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Of all the directors at Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, Robert Mikeska has followed one of the more atypical career paths.

His early professional experiences took him through state government and even to Washington, D.C., for a short time. Considering he grew up attending school through the eighth grade in a class with only five students in the Kenney-New Wehdem school district of Austin County, his career accomplishments have exposed him to a lot of diversity. But at his core, he's always been a fan of numbers and analytical work.

Robert began working at Austin County State Bank before graduating from Bellville High School in 1972, and as a student at Blinn College he worked at Brenham National Bank. While earning his bachelor's of business administration degree in finance from the University of Texas at Austin, he took a job with the Texas House of Representatives.

Instead of continuing in the banking industry, Robert found himself reviewing bills that came out of committees and handling legislative schedules. Upon graduation, he became an assistant budget officer for the House, crunching numbers and learning about the complexities of state budgeting. That job led to a position as an energy analyst for the Office of State-Federal Relations, and in 1978 he moved to the nation's capital for eight months to assist with the transition from Democratic Gov. Dolph Briscoe to Republican Gov. Bill Clements. Upon his move back to Texas, he got married and began working for the Texas Animal Health Commission. After that, he took a job as director of administration for the Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas.