Alfredo De Los Santos: I am Proud to be at Cristo Rey Boston
Alfredo's story is part of our ONE GOAL | MANY DREAMS Fundraising Campaign. Your support sustains a full scholarship, academically rigorous college-prep high school for students from under-resourced communities, where barriers to student success are minimized.
“As a Freshman, I walked in the doors of Cristo Rey Boston with my goals firmly in sight.” With an older brother just graduated and headed off to college, Alfredo De Los Santos acknowledged that he had a better grasp of the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) model than most of his peers and was ready for the challenge.
He also knew something else about himself. “At some point in middle school, I realized that my brain allowed me to see the logic in many subject matters, and quickly understand material. My goal for high school was to challenge myself academically and maintain high grades. I chose Cristo Rey Boston because I knew from my brother's experience that I would be pushed in the classroom and the workplace to accomplish my dreams.”
Deep in the college application process now, Alfredo is eyeing top schools and hopes his hard work will result in a full scholarship. Noting that he is “still trying to figure it out, in terms of major and future career plans,” he is excited to start college. Looking to find something that will ignite his passion, while appealing to his love of logic, he is considering studying philosophy or political science, but is content to let things unfold gradually.
“Ultimately, I am trying my best to be a success and then benefit others.” He noted that helping others was an intrinsic part of who he was, “something that his mother had molded into him, and his older brother demonstrates in his daily life.”
Corporate Work Study placements at both MathWorks and Empower Retirement gave him a window into the corporate world. The highlight of his experience was going to lunch with Empower President and CEO, Ed Murphy. “Mr. Murphy was deeply interested in my experience at Empower and asked a lot of questions about my schoolwork. But what really amazed me was how we ultimately connected as two colleagues with a shared love of sports.”
A leader on the CRB Basketball team, Alfredo loves the game. “Playing basketball allows me to get into my own zone, a headspace with its own world and no disappointments, just a love of the sport.”
Unfortunately, thanks to Covid, basketball at CRB was disrupted, as were many other opportunities typically available to students. Alfredo noted, “I made my high school experience my own, and chose to stay positively focused on the good experiences.”
“When I walk through the halls of CRB, I am proud. There is no other school I would rather be at, everything worked out how I wanted it, despite all the obstacles.” His advice to first-year students is “try to mature as much as you can, as quickly as you can. It will bring you better and more interesting experiences. Everything starts the moment you walk through the door freshman year, stay focused and achieve your goals.”
As for himself, Alfredo is inspired by all the teachers, staff and CWSP co-workers “who looked at him and didn’t expect less from him as a male of color. They asked for more – challenged me to explore my talents and dig deeper… If I could be President and change one thing in this country, it would be the inequity that is built into society. I want to reach a day where people will be judged solely on their intellect, work ethic and the fact that they are a good person.”