Hello, my name is Sam Zuniga, and I am really excited to be a fellow in the Ward Fellowship this year. My dad has worked his adult life in the public sector, and my mom in the private sector. When I was a young child, I would only notice that they both have briefcases and go to work, only to come home and make me dinner, yet as I grew up, I came to realize that my dad’s job in the government concretely affects people across Massachusetts. That responsibility and ability to affect change attracted me to public service and helping people across the state and country with the multitude of problems facing our world today. As I mentioned previously, my dad works for the government, but my mom works for Gillette; they met at business school, after my dad had the fantastic idea of coming to America from a recession-plagued Mexico for business school, making it big on Wall Street, and then going back to Mexico and finding a wife. Obviously, staying here and marrying a Jewish woman in Boston was not on the agenda. Even though my parents come from very different backgrounds, they share and have passed down to my sister and myself a strong work ethic and drive, which pushes me to be the best I can. Whether it is through skiing, piano, little-league baseball (though I was a mediocre right-fielder with few hits per season), Model UN conferences, or history classes, I always strive to give all my effort in whatever I do. Yet, I do find time to relax, and sometimes spend it tracking election polls, which makes the 2018 election cycle especially exciting. While I have been seemingly following different politicians extensively throughout this election cycle, I am extremely excited to be able to meet Massachusetts representatives this summer in DC, and especially work with Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo this summer. For the past couple years I have been politically energized by the dysfunction in government on the national level, and these days the news cycle certainly never fails to be filled with drama. However, I firmly believe that local politics is the foundation of positive change, and working at the state house this summer is my introduction into that. Speaker DeLeo is at the helm in the House, and I am excited to see what that responsibility and environment means. This opportunity with the Ward Fellowship is truly monumental for my public service aspirations, and I am eager to see what I learn this summer.