Teen uses homelessness as motivation for college

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - Sebastian Robeck is a 17-year-old high school senior who sees light at the end of the tunnel.

He tells the raw truth about homelessness, and the kids caught in the middle, in a college entrance essay.

"I hadn't the slightest idea where I was going or where my next meal was coming from," robeck says.

The light at the end of the tunnel is a chance at stability in form of college.

The Common Core App Essay comes complete with promts like:  "
Reflect on a time when you were challenged...Recount a time you failed."

"In my mind I'm saying, 'how am I gonna explain 8 years in 650 words?'"

He describes homelessness like an out of body experience; a shock to the system. Unnatural. For the last year he and his mom have been at the Carver Houses. 

An alcoholic father, a lost job by his mother, a series of shelters, food banks, assistance checks, and a whole lot of humility later he says, "I want to go to American University."

He wants to major in international relations.

"It would literally be a dream come true because when you're somebody used to having nothing, that becomes your standard," he says.

Robeck has a B-plus average in the classroom and a pretty nice looking jump shot on the court.

"Knowing what it's like not to have, I will do everything," Robeck says.