Meet Andrew Fricks, a 2016 graduate of Buford High School. Andrew was born in Buford to Bruce and Sandee Fricks and has lived there ever since. He has one older brother, Josh Fricks, 25. Andrew first started attending Buford City Schools in the first grade, and prior to that, he attended Hebron Christian Academy for kindergarten.
Throughout his time at Buford High School, Andrew accomplished great things. He was a part of the BHS marching band (drumline) for four years, indoor drumline for two years, swim team for four years and track and field for one year. In swimming, Andrew was able to qualify as a state swimmer his sophomore, junior and senior years of high school. Without a doubt, Andrew’s talent enabled him to break many school records on the swim team.
Alongside his extracurriculars, Andrew most certainly excelled inside the classroom. Andrew was able to maintain straight A’s and B’s within all of his classes throughout his four years of high school. It can be easily said that Andrew was a hard working, intelligent young man. Although Andrew enjoyed his math and science courses, his favorite class actually happened to be his AP psychology class.
When asked which teacher had the biggest influence on him during his time at Buford, Andrew confidently answered Coach McCroskey, the middle school PE coach.
“Coach McCroskey was the first staff member that really instilled the Buford work ethic in me,” Andrew said.
One thing Andrew has learned at Buford High School and taken to adulthood is the importance of education.
“I’ve learned to strive to be a lifelong learner and to never miss an opportunity to learn something new and better myself,” he said.
After graduation in 2016, Andrew went on to attend the University of North Georgia (Gainesville) where he was able to earn a bachelor’s degree in science and film with a production concentration. The work ethic Andrew cultivated at Buford has proved to be beneficial to him in college.
“I graduated magna cum laude and made dean’s list several times in my collegiate academic career,” he said.
Since graduating in 2020, Andrew has filmed about six feature films, one of which is premiering Sunday, Feb. 28, the day after the Broad Street Film Festival.
Andrew is now a full time filmmaker. He said he chose to pursue the profession because it has been his plan ever since high school and it is a job he genuinely enjoys.
Currently, Andrew resides in Buford, where he is able to freelance with a variety of production companies. He is looking to move closer to Atlanta sometime around 2022. Andrew is not yet married, however, he plans to marry his current girlfriend of five years who he met on the Buford High School swim team.
Not only is Andrew into film production, he also takes part in giving back to the community and spending his time helping those in need.
“I haven’t been able to do as much volunteer work as usual, since the pandemic,” he said. “In 2019 my girlfriend and I went to the Colombia-Venezuela border to hand out food and water to the refugees, and we were planning on returning annually until the pandemic blocked international travel.”
As a whole, Andrew has gone above and beyond the traditional standards of a student of Buford High School and he has managed to exceed all expectations. Every day, Andrew continues to impress the world and those around him. It is with full certainty that one day we will see Andrew Fricks’ name in lights for film production, and as a Buford Wolf, we will proudly claim him. Once a Wolf, always a Wolf!
The Buford High School alumni spotlights are made possible by the generosity of the City of Buford.
