Santa Clara University

Ron Andre Jr. (1993, Classics & English)

My name is Ron Andre Jr., and in the Summer of 1993 I was a sad, sad, little man. Having just been dragged kicking and screaming across the graduation stage and slapped with a Santa Clara University Bachelors Degree, I was in search of gainful employment. I had no idea where to start, where to go, what I wanted to do, what I could do. I was stressed and miserable, and I spent the majority of my waking hours unshaven and curled up in the fetal position on my living room floor. I played a lot of Nintendo.

I eventually got a hold of myself and began an odyssey of odd jobs that I hoped might help me stumble onto a career (or at least get me money for food and shelter.) I returned to my home town of Sacramento and coached Summer basketball camps, as I had done the previous six years. That was over by August. I somehow found myself working in a machine shop in Milpitas doing data entry, a job which a trained ferret could perform with minimal effort. That lasted four days before I ran screaming. I hooked on as a movie extra for two weeks on the set of Beverly Hills Cop III, and while I feel that my performance was nothing short of Oscar worthy, my agent never called back. (The movie was awful, by the way, in case you've never seen it). From there, I took my eight billion dollar education to Barnes and Noble, where I worked as a book seller for an angry woman with sinus problems. One month there. Finally, I got a break in December of 1993 when I heard that State Farm Insurance was hiring claim representatives. Thus began my first big boy job with real benefits and a salary which wouldn't require me to roast rats for dinner over a flaming trash can. My recent college graduate nightmare was over.

There have been changes throughout the years. I left State Farm after two years and returned to graduate school at San Francisco State University to obtain my Masters Degree in Classics. I spent three fantastic years teaching Latin and Moral Theology at Jesuit High School in Sacramento, where I also coached basketball and baseball. I somehow convinced a beautiful woman (and fellow SCU alum) to marry me and bear my children. (We have two: a four year old son and a two year old daughter.) I did a tour of duty at Microsoft in Mountain View until family considerations finally drove me back to State Farm, where I have been an agent in Livermore for the past six years. It can be argued that I am a reasonably productive member of society.

I am here now to tell you that if someone as desperate and clueless as I was in 1993 can become gainfully employed, you can as well. You probably have more talent than you realize, and your Santa Clara degree is certainly worth more than you know. So do not lose heart; you will find your way. I recently heard that the ferret in Milpitas quit and they have a job opening there. Great opportunity.