During high school, Tommy Jardon, the Orange and Blue party's candidate for UF Student Body president, was one round of interviews away from joining Catholic priesthood.
But Jardon said before he committed, he changed his mind. He found another way to reach out to people - politics.
He waved signs and knocked on doors for President Bush's first campaign. He knew he was meant for political life when he attended Bush's first inauguration.
"That's when the bug bit me," said Jardon, a second-year law student.
While studying law, he said he's learned to be inquisitive, to seek the truth and read quickly.
A book usually lasts him four days, he said. He keeps a science-fiction novel and law textbooks in his car at all times.
As for becoming a politician himself, he said it's a maybe. For now, he said he's just looking forward to graduating in 2009 and a trip to Spain for the Running of the Bulls.
"I know I'll be studying for the bar (the Florida Bar Exam)," he said. "But I think running from the bulls will be easier."
Frank Bracco
Frank Bracco, vice-presidential candidate for Orange and Blue, hasn't stopped wearing his high school ring.
Bracco, a UF political science and economics junior, said high school is where he realized the value of involvement.
He said he and his friends founded a $500, alumni-funded scholarship in 2007 for a student at his alma mater, Crooms Academy, in Orlando. "Everyone in the community can get involved - no matter what your budget or how much time you have," he said.
He has been Chomp the Vote director since May 2007 and said most people don't realize how local politics affect them every day. He said low voter turnout from students stems from lack of education about voting, which he said he hopes to change as SG vice president.
"If you just go out and vote once a year, it does make a big difference," he said.
Shea Parrish
Shea Parrish, Orange and Blue's candidate for treasurer, was grilled in 20 internship interviews during the last year.
But it was worth it, Parrish said. One earned her a summer internship in New York with an investment banking company.
Parrish, a UF finance junior, said she can't wait to experience the world she reads about each day in The Wall Street Journal.
But while wearing a shell necklace in her blue-painted room, which is plastered with beach-scene posters, Parrish said she's a T-shirt-and-jeans girl at heart.
She said she drives to Key West four times a year to go fishing and sometimes feels like she has a split personality because of her varied interests.
"I've always been a multitasker to the extreme," she said.
As far as getting involved with SG, she said she could educate students on business and increase community involvement.
She said learning about finance, which she calls the "heartbeat of business," and managing money allow her to practice her mantra: "Work hard, play hard."
