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Alumni Blog- Garrett Leatherman '13

Garrett Leatherman '13 (pictured on the left) is fulfilling a dream to live and work abroad. Garrett is a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in a secondary school in Italy.  He graduated from Towson University in 2021 where he had the opportunity to study in Dublin and Madrid and obtained a certification to teach English as a second language (TESOL). Read on and learn about how Calvert Hall and Mr. Steve Hooper '77 influenced his career path.
I remember I almost did not have Mr. Hooper for my junior year English class. Originally, it was Mr. Magrogan. He had a reputation for being particularly strict. My brother Connor, who graduated in 2011, strongly advised me to change classes. He knew what an English class with Mr. Magrogan was like. So, I went to Mr. Baker’s office to request a change. I watched him click here and there on the computer screen over and over like a mad scientist, and a few minutes later I had my new schedule. I felt a sense of relief when I saw that I would be in Mr. Hooper’s class. If I had not been, I am not sure I would have gotten a Fulbright scholarship ten years later. Granted, I had him my sophomore year, and perhaps one year of Mr. Hooper’s writing wisdom would have sufficed, but two years? That is how you learn how to write. He taught me, above all, to say as much as possible with as little words as possible. “Concise” was his word. That came in handy when it came time to write my two Fulbright essays: a personal statement and a statement of purpose, each one page, single-spaced. I felt like I had to summarize my entire being in those pages. Luckily, I knew I could with the writing skills Mr. Hooper cultivated in me. In fact, if it weren’t for him, I’m not sure I’d have even known I was a writer. In short, winning a Fulbright scholarship required tremendous writing ability. It took me six months and fourteen drafts to craft the essays I wanted, and even that didn’t win me the award the first time, though I came extremely close. I had to apply a second year in a row.
Beyond writing skills, Calvert Hall taught me how to apply myself and the importance of it. No one forced me to apply to Fulbright; no one told me to spend my free time between classes, studying, and tutoring to put myself through the strenuous task of summarizing my life in one page, and in another page convincing the Fulbright committee that I deserved the award and feeling imposter syndrome while doing it. And no one told me to repeat the process a second year in a row. But, Calvert Hall showed me what it means to go beyond what is expected of you and the reward thereof. The reward, in this case, is being able to live in Italy for nine months, seeing some of the most beautiful sites in the world and tasting some of the best food in the world, and, of course, teaching English to high schoolers.
I live and teach in a small town of 6,000 people called Alessano, at the very bottom of the “heel” of Italy. At the school, I am known as the madrelingua, or native speaker, but my official title is English Teaching Assistant. All my students are in their first year (14-15 years old), and I teach them about US culture and traditions while focusing on encouraging conversation in English.
Outside of classes, I have started an after-school English club to talk to interested students about American culture and give them the opportunity to practice their English. After-school clubs and sports do not exist in Italy; it is a very “American” thing. When I have told my students about it, their eyes light up and they lament that fact that they do not have them here. I am thrilled to introduce this piece of American culture to the students here, and I owe a debt to Calvert Hall as I use the clubs there as a model for mine.
In fact, I think about Calvert Hall more than ever now that, I teach in an Italian high school. I even see my high school self in a few students here, and just like Mr. Hooper and Calvert Hall did for me, I hope I give them something meaningful they can use for the rest of their lives.
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