Most staff members know senior Andrew Cox as one of the students who delivers coffee to the main office in the morning, often sharing a fun fact or two about presidents and state politics when he comes in. However, what many people do not realize is just how extensive Cox’s knowledge and passion for history and politics really is.
Cox is capable of retaining a great amount of information thanks to his photographic memory, giving him the ability to remember all 100 U.S. senators, 435 House representatives and 50 state governors. Cox also knows a wide variety of facts about past elections, government candidates and state-wide elected officials.
Gaining his knowledge from a variety of different platforms, Cox keeps up with politics across the country using sources such as 270toWin, CNN, NBC and CBS.
“I watch news media. I look up past elections and see how each county voted and past elections for extended races [and] governor races all across the country,” said Cox.
Cox’s original passion for history began in fifth grade, but seventh grade was when he really developed an interest in politics.
“My fifth grade teacher really got me interested in American history,” said Cox. “Then, it kind of evolved into seventh grade because COVID happened, and I was interested to see all the governors’ [responses] and the response of the president and all that.”
Cox and his extended family have created a political forum, called Andrew’s Political Forum, to discuss events taking place across the nation. A political forum is an online platform where people meet to debate politics.
“Me and my uncles have our own political forum,” said Cox. “We established [it] in 2022, and we give updates about what’s happening around the country.”
That same year, Cox was given the opportunity to meet one of the candidates running for the Republican primary for Illinois Governor.
“He didn’t win, but I met a candidate for governor named Jesse Sullivan when he was running for Governor of Illinois,” said Cox. “He ran in 2022 [and] came in second place, right ahead of Mayor of Aurora Richard Irvin. … The nominee ended up being Darren Bailey.”
Cox applies his knowledge at North by taking interesting social studies classes and serving as a TA for freshman Contemporary World Issues. The main office staff also enjoy hearing the interesting facts he has to offer.
“He’s just the best. He’s so polite when he comes in here, tells everybody to have a good day,” said Administrative Assistant Meagan Moreira. “He makes [the main office] a happier place when he comes in.”
Cox encourages all high school students who are eligible to vote to get involved in the March primary, which will take place on Tuesday, March 17, and stresses the importance of taking the time to research who best represents their views.
“People should be seeing who represents them the most, and they should do the research and look at their websites,” said Cox. “I think that’s very important, especially for those people in high school who’ll be voting.”
