The light bulb that stuck with him

Written by: Sophia da Silva 🇧🇷

Headshot of Dennis Gomez. (Emelyn Gomez)

Dennis Gomez contemplated changing his mechanical engineering major about three times a semester.

“Even though it drives me crazy, staying up nights doing work or studying, looking at all those equations, I'm glad I stuck with it,” Gomez said.

Since he was a kid, Gomez was fascinated by how things worked, and math clicked in a way that words never could.

“When I finally got it, that light bulb thing, that's what happened…I didn't feel that same way for other subjects,” Gomez said.

That “light bulb thing” is what keeps him coming back to engineering.

“If you keep pushing through and you do the work, even though it's like little by little, you get something that actually works in the end,” Gomez said.

It’s the same philosophy he applies in his own life.

Gomez transferred to the University of Maryland from Prince George’s Community College. It took a lot for him to adjust to the faster pace, including a lot of trial and error to find organizational habits that worked for him. 

He realized how far he’d come while looking at Canvas one day and noticing that it was no longer PGCC’s blue page but UMD’s red one.

“I was just sitting down doing work, and I realized that I'm not in PGCC anymore. I'm going to a top-20-something school for engineering,” Gomez said.

Gomez said he wasn’t a good student in high school. He didn’t take his grades seriously until his last two years, when he saw the people around him talking about applying to Ivy League universities. Seeing them succeed motivated him.

“I knew I could do good. I know I'm smart enough to do it. I just haven't put in the work,” Gomez said. 

Photo of the Gomez Family. (Courtesy of Dennis Gomez)

Through community college and his time at Maryland, Gomez’s girlfriend, Emely Miranda-Aguilar, has been his biggest encouragement in what he knew he could achieve.

“Having her give me words of motivation when I want to give up in engineering, and me the same way, whenever she wants to not do homework for a class… we kind of pushed each other to continue,” Gomez said. 

Gomez, an introvert, would typically just go home after class. Miranda-Aguilar often encouraged Gomez to be more social by attending campus events and even studying abroad.  

In the summer of 2025, Gomez went to Greece with an engineering program focused on sustainability. He ended up making great friends, many of whom he still keeps in touch with.

“It's really cool to finally have a circle for this major,” Gomez said.

Now, looking at his life with good grades, good friends, and graduation approaching, Gomez is surprised but proud of how far he’s come.

His lightbulb continues to shine with a new light that he had within himself, even before walking through any college or university campus. 

“Este es solo el comienzo, ahora veremos que tan lejos puedes llegar.” - Dennis Gomez’s family