In this student spotlight, Sidney Stromberg shares her pursuit to becoming a prosecutor, her opinions on AI, and her experience as a competitive swimmer.
The Origins of Stromberg’s Dream Career
Stromberg is a dual-enrolled student at LSSC, alongside being a senior in high school. She wants to major in communications, and minor in political science in order to prepare herself for attending law school.
“I want to major in communications, and possibly minor in political science because then I want to go to law school after college. It [my career] would be in criminal law, and I’d like to be a prosecutor.”
Stromberg shared that participating in mock trials helped her realize her interest in studying law. Initially, she was hesitant to professionally pursue said career due to her finding law school to be too overwhelming for her. However, after receiving encouragement from her teacher and father, she ultimately changed her mind.
“I kept thinking about it [pursuing law] and then I’m like, ‘I love mock trials, so it makes sense that I would love practicing real law.’”
Professor Green’s Intro to Literature Class
During LSSC’s Fall 2025 semester, Stromberg took Professor Courtney Green’s hybrid Intro to Literature course, alongside her classmate Jayna. Stromberg expressed that although Professor Green’s course mainly concentrated on reading AI-themed literary narratives, her viewpoint on AI had mostly remained unchanged. However, she admitted that reading the course’s stories made her consider the potential consequences of AI’s power.
“I think I was always opposed to AI [before taking Professor Green’s course]. I never really wanted to use it…Now, it [my viewpoint on AI] hasn’t really changed that much because I’m still against AI, but now [I consider]: what could AI become? With all the different literature that we [her classmates] have read, it seems like there’s so many more possibilities. And so I guess it [my viewpoint on AI] is less, ‘I just don’t want to use it because I don’t agree with the ethical implications,’ [but more of]: ‘if we give more power to this, what will happen?’”
Stromberg shared that she loves reading, and has really enjoyed reading all of the literary narratives in Professor Green’s course.
“I really like reading for fun. This class [Professor Green’s] has been super interesting because I’ve actually loved everything that I’ve read too, but I love reading just for fun.”
Stromberg’s favorite literary narrative from Professor Green’s course was Isacc Asimov’s “I, Robot.” Her favorite character from the aforementioned anthology’s stories was Dr. Susan Calvin.
“‘I Robot,’ I really enjoyed that collection. Honestly, it felt like something that I would read for fun…it was super interesting. Obviously, I love Dr. Calvin..It was well-written. Even though it was kind of scary in a way–the robots not really taking over, but being such a large part [of the story’s world]–it was just fascinating [to see] how it was written.”
Stromberg revealed that the themes that stood out to her the most from “I, Robot” were the differences between humanity and robots, and how much control humans truly have over robots potentially becoming sentient.
“When the robots started to gain sentience, and the Three Laws [of Robotics] were no longer holding them in place, I felt like that [control] was a really big theme. The robots started to gain control over humans, but the humans were still trying to maintain control with the three laws.”
Stromberg stated that Professor Green’s in-class discussions have helped her with analyzing the literary narratives read in her course.
“I think it [analyzing literature] has been really good. I think it’s been approached in a different way than prior literature classes because it’s less formal, I guess. It’s more like having a conversation, and we [her classmates] are analyzing it [the course’s literature] without even realizing it really. We’re talking about things like the different characters, what the different conflicts are, [and] the different themes, but it’s a conversation. You’re learning about it, but it feels less stressful.”
Whenever the topic of faith was discussed during Professor Green’s course, Stromberg would respond to it, since she is a Christian. As a Christian, she believes that one of the attributes that separates humans from robots is a human’s free-will. She mentioned that answering the questions Professor Green asks her about faith is a way in which Stromberg demonstrates her Christian faith.
“I guess just responding to the questions that she [Professor Green] has asked. Kind of just sharing my take…I do my best to act like a Christian because actions speak louder than words…Responding to those questions she asked, even though they might be a little uncomfortable for some people…The topics that we [her classmates] have been discussing, you can analyze them from a non-faith standpoint. But if you analyze them from a faith standpoint, I think it makes more sense personally.”
Stromberg further explained that she displays Christian character with her actions and attitude towards the people that she interacts with on campus.
“Yes, I’m willing to talk about it [my Christian faith], but I don’t want to be preaching it to people that don’t want to listen. If I can show them by my actions, and then they’re like, ‘what are you talking about?,’ and [they] want to follow up more, then I feel like I’ve done my job better because it’s more of a natural way for them to learn, and it’s not me forcing it on anybody.”
Stromberg’s Experience As a Competitive Swimmer
When asked about her passions, Stromberg emphasized her passion for swimming.
“I’ve been swimming for twelve years. I teach swimming lessons, and I’m also involved in swimming governance. I’m on the Florida Swimming Board of Directors. I love it. It’s like legislation–we can propose things and change the bylaws. It’s fascinating. I actually got to go to Denver a couple months ago, and that [trip] was for representing the southern zones [of USA Swimming]…That [summit] was every swimming LSC, which is local swimming committee.”
Stromberg explained what the appeal of swimming is to her, and what makes it stand out from other sports by sharing her personal experience as a competitive swimmer.
“Swimming is very difficult. A lot of sports do swimming as cross training. The Lake-Sumter Cross Country team, they come to the NTC (National Training Center), and they train in the water as well. The best water polo players are also really good swimmers. Swimming is a very athletic sport. [Some people] make fun of swimmers, [and say] that we’re no good on land. But I personally do a lot of weight training [to prepare for swimming]. I love running, but I shouldn’t because I’m really good at breaststroke [swimming], so it’s hard on my knees…There’s so much training, and I know all sports do a lot of training, but it [swimming] really is a lot. It’s like a full-time commitment. If you want to be really good at it, you have to be doing weight training and stuff like that too…It [swimming] is unique in a lot of ways because who in their right mind would try to swim as fast as they can while holding their breath right? I just love it. I started when I was five, and I have never stopped.”
Stromberg also shared some more details about her recent visit to the 2025 USA Swimming Annual Summit in Denver, Colorado. She explained that the summits were basically business meetings between the local swimming committees’ officials, coaches, and athletes. As a member of the Florida Swimming Board of Directors, she was able to decide and vote on changes to USA Swimming’s legislation. After the summit ended, she was able to attend the 22nd Golden Goggle Awards (which she described as the Oscars for swimming), alongside meeting many swimming Olympians.
“I love getting to meet everyone…We all love swimming and we all love governance, so I automatically have at least two things in common with these people.”
When asked if she would like to compete in the Olympics, Stromberg stated she would not want to. Instead, she is simply satisfied and looking forward to joining a swimming team in a university, once she graduates from college.
“The Olympics is long course [swimming] and I’m better at short course [swimming]…I also don’t really want to because I’ve got other things that I want to do in my life. The amount of training and commitment that it takes, I don’t think I have that. But I’m so excited to swim in university and to have a whole team that’s like a family, so I think that would be really fun.”
Advice for Students
Stromberg’s main advice for students is to step out of their comfort zone.
“Take lots of classes, and do things that might be outside of your comfort zone. Be willing to participate in things because if you don’t participate in anything, then you’re not going to meet people and make friends. I think that’s super important: be willing to participate and take lots of different classes.”
Sidney will be graduating from high school at the end of the semester, and will be concluding her time at LSSC as well. After graduating, she plans on attending the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama.
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