Breck McLain Garrett

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"I understand that there is something tempting and alluring about the mysterious, but nothing is more beautiful or touching than real life. No art form created from the mysterious can equal the beauty of art created from reality."

  • Alumni of: 2006 Graduate Scholarship Program
  • Resides: Chicago, IL
  • Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
  • Age: 28

Biography

Professors describe Breck Garrett in superlatives: quietly confident; reliable; a natural leader; someone with tact, maturity, commitment, and flexibility. He earned those attributes the hard way, rising to the occasion time and again after health tragedies struck down his father and burdened his mother. "My life experiences have left me with a strong work ethic and a great respect for the sacrifices of my parents," he says. They also gave him "an unstoppable will to succeed in the face of adversity."

Despite his demanding personal life, which included helping out in his father's shoe store after school starting from the first grade, Breck frequently received recognition from others. He was elected president of his middle school and high school, and at Rice, he was president of his residential house. He made an unpopular decision last year when he laid down a No Drinking rule for the hall where residents congregated to wait out Hurricane Rita. "As a leader, if you are universally liked then you are not effectively doing your job," he says.

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