“It makes you feel good that you can have that much of an impact on a group of kids just from taking an hour out of your day to spend some time and get to know them.”

His experience at the school shaped his time at Brown, and gained him high praise. At this year’s football team banquet, he was awarded the Chris Perry Community Service Award.

“It made me realize and appreciate my ability to impact people's lives,” Garrett says. “It humbled me and proved to me time and time again that there is a world beyond the classroom and football field.”

It wasn’t long before Garrett realized he could influence real change on campus, too. Working on a Group Independent Study Project, Garrett contributed to the creation of a masculinity peer education curriculum. The program is used by campus groups to facilitate conversations around gender stereotypes and empathy, fostering healthy athletes in mind and body.

In the winter of his senior year, Garret won a Royce Fellow grant to intern with the City of Inglewood, California, a predominantly black and brown working-class city undergoing a massive wave of development, including an NFL stadium, three new Metro stations and an NBA arena. As part of his honors thesis, Garrett is researching the extent to which Inglewood could become gentrified, and what the city's rapid development means for the future of urban spaces around the globe. When he’s finished, he’ll present his findings to top city officials.

Garrett came to Brown an athlete; he’s leaving a mentor, a scholar and a change agent with a bright future ahead.