Growing up in Houston, Texas, Garrett Mast had always envisioned attending college on the East Coast, home to some of the nation’s oldest and most iconic campuses. But after joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a 16-year-old, the opportunity for an education at BYU was something he couldn’t resist.
“I was always invested in going to school, but BYU gave me more options to pursue things I was interested in,” he recalled.
But the transition from Texas to BYU wasn’t easy. Mast’s first semester on campus was in the fall of 2020, and many of his classes were online due to the ongoing pandemic. He found camaraderie and community in his student ward, and for the first time in his life, he was surrounded by friends united under the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Some of my friends from high school were at different universities that were completely shut down. But here we had church, and we were meeting. It was nice to have this group of friends who had the same beliefs and the same desires to make the best of the situation,” said Mast. “My freshman year I had a support group that came from being a member of the ward.”
Thanks to several on-campus jobs and experiential learning opportunities, Mast, who is set to graduate later this month with a degree in family history, said he’s had a front-row seat in seeing the positive impact BYU and its graduates have across the globe. One of his first campus jobs was with the audio crew for BYU theatre and media arts performances. He remembers the organized chaos of running audio setup and controls during countless concerts and live events on campus and across the world.
“BYU places an emphasis on the things you learn outside of the classroom, and that has been impactful for me. BYU’s prepared me to work in the community and figure out ways that I can make an impact.”
“I toured with some BYU performing groups in Germany, and I thought it was cool to meet members of the Church there and to see what a wide outreach BYU has and the positive impact it has on the world,” said Mast. “It was an especially cool experience for me to go to places in rural Germany and see people who knew about BYU and what it stands for.”
But it was an introductory family history course that sparked Mast’s passion for research. He said he felt drawn to studying family history, even if it wasn’t his first intended major. He accepted an on-campus job in the Center for Family History and Genealogy after his junior year and now leads more than 20 research assistants who are focused on researching individuals who lived in Nauvoo when the Church was headquartered there.
“We’re identifying everyone who lived in Nauvoo during that time and doing genealogy research on these early Saints,” said Mast, noting that they hope to someday turn the research into narrative histories.
As project supervisor, Mast helps to organize the entire research process, from deciphering historical records to working with computer programmers and creating interactive maps of land ownership in Nauvoo.
“I’ve done so much interdisciplinary work. I didn’t think I was going to do family history, but I’ve enjoyed this process so much, and I see my career path going this way,” said Mast. “I love integrating technology and family history to visually display information about a person or a place and its history.”
Looking to the future, Mast said he envisions working in the genealogy industry and making historical information more accessible; he even plans to pursue a master’s degree in library and information sciences.
For now, however, he’s enjoying every unexpected turn on the journey that led him from Texas to Provo. And no matter where he goes next, the experiences he’s had at BYU have set him up for success.
“BYU places an emphasis on the things you learn outside of the classroom, and that has been impactful for me,” he said. “BYU’s prepared me to work in the community and figure out ways that I can make an impact.”
