Political science student wants to use his education to fight cancer

“I may be in Binghamton but I still have an effect on what goes on in D.C.,” Jean says. “When constituents call Sen. Charles Schumer’s [local] office, I’m the one who helps them with their casework.”

The 19-year-old Merrick, N.Y., native says he was ecstatic to jump right into interning upon his arrival to Schumer’s office in August 2016.

“My first day on the job was a press conference Schumer held at [interconnect manufacturer] Amphenol. He saved many jobs after a contract dispute,” Jean says. “Having the chance to interact with Schumer, and watching him talk to a large group of people was great. He made a huge impact on people’s lives by making a phone call to the Department of Defense to fix the problem at Amphenol.”

Jean works at Schumer’s office twice a week, which gives him a lot of time to see how a professional politician solves problems for people all around New York state.

“A few days later, a farmer called in from Sullivan County and he needed help with getting a grant for a new tractor. He couldn’t afford buying it so we processed his grant,” Jean says. “It’s a good feeling to help people.”

The political science student is gaining experience in civil service, yet a year ago he was following a different academic route.

“I came into Binghamton as a biology major and was on the fence about it,” he says. “I took one political science course and fell in love with the subject.”

For Jean his career had to include a way to help others.

“My grandma fought cancer for many years before passing away. And then my aunt was diagnosed with cancer, so I wanted to put a stop to it,” says Jean, who originally wanted to combat the disease by following a pre-med track at Binghamton. “I realized I’m not a science person though. So I want to help cure cancer by raising money and influencing policy around it.”

Now more confident of his career plan, he spends most of his free time volunteering. Jean is the Community Service Chair of the Scholars Program, as well as the Vice President of Colleges Against Cancer and the Executive Vice President of SUNY Kids, a program that takes Binghamton youth on day trips every Saturday.

“I was fortunate enough to be raised in a stable household,” he says. “I have the time and the ability to help out, so why shouldn’t I be giving back to the community?”

For Colleges Against Cancer, Jean aims to raise $55,000 for a Relay for Life event held every spring. The organization raised $35,000 last year.

Spending his weekends volunteering with local youth helped him realize the importance of education and how the current system isn’t doing the best it can for young students.

“Improvement starts from the ground up, starting with our children who are our future,” says Jean, who looks at Finland’s education system as a possible model for our own. “They get outside play time for an hour, they have no standardized testing. We can learn from them.”

Aside from educational policy, Jean wants to lobby for the American Cancer Society to increase cancer research funding. His overall goal: to make sure every American’s political voice is amplified.

“If I become a senator 20, 30 years from now, I want to limit campaign finance,” he says. “It’s an unpopular opinion for an elected official to have, but for the good of our society I think it needs to happen. Campaigns are out of control. If we take the big money out of politics, we’ll have a more genuine representation and the people will have a bigger voice.”

With his internship at Schumer’s office, Jean hopes to get a foot in the door of government.

The political science student sees himself continuing his time at Binghamton to get a Master in Public Administration after his undergraduate studies. From there, Jean wants to go to law school and then move to D.C. where he can have a more direct impact on changing policy and on influencing people’s lives.

“The smallest things we can do can make the biggest difference to someone else,” Jean says. “That’s how I live my life.”