Writing the essay wasn't exactly a cinch for the 24-year-old third-year law student at the American University of Washington, D.C. He spent nearly 50 hours over a two-month period writing and researching, but his efforts certainly paid off.

A finalist of the Entertainment Law Initiative Competition sponsored by the Grammy Foundation, Sternberg had the opportunity of a lifetime to watch the 46th annual Grammy Awards in person. In addition, he received a free four-night hotel stay and he was invited to several Grammy-related events, including a Sting charity dinner featuring stars like the Black Eyed Peas, Elvis Costello, Dustin Hoffman and Mary J. Blige.

Being in the same room with celebrities and shaking hands with John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting was "cool," as Sternberg puts it, but standing onstage before 400 people during a question-and-answer discussion with the ELI executive committee chairman was the highlight.

"I have to admit I had a few butterflies in my stomach at the beginning," Sternberg says. "But it eventually went away. I felt pretty comfortable with the questions that were asked."

Sternberg's father, Eric, says he wasn't surprised when he found out that his son was an essay finalist, given his talent for getting his point across and history of usually winning debates.

"Cole is like a live wire," Eric says. "He's constantly on the go. He seems to always have a comeback to everything I say."

What's Sternberg's comeback this time?

"I don't take it as being adversarial," he jokes. "I'm simply sharing my views."

And sharing views, or persuading peers and teachers, is something the law student did a lot of—not to mention well—during his senior year in high school.

Simon O'Connell, Sternberg's close friend who is also a law student, remembers a time when the two barely passed Judith Sutton's English class, thanks to Sternberg's art of persuasion. Both A-students, the two figured that it would not be a problem if they ditched class on senior cut day, given that they had gotten permission from their parents, completed their work in advance and notified Sutton about their intentions.

According to O'Connell, when Sutton threatened to fail the two despite their precautionary actions, Sternberg came to the rescue with his persuasive arguments.

On other occasions, O'Connell says he remembers Sternberg taking "unpopular sides" during history teacher Mike Davey's parliamentary debates "just for the sake of arguing against the grain."

Sternberg admits he sometimes likes to "take the devil's advocate position for fun" and to practice his debate skills.