomore, Sebastian believes whole-heartedly in the capacity of politics to effect change. \u201cSome people don&#8217;t have hope in it, but when others don&#8217;t have hope, I feel like [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/","og_site_name":"College Track","article_modified_time":"2026-07-23T18:25:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":1030,"url":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/","url":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/","name":"Empowering Change: Sebastian's Journey from Prince George's County to Politics and Public Service - College Track","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-01-13T12:00:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-23T18:25:03+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Sebastian-2-e1784831099500.jpeg","width":1170,"height":1030},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/scholar-stories\/empowering-change-sebastians-journey-from-prince-georges-county-to-politics-and-public-service\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Empowering Change: Sebastian&#8217;s Journey from Prince George&#8217;s County to Politics and Public Service"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/","name":"College Track","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es-MX"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scholar_story\/7004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scholar_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/scholar_story"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scholar_story\/7004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16481,"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scholar_story\/7004\/revisions\/16481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"community_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/community_tax?post=7004"},{"taxonomy":"partner","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partner?post=7004"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegetrack.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=7004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}