Q&A with Alison Briggs
An interview with the Commencement speaker for the Class of 2007.
Graduating senior Alison Briggs, this year’s Commencement speaker, is a native of Sharon, Mass., with a double major in sociology and psychology, and a minor in education. She has been a Resident Assistant in the Grayson/Field cluster in the Orchard Hill residential area for the past two years and has worked as co-manager of Sweets & More Snack Bar, a student-run co-op and non-profit business in the Field lounge, since she was a freshman. As a senior, Briggs was a research assistant in the psychology department. For the Five College Relay for Life in April, Briggs was captain of Team Awesome, a group of 20 UMass Amherst students who raised nearly $900 for cancer research.
UMass Amherst Advancement Communications writer
Faye Wolfe asked Alison a few questions about how she came to represent the class of 2007 on the stage at this year’s Commencement ceremonies .How did you come to apply to be the student speaker at Commencement?
I saw the announcement on the Web site over winter break. I have insomnia, so in the middle of the night, I got up and wrote something. When I read it the next day, I thought it was good. I gave it to friends to read, after I was asked to audition but before I actually did, and they told me, “I can hear you reading it, it sounds like you.” I never thought it would be picked. I didn’t make any fantastic connections to philosophy or anything in it. I think it’s honest: I wrote about what we felt and thought when we got to UMass, and how we feel now. And it’s short, which my uncle told me is always good.
Are you nervous about making the speech?
Not really. What’s the worse that can happen? I fall down? I’ve fallen down before. I fumble over my words? It happens. When I met him, the Chancellor told me not to be worried.
Was that your first meeting with Chancellor Lombardi?
Yes, but I used to drive a Jeep Wrangler around campus, and he drives one, too. When we’d pass each other on the road, he used to “Jeep-wave” me.
Why did you come to UMass Amherst?
Out of the six or seven schools I applied to, it had the most to offer, especially financially. I could have gone to Stonehill College, which offered me a full scholarship, but my brother went there, and I didn’t want to be “Jim Briggs’s little sister.” I also wasn’t 100 percent sure what I wanted to do, and I thought I’d have a lot of choices here—and a cousin, so I would know someone when I got here.
I had known for a while, starting in high school, that I’d like to work in the field of social work. My parents were worried about burn-out, so I started here as a communications major. My first year, I realized that you have to do what you want to do, and that’s when I switched to sociology and psychology. I minored in education because it adds to your choices when you start looking for work. In being an R.A., I’ve found my psychology courses have really helped me.
What about analyzing yourself?
That can be a problem! (laughs) At the beginning of my first psychology course, Richard Halgin, the professor, told us, “Don’t diagnose yourself.”
What have you liked about being here?
I liked that it’s big enough that I could go to class in my pajamas and not worry about it—I wouldn’t see everyone I know and have them asking me, “What are you wearing?!” I’ve made the greatest friends, it’s really been a home away from home—every day I’ve been here, it’s gotten smaller.
What gets you up in the morning?
Obligations. It’s how my parents raised me, to get up and get going.
What do you do on weekends?
Sleep. And being an R.A., I like to keep my door to my room open on weekends so that the residents can come in and out and talk about what’s on their minds.
Where do you hang out on campus? What gives you a feeling of belonging, of being connected to campus?
I’d have to say, Sweets & More. It has been such a part of my four years here: I started working there in October of my freshman year. We’re like a family. When I’m having a bad day, or even a good day, I know that there will be someone there who’ll share that feeling with me.
Mandy Murray, a former coworker of yours at Sweets & More, wrote in UMass Amherst Magazine about a chair there—“the most frightening chair in the world.”
Yes, it’s the chair where people sit when they’re interviewed for a job. I tried to throw it out! I didn’t know how important it was. We’re hiring people now, and we were talking about where the person should sit. One of us said, “In the chair—where else?”
Who’s the most important or influential person in your life?
Both my grandmothers were pretty important, but my best friend is my big brother. He’s 25. We definitely have fought, but we’re very close and our natures are a lot alike. The first couple of months I was here, he was the person I could call when I needed to talk to someone. He doesn’t always tell me it’s going to be OK, but he’s an honest person and has always treated me as an equal.
What comes after graduation?
I’ve always envisioned myself helping people, particularly adolescents. I’m trying to decide whether to go to law school or graduate school for social work. I’m a young senior, only 21, so I’m taking a year off before I go on to the next thing. This summer, I’m hoping to move to Arizona with a friend. Arizona State University has a graduate program in social work, so I want to establish residency there, if I decide to go to school for an MSW.