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There was no question what major Amber Mariano, \u201917, would choose when she stepped onto UCF\u2019s campus as a freshman; she\u2019d already picked political science when was 6 years old.<\/p>\n
But the path to becoming Florida\u2019s youngest elected state representative takes more than a good education. And that\u2019s where UCF also helped her excel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe political science major gives the necessary background information of politics, but doing internships gives you that experience you can\u2019t teach from a textbook,\u201d said Mariano. \u201cPolitics are all about relationships. Internships brought my degree to life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mariano, a Republican, currently represents District 36, which covers parts of western Pasco County. As a student, she participated in the political science department\u2019s Legislative Scholars Internship program, which places students with state legislative offices. She also interned for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Closer to home, Mariano joined UCF\u2019s Student Government Association, which she said was her favorite part of her college experience. The time it takes to network and be elected to a position in SGA mirrors the hard work it takes to build a real career in politics, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned so much and met so many different people. The stakes aren\u2019t as high, but it\u2019s still the same atmosphere,\u201d Mariano said.<\/p>\n
Mariano was 21 years old when she was elected to her seat in 2016, then re-elected in 2018. She said the opportunities she seized while at UCF helped her follow her dreams, and can help current students if they have the passion to find them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s so cool about UCF is that it\u2019s so big and there are so many opportunities,\u201d Mariano said. \u201cBut since it\u2019s so big you have to go after those opportunities yourself. You have to work for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that Mariano has made history in the House of Representatives, she hopes to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming president.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking as a representative has been amazing. It\u2019s a dream come true,\u201d Mariano said. \u201cWhen anyone asks me how I am I just tell them I\u2019m living the dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
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There was no question what major Amber Mariano, \u201917, would choose when she stepped onto UCF\u2019s campus as a freshman; she\u2019d already picked political science when was 6 years old. But the path to becoming Florida\u2019s youngest elected state representative takes more than a good education. And that\u2019s where UCF also helped her excel. \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":19861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5962,31,20,38,16,41,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-science-alumni","category-alumni-news","category-psaclassnotes","category-breaking-news","category-political-science-departments","category-shining-knights","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n