Bobby Andres: Student and Political Hopeful

In elementary school, Bobby Andres dreamed of being the next Indiana Jones, world traveler and archeologist. After soon realizing that archeology was not Hollywood’s depiction of raiding tombs and searching for the Holy Grail, Andres decided that the field of work did not lie in his career path. The one great thing about archeology, Andres said, is that it inspired his deep love of history.

In high school, Andres’s favorite classes were his history classes, especially his European history class, and his Advanced Placement (AP) Government class. These courses prompted his initial interest in the United States government. Now a fourth-year honors student at the University of Georgia, Andres is majoring in political science, hoping to work in the governmental arena.

“Like any person in politics, my dream job is to be President, but I’ll be satisfied as long as the job is challenging and I’m happy doing it,” said Andres.

In order to pursue his dream career, Andres is attempting to impact the political community in Athens, Ga. through his work as the president of the Young Democrats of the University of Georgia and Athens-Clarke County. This organization strives to promote interest in the government, recruit members of the Democratic Party, and inform voters of the issues of the candidates. Although Andres does work with other organizations, his participation with them predominately stems from his major involvement in the Young Democrats, a position which he considers a full-time job.

The time and effort Andres has spent toward the organization has not been without its rewards. Last year, the Young Democrats of UGA/ACC registered 7,000 new voters, which Andres considers to be his greatest achievement in the organization thus far. Their work helped secure the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. Andres was on the executive board of Young Democrats in 2008 during the election season, so he played a key role registering voters, making phone calls, holding debates and discussions, and making signs for the historic Obama election.

“He closed most of his campaign offices, so we did a lot of volunteer work to contribute to the campaign. It was mostly doing grunt work, but it was work that had to get done,” said Andres.

Despite the fact that the voter registration was his greatest achievement to date, he believes this feat could be transcended by a project for the upcoming spring semester—a state-wide convention for the Young Democrats. The University of Georgia will host this year’s event, which will include a gubernatorial debate moderated by political insider Jim Galloway from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. In addition, the attendees will be members of the Young Democrats organizations throughout Georgia, so there will be an opportunity for democratic students to meet and discuss the Democratic Party in depth. They will also exchange innovative ideas and news about each of the various organizations from across the state of Georgia.

Other than his profound love and dedication for politics, Andres is simply working to make the most of his senior year in college and planning his next move. Andres hopes to attend law school, but he is also debating teaching in the Teach for America program, a program employing college graduates to work in low-income rural and urban public schools throughout America. There is also always the possibility of leaving Georgia to work on a political campaign “depending on how the primaries turn out in the spring.” However, regardless of the next step he takes after graduation, Andres has no doubt he will be doing political work.

“Nothing is quite on the same level as politics,” Andres said. “Once you catch the political bug, it’s hard to get it out of your system.”