Between heading the Economics Club of Santa Barbara Journal, and serving as vice president of services for Phi Theta Kappa, City College student Sebastian Rothstein barely has time to catch his breath.
Rothstein, a 20-year-old economics major, moved to Santa Barbara from Sweden after graduating high school without knowing anyone and looking to get an education.
Rothstein serves as editor-in-chief of the economics journal, president of the Economics Club, City College student ambassador, Associated Student Government senator and treasurer for the Vegan Club.
“He’s dedicated, he’s smart, he’s charismatic, he’s everything an adviser wants on her team of student senators,” said Amy Collins, student program adviser. “He’s a go-getter, he knows what he wants and he goes for it.”
City College’s first economics club was started by Rothstein earlier this semester, and has already grown to be one of the largest clubs on campus.
“There is a huge community for political science students, so why not start the community of economics and put us on the same plateau as the political science students?” Rothstein asked.
Rothstein spoke about impact economics has on each of our lives.
“Usually when people think of economics, they think of money,” he said. “Economics is so much more than that, it’s everything.”
He is involved in so many activities outside the classroom because he believes it gives real world experience.
“A huge part of the school experience is not necessarily in the classroom, not a lot of the actual learning is actually in the classroom,” he said. “I think that the more involved you are around campus, the better that translates into your actual learning.”
Economics and academics didn’t always play this large of a role in Rothstein’s life. Prior to moving to the states to pursue a higher education, Rothstein was a member of Sweden’s National Under-16 Hockey Team and was chosen to be apart of Europe’s Select Team. The team is made up of European’s best under-16 hockey players.
Rothstein credits the economic journal as his biggest accomplishment. The journal was made as a platform for Rothstein to publish his ideas and thoughts, not knowing its true potential. The journal is gaining hundreds of viewers each day, and is close to having over a total of 100,000 readers.
The journal has spread further than Santa Barbara, California, and even the United States. It has been read in 192 countries to date.
The journal recently published an article regarding the Panama Papers leak, which accumulated over 20,000 views in less than 3 days. The reason people are drawn to the site is because it’s comprehensiveness and easiness to navigate through, Rothstein said.
After City College, Rothstein plans to apply to every Ivy League university, along with the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Boston University.
“California has really good schools, but I just think the pace of the East Coast is more my cup of tea,” he said. “California is a bit too laid back for me to be honest.”
Upon receiving his bachelor’s degree, he plans to move back to Sweden to get his master’s degree from the prestigious Lund University, tuition free.
His goal is to then come back to the states where he will complete his doctorate in economics and specialize in trade or “something along those lines.”
“I don’t want to be some kind of business tycoon,” Rothstein said. “Someday I’m going to end up in a University to become a researcher or professor.”
