Meet Avery Chappell, a 21 year old college student and lifelong resident of Barrow County.
Avery is an ambitious young man with an infectious personality and servant’s heart. We’d like to thank Avery very much for sitting down with us to discuss his experience living and learning in Barrow County.
Enjoy our interview with Avery
My name is Avery Chappell. I’m 21. I work at Publix in Braselton, but primarily I’m a student at University of North Georgia in Gainesville.
What’s your connection to Barrow County?
I’ve lived here my whole life. Born and raised in Auburn — I’ve even lived in the same house.
What are your career aspirations?
My major is political science. Having worked in DC this summer with Congressman Jody Hice, that work that I did, I loved it. I had such a good time going up there.
Literally everything about the city was awesome. There were a few different things in the office that I would help with.
I could see myself working also on the legislative side, working with congressman Hice’s deals and thoughts and opinions and working toward his policy agenda.
So what were your responsibilities exactly?
So the title was Intern for Congressman Jody Hice in Georgia’s 10th District, which represents Barrow County.
A lot of it was basic office work as an intern. We were the front office so we would do things like stocking products and snacks in the office for constituents, answering phone calls, and helping staff members with projects they were working on.
And we sat in on meetings with staff members on a range of topics. We would go into hearings and mark-ups and take notes for other staff members as well. One of the most fun things was giving tours of the Capitol building to constituents.
Your major is Political Science. So what are your plans whether it’s to do another internship after college or stick with that?
I’m not sure about another internship just yet. I’m kind of praying about it because the deadlines for applying are coming up soon for some internships that I would be interested in.
Do you plan to stay local or do you plan to go to Washington DC?
I don’t know. It would be really easy for me to stay local and do an internship, potentially even through Congressman Hice again as he has on office in Monroe.
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
I just love to be with people! I think there’s clearly a connection between an interest in politics and an interest in people, call it the community aspect.
What got you inspired to get involved in politics?
I just want to change things for the better. I want to do something that’s meaningful.
I did a Leader-in-Training program after school thing when I worked at the YMCA.
Do you think that leadership and volunteer experience helped with your internship?
I think so. That and I had been working at Publix for three years, so I guess one step leads to another. The YMCA really helped me with Publix in the beginning and then I used my customer service experience at Publix to sell myself into the internship.
No matter what you’re doing in life, you’re always in sales. Whether you’re selling yourself, selling ideas, selling products, it’s all about sales.
At Publix we were selling the product and their mission statement. Going into DC we’re selling the Congressman himself and his ideas.
So what advice would you give to somebody who’s thinking about that type of career?
Be passionate about it. Do everything you can do.
Every politician on the news today, whether you agree with them or not, they’re passionate about what they believe in. That’s how they’re able to be effective.
So transitioning back to your history in Barrow County. What’s your favorite thing or something that you think is unique to Barrow County?
What I like about it is that it’s a small community feel.
I know that’s not unique and exclusive to just Barrow County, but I do like that.
Who is the most interesting person you’ve met, in or from Barrow?
I’m going to say Allison Hayes.
When I first started at Apalachee High School, coming up through the band program, Mr. Fuller, then band director, thought it might be a good idea for me to get a trumpet lessons to give me a little bit of an edge.
He recommended Allison Hayes and we did lessons and I ended up having lessons at his house for about a year and half. He was never able to play for me due to a condition so I was never able to hear him.
His story is kind of cool. We had an award named after him at our banquet for the most outstanding bandsman for that season.
What are some words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word home?
Home is always a warm place.
Home isn’t necessarily my house I’ve lived in forever, it’s where my family is.
Home has a warmth to it, and wherever family is, that’s where the warmth is.
What are your plans for the next five to 10 years?
Short term goal is graduating college, which is on the horizon. It’s close and after that maybe finding a job, whether it be in DC or locally.
I would find it hard to leave Georgia whether it be for a job or something else since I’ve been here forever. I guess longer term is starting a family and finding who I am supposed to be with forever.
We hope you enjoyed learning about Avery and his story.
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