GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — You won't find many 16-year-old high school students hanging around the polls.
But that's exactly how Nico Parra spent his junior and senior years in high school.
"I became a poll worker at 16, and that was the very first time I worked an actual job," he told 11Alive. "It was really a rewarding experience because here I am helping democracy run its course."
Parra, now 20, is a poll manager with Gwinnett County and Georgia's youngest Latino delegate for the Democratic National Convention.
RELATED: Georgia's delegation to Democratic National Convention mirrors state's political demographic
"I am a son of immigrants from Colombia and they are amazing role models for me and for many others," he said. "The Democratic Party is full of positive ideals. It's a very broad coalition of diversity and equity."
![](https://media.11alive.com/assets/WXIA/images/af6d038d-66e6-4684-9367-554fb52b9295/20240815T200358/af6d038d-66e6-4684-9367-554fb52b9295_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.11alive.com/assets/WXIA/images/af6d038d-66e6-4684-9367-554fb52b9295/20240815T200358/af6d038d-66e6-4684-9367-554fb52b9295_1140x641.jpg)
Parra won his role in April of this year. He was surprised — but excited — to learn he'd be nominating Vice President Kamala Harris for the Oval Office.
"President Joe Biden has done amazing work in his time at the White House, in his time as a senator, as a vice president, as a president," he said. "He knew it was time to pass the torch on to the next generation of leaders. I really am motivated. I think that a lot of my peers are also motivated to cast their ballots in November.
Parra and other members of the Gwinnett County delegation will leave Sunday morning for the DNC in Chicago. He's excited to learn and share ideas with other members of his party.
"I still have a lot left to learn and to live," he said. "For me, seeing history for the first time, seeing a female African-American, Asian president would be a historic first for all of us."