Senior Dylan Suffredini sees politics as a way to make change when you see something wrong in the world. Suffredini embodies the characteristics of being an active citizen by invoking change in his town, state, and ultimately federal government. While Suffredini invests a lot of his free time into being an active participant in local government, he has also incorporated his passion for politics into his schoolwork.

Suffredini took on a Custom Capstone project to further immerse himself in the world of politics. His capstone focused on immigration and refugees in America, but specifically Connecticut. Suffredini researched the struggles and also positive impacts on the communities that immigrants and refugees have. The research is to be sent to Senator Chris Murphy to possibly be used in legislation.

As a part of the research, Suffredini has conducted interviews with refugees, a Trinity professor, and an official at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), an organization based in New Haven commissioned by the state department to integrate refugees into the community. These immigrants were filmed and the footage has been compiled together to make a video that will potentially be posted on Murphy’s social media, a platform seen by over 668,000 people.

“I just want to do something that will hopefully play some part in influencing policy and helping save lives and I hope [this capstone project] could perhaps sway the national sentiment in terms of immigration,” Suffredini said.

Prior to starting this capstone, Suffredini has also worked as an intern for State Senator Beth Bye on her re-election campaign two summers ago, whom he supports as a politician and a person. Suffredini also worked for the Farmington Democratic Town Committee (FDTC) over the past summer as the co-chair on the social media sub-committee and assisted on database management and general campaign activities.

“[Suffredini] added a genuine interest in following his stand to put the interest of Farmington first over the interests of special interests. His commitment to Farmington also contributed to the stand of the FDTC – transparency, integrity, and inclusion,” Chair of FDTC Brian Noe said.

As a student Suffredini won the Advanced Placement (AP) United States History Department award as he was at the apex of all 178 students who took the class according to history teacher Jefferson Gawle. He also is a teaching assistant to economics teacher Joel Nick, who also advises the Economics Team and Debate Team. Both Gawle and Nick agree that Suffredini distinguishes himself from other students with his true passion for learning.

“[Suffredini] assists me in facilitating classroom activities as well as serving as an adviser to me on the class. He has done some teaching on his own as well. Additionally, [he] is the captain of the FHS Economics Team as well as an officer on the FHS Debate Team,” Nick said.   

Next year, Suffredini will be attending the University of Chicago and double majoring in political science and economics. As a UChicago student, Suffredini will have access to Nobel Prize winning professors such as Richard Thaler and the the resources of a world renowned economics department.

After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Suffredini hopes to obtain a masters degree in public policy and go to law school. He believes it is necessary to have a strong background in economics in order to create strong policy that drives change, his ultimate goal.