What began with filming and managing football practices at Odessa High School, opened the door to a student-worker role at The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB), where soon-to-be graduate Arath Brito turned his love for sports into a creative journey— captured through the lens of UTPB Athletics' social media over the years. 
 
"I chose to come to UTPB because I was able to get a jumpstart on my career and was able to help start the idea of having students help with athletics media at UTPB," said Brito. "Another factor for me was that it was close to home and family is very important to me so that was a plus of coming to UTPB." 
 
Brito's passion for sports started at a young age and grew over the years. However, like many former athletes, he came to a realization early on that playing sports wasn't going to be something that he could do forever.  
 
"I played sports for many years, but at some point, you realize this may not be for you in the long run and for me that moment came early," said Brito. "I still wanted to stay involved with athletics in some capacity because all of my friends still played, and I was offered an opportunity by my former high school coach Dex Dennard to help with filming and management of practices." 
 
Brito would accept that role and would film and manage by himself the first year. By his senior year, he had built a small team of student workers and shifted to more of a leadership role overseeing operations and ensuring everything ran smoothly.  With Brito having extra time on his hands, he decided to expand on his role by capturing photos on his iPhone.  
 
"Something about capturing moments just spoke to me," said Brito. "Midway through the year I bought my first camera and from there I just ran with it and never looked back." 
 
Knowing that he wanted to find a way to pursue his newfound love of capturing moments, Brito accepted an offer to become a student worker with the UTPB Athletics Department during his freshman year, he began taking photos, assisting with graphic design, and supporting video production.  He wasn't just capturing moments at home games—he was hitting the road with the teams, too. 
 
"Traveling with teams for events is such an honor. I was able to travel with both Football and Basketball," said Brito. "Traveling with the teams simply allows you to be closer to the process of it all and see the adversity that teams face on the road compared to the comfort of playing at home in front of their own fans. It makes you feel just that much more part of the team and you fell the wins and losses a bit more."  
 
 Brito was also using the knowledge he gained from the graphic design class he took in high school to help the athletics department by creating schedule posters and gameday graphics. 
 
"When I first started at UTPB it was learning the ropes from former Sports Information Director Tom Perpetua, everything from what kind of pictures to take to how to set up home games," said Brito. "I had prior knowledge of photoshop so when I asked to assist with graphics learning the program scoreshots was easy and after the first year or so of following the guidelines, Tom let me run loose with my creativity when it came to graphics."  
 
Wanting to continue to grow and learn everything he could when it came to social media, Brito decided to approach Head Football Coach Kris McCullough and Head Men's Basketball Coach Kyle Tolin to see if they had any opportunities to help run their team's social media accounts.  
 
"I am thankful to Coach McCullough and Coach Tolin for entrusting me with their respective team's social media accounts," said Brito. "I am truly thankful for the opportunities they gave me."  
 
Despite not having experience running an athletics social media account before, from looking at other athletic social media accounts on Instagram he gained a knowledge and plan of how to run a successful social media account. 
 
"The biggest thing was having a constant flow of content not just for the athletes but for their families back home to keep up with them. I have heard from so many parents from football and basketball how awesome it is that they get to essentially see their kids grow up away from home through my lens." said Brito. "Social media is simply another way we get to highlight our student-athletes here at UTPB. It also allows me to showcase not just my own artwork but the artwork of the people I have gotten to work alongside with such as Vincent Bao and Isabella Bravo." 
 
 While his time at UTPB is coming to an end Brito has made countless memories over the years working with the athletic department. One of his favorite things about working with the department is all the people he has met. 
 
"From the administration to the student-athletes to the donors, I have met so many people here that I can call family," said Brito. 
 
Upon graduation, Brito plans to continue his education and get his Master's in Communications. Then, will look for job opportunities that allow him to work within college athletics.  
 
"I just want to say thank you to God for the blessings he has given me and thank you to all the coaches and staff in Athletics who believed in me and gave me this opportunity," said Brito. "