Sebastian Rodriguez
Sebastian Rodriguez, 21, is majoring in English and global culture and plans to pursue a law degree. The New City resident is captain of the Policy Debate Team and a 2007 National All-American debater. He's a member of Phi Eta Sigma honor society, president of the Binghamton Feral Cat Society and a Stable Movements volunteer. He is also co-founder of the University's Amnesty International chapter. Rodriguez, a finalist for the Planned Parenthood Association's National Volunteer of the Year Award, is a Binghamton Ronald Glazer Scholarship Award winner.
"I think diverse student body. I think that you get such an incredible mix of people, you know. It's not just a private institution, it's a public, so it draws a crowd that you probably wouldn't get anywhere else. I think unique. A lot of the student body has character unlike many other schools I've been to. I've traveled a lot for debate. I've been to a lot of chools. But the amount of unique characters you have here having such diverse styles and range of interest is just incredible.
I chose Binghamton because when I visited the campus the first time I felt something on this campus. I don't know what it was. It was just this inexplicable attraction that I had to the environment. I love the campus in regard to how it is arranged with all the different communities. It allows for so many different avenues of communication and relationships to exist between people. And you really are forced to interact with so many types of people that it makes you a better person in the long run because you bring so many experiences together and it's just a melting pot of incredibly diverse perspectives. I think that is what at the center of a successful academic institution.
I think ultimately I've been faced with a lot of challenges since I've been here, as you should during these years. I think that it gets a little bleak here at times, the weather does pound on you it becomes almost unbearable at times, but you know that's the good stuff. That's what gives Binghamton that character, and that's what it's about. If you went to school in San Diego and you had sunshine all year round you'd be like "Oh the sun is out." But you come to Binghamton and you endure some really harsh rain seasons and winter and then when the sun comes out you appreciate it more. It just teaches you to really overcome, you know, different struggles more so I feel than any other place I've ever been to."
