Know a Patriot: He's not just a delegate

GMU junior Andres Chovil was one of the youngest delegates at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. (Jenna Beaver).

At the age of eight his family decided to pick up and move from the largest city in Colombia to a small wilderness town in Alaska.

Andres Chovil was born in Colombia and grew up speaking Spanish. When he was a child his family moved, because of his mother getting remarried, and transferred to the cold conditions of "The Last Frontier."

That’s where Chovil said he learned “hard work and hard values.”

Now at the age of 20, Chovil is a junior at George Mason University and while he has lived in three completely different parts of the world, that isn’t the only thing that sets him apart.

During his senior year in high school Chovil received a phone call encouraging him to get involved with the Barack Obama campaign. Chovil had not been involved with politics in the past but he decided to try it out.

“I just wanted to be involved in the political process and put my foot in the door,” said Chovil.

After volunteering and helping the campaign Chovil became attached and decided to get more involved. He became a district captain for the Obama campaign in Alaska and helped encourage people to get out and vote.

Then Chovil took another leap by running for a state delegate position and winning.

After that, Chovil still wasn’t done, he ran to be a national delegate for the national Democratic Convention in Denver in August of 2008.

“I had to speak and present myself to about 400 other state delegates from different districts around the state,” said Chovil.

Chovil was one of 16 delegates elected from a group of 100. As a national delegate he attended and voted at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Chovil was surrounded by political powerhouses from around the country and had a firsthand experience in watching Obama’s speech.

“It was a whole new experience I had never seen before,” Chovil said. He described the experience as emotional and groundbreaking.

“People next to me were crying,” he said.

At the age of 18, Chovil was one of the youngest delegates in attendance.

“He is so compassionate about people in general and very devoted in his goals,” said Lina Chovil, Chovil’s sister who lives in Annandale, Va.

According to Chovil there was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to be part of the political process.

“I felt like I had to get involved [and] do something big in the moment,” Chovil said.

One of the issues that fires him up concerns his native country of Colombia.

Chovil described how a rebel group called Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FARC) de Colombia is killing people and making the living conditions for the citizens difficult.

“The biggest thing that needs to happen is the continuation of the dissolevement of the FARC, and from there beginning to build the economy to raise the standard of living and create a larger middle class.” Chovil said.

Chovil said the best way to continuing dissolving the FARC is to do what the government has done by stepping up military force and countering crime. He added that the United States has shown a lot of support and he believes Columbia is going in the right direction.

While Chovil sometimes speaks as though he is running for political office he has left the political arena for now and is concentrating on schoolwork at Mason.

Chovil one day would like be involved in the intelligence field with the CIA or FBI or even become an ambassador to the United States and help tackle some of the issues occurring abroad.

Chovil’s roommate of three years says Chovil is a “driven kid, knows what he wants and how to get it,” said Peter Spain. “What he wants to be, he will be.”

Q & A with Chovil

• Class Standing and Age: Junior/ 20

• Dream Job: U.S. Ambassador

• What would you change about yourself? Nothing

• Proudest Accomplishment: Becoming a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 2008.

• Who is your role model? Grandfather

• Subject that causes you to rant: Sports/ Certain Political Issues

• What food is always in your refrigerator? Gatorade/ Hot Dogs/ Grapes/ Turkey

• Must-see TV: South Park/ The Daily Show/ Always Sunny in Philadelphia/ Boardwalk Empire.

• Describe a perfect day: Relaxing in the beaches of Brazil with awesome food and beautiful women.

• What actor would play you in a movie? Tyler Lautner/ Jay Hernandez

• Favorite artist on your iPod: Eminem/ Wisin y Yandel

• Most embarrassing moment: When I had to pick up my prom date in an old 1980s Volkswagen Transporter. Very unattractive.

• Who would you love to meet? UFC Welterweight Champion George St. Pierre/ Nelson Mandela/ Jon Stewart

• Favorite restaurant on campus: Southside

• Basketball or Football? Basketball

• Best advice you ever got: Don’t get even, get ahead!

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Know a Patriot is C2M's newest feature. The idea? It's simple. Find and interview interesting patriots with unique stories. They can be students, faculty, staff, alum, or members of the Mason community. Once we sit down with them we get their story and then publish it along with a short Q & A.

Do you know a patriot with a great story? E-mail suggestions to Reuben Jones at rjone4@masonlive.gmu.edu.