“Storytelling is a great power because it can make things happen. America inspired me as a young boy. I love and respect America and I believe in its ideals. I want America to understand that there are many people, in Somalia and other parts of the world, who like me simply want to make a good life for themselves—not by lying around doing nothing, but working and contributing to the community.” - Abdi Nor Iftin, Boston College - Woods College of Advancing Studies student, Somali refugee, and memoirist | Read More: https://on.bc.edu/AbdiNorIftin

"I definitely found my voice in Africa. We knew we were going to have to share our stories - they're called testimonials - so I was thought, 'Whatever, we're all going to have to talk.' But by the second day, I was the one leading the group through a Bible study...It was weird because I was never nervous, even though I thought I would be. You hear other people say, 'God's going to tell you what to say.' I felt like He just like spoke through me. And it was so easy because it would be after we had played a soccer game or done some sports games. I can relate it to sports." - Raegan Moore WCAS '20 & Boston College Women's Basketball video coordinator, who traveled to Uganda as part of Managers On A Mission

"The [oyster farm] is new to Plymouth. When I started to put my name on the list I was a junior at Boston College. After I graduated I was the second-to-last person who was going to get a spot...I studied accounting, basic data entry stuff. Initially, I was thinking I could moonlight with the oysters, go into the office and then go home afterward. But then it became my main focus...I knew I didn’t really want to be in an office or a cubicle. I don’t think people are supposed to be inside if they can help it." - Kevin Dory '15, owner of High Tide Oyster & Supply in Plymouth, Mass.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have a professional life that has given me the opportunity to blend my vocation and my avocation at the same time. There’s no doubt that the things I learned from PULSE, the experiences that I had, and the way that PULSE gave you a chance to think and to act, in a very Jesuit kind of way, made all the difference for me. "It was great to see Kathleen get involved in the program and to watch how important and formative it was for her as well. That is really a gift that PULSE gave to her and to me and to literally thousands of others.” - Michael Durkin ’77, CEO and President of United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley; pictured with his daughter, Kathleen Durkin '11, SSW’16, STM’16, a social worker, and her son, Aiden | Read More: https://on.bc.edu/Durkins_PULSE Photo Credit: Doug Coombe

“When I became a BC Health Promotion Health Coach, I figured specializing in sleep would be the best way to impact a lot of people. After all, there’s not anybody who doesn’t sleep, and at the same time, there’s almost no one who sleeps an adequate amount every night at Boston College or at any university in the U.S. I tell people that sleep is the foundation of everything because if we’re not sleeping enough, we’re not going to be at our best. We talk a lot about 'setting the world aflame' and being 'men and women for others,' but if we’re tired and irritable and sleeping through all our classes, we’re never going to tackle the huge problems that we have in our society. It takes energy to make the world a better place." - Ryan Carney '21

“I’m naturally a confident person but there are a lot of things I had doubts about. Coming through Boston College - Woods College of Advancing Studies made me more confident in myself, and I learned it’s okay to be successful. I think that was kind of a fear of mine because I didn’t want to move away from who I was; I didn’t want success to change me. Now I see myself as someone who can do what they love, come to a prestigious university and be able to learn. That’s been the biggest blessing for me.” - West Price-Ashby ’19 Watch more of West's journey: https://youtu.be/xNxkRG3ZfYA

“What we say to students and to faculty is when the door closes and your class starts, it’s not MCI-Shirley, it’s Boston College. When I was teaching at the Bard Prison Initiative, I always felt very surprised by how true that was. You closed the door and everything else kind of melted away and suddenly you were in a college classroom. It’s kind of lovely how much it works, because we’re always creating classrooms. At BC especially, this campus is shifting and buildings are going from one thing to another—we’re always creating classrooms.” - Isabel Lane, director of the Boston College Prison Education Program | Read More: https://on.bc.edu/PrisonEdProgram

“Starting a company is like falling from the sky and having to build a plane before you hit the ground. That’s my favorite analogy because it’s so true. You have an idea and a little bit of money from friends and family and some people that believe in you, and you have to build a product, get customers, and build a business before you run out. It’s a whole other level of stress, but having a team full of former athletes who were able to play at the collegiate level at Boston College was a huge advantage for us - we’ve been through very stressful situations and know how to act.” - Sean Flaherty ’12, former Boston College Football player and co-founder of Playeasy.com | Read More: https://on.bc.edu/PlayEasySports

"For me, being healthy means accepting who and where you are now while also having an idea of the things you want to grow or gain in as opposed to move away from or lose. That has been my biggest realization from working as a Health Coach in the BC Health Promotion Office; that instead of wanting to get rid of parts of myself, I want to grow in different areas that will benefit me and the people around me.” - Ally Perrin '20

“I never thought to go to film school. At Boston College, I double majored in music and literature and studied history and philosophy and theology. My senior year I finished my core classes and decided to just explore. I took Film 101 and a photography class and a creative writing workshop, all at the same time. That really ignited my desire to be a filmmaker and a visual storyteller, to bring in my background as a writer and as a musician while getting to work with my friends. I remember being down in the basement of Devlin till like six in the morning just editing and finding music. It was a thrilling way to discover my passion.” - Lulu Wang ’05, writer and director of “The Farewell” Read More: http://on.bc.edu/DramaQueen

"It all started 22 years ago. My niece donated her hair and I thought I could do that too. I used to have red hair and always wore it in a flat top. It takes two years to grow out and after I play Santa - well, I don't 'play;' I take it very seriously - in the Boston College Alumni's Winter Wonderland, I donate it. Everyone has been touched by cancer in some way. I can't help monetarily but I can with my time and effort and taking care of my hair. It is nothing spectacular, but it is my way of giving back." - Mark Dalton, BC Grounds Maintenance

“Professor Kathleen Bailey helped me see the Middle East as a place that would intrigue me. I grew up learning about the Middle East in a different context, and honestly in a more unfortunate light, but taking her classes on Middle Eastern politics and learning more about the culture, and then actually going to Beirut, really changed what I’d learned growing up and the narratives that I’d heard on TV. BC gave me the resources to do this really cool trip, to interact with local people, to learn the language and eat the food, and I’m so grateful for that.” - Czar Sepe ’21, who traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, for a six-week language and immersion program thanks to an Aggad Fellowship grant from the Islamic Civilizations and Societies Department