Name: Andrew Cafiero
Major: Sociology and Communications
Year: Senior
Hometown: New York, NY
Meet Andrew Cafiero—a passionate Christian from New York with impressive involvement in FSU Cru, Doak Campbell’s Video Department and much more. Andrew is a sociology and communications senior at Florida State and spends his time mentoring and inspiring fellow students in FSU Cru, which is a campus ministry here at Florida State. FSU’s Cru chapter is one of the largest non-government organizations as well as the second largest non-profit organization.
Her Campus (HC): We hear you’re apart of FSU Cru. What is your role within Cru?
Andrew Cafiero (AC): As of this year, I have a much more dynamic role within Cru. I’m in charge of what’s called our “Main Meeting” on Thursdays, which is basically our small church service. It’s a lot more laid back and low-key compared to other meetings so we can appeal to both people who are believers and people who are not believers. I am in charge of running the logistics of this meeting like doing announcements, music and things of that nature. As of this year, I became apart of student staff within Cru, which is basically a step below the group of paid people that are apart of the National Headquarters. Next year, I’ll be joining those who are being paid at the national level in the Orlando headquarters.
HC: Oh wow, that sounds amazing! So do you think you will be traveling around with them a lot?
AC: Yes, every summer they go on mission trips to different places, and it so happens that the Tallahassee chapter’s partnership is in Northern Ireland so that’s most likely where I’ll be heading this upcoming summer!
HC: How did you get involved in Cru?
AC: Well, it’s kind of a weird story. I grew up in the church as a Christian my whole life and I come from a very Christian family. Through a lot of unfortunate events that took place my freshman year, I came home that summer after the school year and realized my parents and I did not see eye-to-eye on different aspects of my life such as my future and what I wanted to do with my life. We ended up having a really big fight about it, and I became very emotionally distraught and stressed out. After this, I realized I needed something in my life to occupy my time that was meaningful and would help me relieve the stress. From a Christian perspective, it felt like the Lord answered my prayer and brought me to Cru. I met (who is now my former mentor) a guy through Cru randomly who gave me a call and invited me to one of his bible studys, and from that point on I got more and more involved and now I’m here!
HC: That’s such an awesome story. What about the most rewarding part of being in Cru?
AC: I think the most rewarding thing is being able to help people find purpose in their lives and looking at things in their life in new and different perspectives. Just helping people find what their passions are is one of my favorite things. For example, it’s been really rewarding to share my story with Daniel, who is one of the guys I mentor, and showing him what a life in Christ looks like.
HC: How can students who are interested get involved with Cru?
AC: We have something called Sunday Night Leadership for people who are interested in getting involved within our campus ministry. Anyone can come to our monthly meeting on Sunday and get plugged in with the different serving team leaders like greeting, music and international meetings. There are a bunch of opportunities for people getting involved within Cru leadership. As far as just becoming apart of Cru, anyone can show up on Thursday nights and someone will say hello to you, get to know you and welcome you into the atmosphere.
HC: What other interests or passions do you have besides Cru?
AC: I’m a big sports fan; it’s something I really enjoy. I played football for my entire high school career. Now I work over at Doak Campbell Stadium in the video department. The cool thing is I get to mix both video production and what I do with Cru after I graduate. There’s an outlet called “Athletes in Action,” which is basically getting to mentor professional athletes that I will get to be apart of after graduation. It is an incredible opportunity to not only hang out with professional athletes, but I get to show them what Christ is like and what he can do in their lives. It’s a huge blessing because both Cru and working at Doak have literally changed my life so much so getting to put these two passions together and being able to pour in what I’ve learned to show other people is my purpose in life.
HC: You’ve already mentioned how working with athletes and mentoring them is something you are very interested in. Would you say that’s your dream job?
AC: My dream job is to definitely work with NFL players by mentoring them. I’ve already gotten to dive into this a little bit because my uncle’s close friend from New York is the captain for the Yankees so I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. Hopefully with that connection my dream job will pan out in the future. If it’s not athletes, I’d love to mentor college students at FSU or any other university. Essentially, I would love to be a life coach.
HC: Do you have any advice or wise words for FSU students?
AC: Staying true to yourself is a very big thing. I didn’t do that when I first came to FSU and instead I tried to put myself in a box and be someone I wasn’t. I realized, however, that being true to who you are is important. Also, staying faithful to what you know is something I believe is important. Especially if you are a believer, staying true to what the bible says and what G*d has to offer in your life because there are so many cool promises and opportunities that G*d has for us all. We as believers can receive so much from him so I think sticking with your faith and what you know is really important. Even for people who are non-believers, there is always room for us to grow, learn and love better.
If you’re interested in learning more or have any questions, you can send a message to the FSU Cru Facebook page.