Article by: Cait O’Callaghan
One “soul” is ready to graduate Suffolk this May after the many years of hard work and dedication she’s put into schoolwork and into being a S.O.U.L.S. project leader.
Senior Allison Brito, an international relations major, has been volunteering for Suffolk’s Organization for Uplifting Lives through Services (S.O.U.L.S.) since her freshman year, when she wanted to be more involved on campus.
“My freshman year, I didn’t live on campus and I felt out of place,” says Brito. “I tried to find something to do, I needed something to do, and that’s when I came across the applications for Alternate Spring Break.”
She applied, got accepted, and so her journey began into becoming a S.O.U.L.S. project leader.
During her four years at Suffolk, Brito has spent most of her time at the S.O.U.L.S. office. “Once you find your niche, and you find the group of people who are involved with that niche, you just migrate [with them],” Brito explains. “Everything I’ve done on campus was with S.O.U.L.S. and the people involved with it.”
Her freshman year at Suffolk wasn’t the first year Brito started volunteering. During her junior and senior years of high school, Brito volunteered a couple of hours a week with a friend to help an immobile man who suffered from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). “[Volunteering] really changes you,” an inspiring Brito explains. “I got sucked in. You’re giving your time to help others, and giving your time to get to know them. I became another me once I started.”
Surprisingly, S.O.U.L.S. wasn’t the reason Brito decided to attend Suffolk. “When I was applying to colleges, I knew I wanted to be in a big city,” she says. “I really liked where Suffolk was, but I was really naïve, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”
Suffolk will always remain an important part in Brito’s life. “I’m really going to miss the students. I really like what I do [through S.O.U.L.S.] and I like working with students. I’ve made a lot of great friends. I’m also going to miss the Government Department and their great group of faculty. [The faculty] go so out of their way for [their students] and I don’t think I would have made it without them.”
So what’s going to be the next chapter in Brito’s book? “I’m moving to Washington, D.C. this summer, and I’ve already applied for jobs down there. I’m looking for jobs in political research, especially. I interned in D.C. last summer, and I’m eager to go back. I love everything about the city.”
Although Brito has had a significant impact on the growth of S.O.U.L.S., she doesn’t take all the credit. “Organizations like S.O.U.L.S., or anything run by students, are impacted by every student who participates,” said Brito. “All students have an impact on the organizations they participate in. I just found a group of people who found their niche.”
