Poet. CrossFit Enthusiast. Fulbrighter.

Garrett Gomez '18 Connected to His Heritage by Teaching English and Poetry in Mexico

By Texas Christian University

May 24^th, 2021

Garrett Gomez '18 (second from right in striped shirt) poses with a group of friends and a mariachi band.

When Garrett Gomez ’18, a bilingual double major in the AddRan College of Liberal Arts, applied for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, there was no question in his mind where he wanted to go and why. “I’m Mexican-American, and I had this opportunity to explore my cultural roots and heritage in a way that wasn’t open to me before. I was able to totally engross myself in a culture that’s really important to me,” he said.

Gomez in front of an ofrenda (a home altar placed on ritual display during a traditional Mexican Día de Muertos celebration) in Puebla, Mexico, during the 2018 Fulbright conference, where he served as a volunteer.

"TCU does a really good job of putting opportunities that are coming way down the line on students’ radars so that they can have an array of options and potential futures."

Discovering the Opportunity

Gomez credits the John V. Roach Honors College orientation session he attended as an incoming student with introducing him to the idea of the Fulbright program. “TCU does a really good job of putting opportunities that are coming way down the line on students’ radars so that they can have an array of options and potential futures,” he said.

By the time his senior year rolled around, Gomez had come to a crossroads—continue his work at a startup or apply for a Fulbright grant. With the support of multiple professors, including Sohyun Lee, Donald Frischmann, Alex Lemon, David Colon, Ron Pitcock, Joe Darda and more, he opted to submit an application to serve as an English teaching assistant through the Fulbright program. Conducting mock interviews with the professors he had built relationships with in class and having the support of the Honors College proved incredibly valuable during the application process.

Gomez taught at Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades Plantel Oriente, one of five high schools in Mexico City affiliated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Cultural Immersion

In Mexico City, Gomez taught American History and English to high school students. He also created and co-led a weekly poetry workshop that paired American and Mexican poets so they could learn about others’ cultural expression through art. These workshops helped Gomez and his colleagues create new material and form lasting connections, both within the local community and across borders. Since his Fulbright experience, he has continued to write and is now a published poet in both English and Spanish.

In addition to teaching, Gomez immersed himself in cultural and social opportunities—even discovering a new passion: CrossFit. “I’m a big fan, so I competed in CrossFit while I was in Mexico City. I even did my first competition there!” he remembers.

Gomez’s social connections and cultural mindset also provided the extraordinary chance to travel around the country. “I became friends with a guy from [the northern Mexican state of] Sonora, and he was like, ‘Hey, I’m going home to teach a class at my university and then staying the weekend with my family. Would you like to come?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ It was an amazing opportunity to meet people and learn about their individual cultures in a really intimate way.”

Gomez represents TCU with his ballcap while playing a game of fútbol rápido (a game of pickup soccer) with friends in Tlaxcala, Mexico.

The Impact of Fulbright

Gomez’s personal growth was especially affected by interactions with his students and workshop attendees. "One of the most impactful things I learned during Fulbright was the importance of connecting with other people who had different ideas and different ways of doing things,” he said. “I learned from them how to incorporate those new things into my own life,” he said.

He also reflected on how his time in Mexico taught him the importance of an open mind. “People are going to think differently than you. You have to be willing to sit, listen and understand where people are coming from and then learn from those things as you mold your own moral and ethical considerations.”

Participating in the Fulbright program opened many doors for Gomez. Personally, he made a number of friends in Mexico City and he still talks to them regularly. Professionally, he is now connected to the worldwide Fulbright network and actively involved with the program; he recently helped conduct interviews with the Fulbright Commission in Mexico.

"One of the most impactful things I learned during Fulbright was the importance of connecting with other people who had different ideas and different ways of doing things."

Today, Gomez works with NOCD, a telehealth startup that strives to help connect individuals with an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) specialist online, where he manages the sales team and runs operations. “There are 40 million people in the world that have OCD, and those who have it are ten times more likely to die by suicide,” he said, citing the statistic that drives the company’s mission. “It’s really, really cool that I get to play a part in changing lives.” Through this work, Gomez continues his Fulbright mission of serving as a leader with a global mindset and helping impact the world for the greater good.