Second-year College student Brian Ivan Gomez passed away Oct. 13 after a year-long battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer involving uncontrolled growth in skeletal muscle tissue. He was 20 years old.
Following his diagnosis with the disease in August 2009, Gomez took a year off school but was briefly able to return this semester to the University, where he was majoring in international relations and economics.
Gomez - who was buried Saturday at Covina Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, Calif. - is remembered by his former professors as a student who had a passion for education.
"I remember Brian as a very bright and energetic student who always came to class with a smile," said Assoc. Astronomy Prof. Edward Murphy, Brian's former professor and adviser. "In class, Brian always asked excellent questions that indicated a love of inquiry and learning. His death is a terrible loss for the University community."
Gomez's friends and peers also described him as an intelligent learner and a friendly, caring person.
Gomez's girlfriend and best friend, Morgan Watts, knew him since eighth grade as an "intelligent, compassionate and optimistic" person.
"He had an infectious smile and he was very positive and happy all the time - even after his diagnosis," Watts said. "He had a passion for learning and he loved life. He was a good best friend, and we miss him a lot."
While at the University, Gomez was very involved with the International Relations Organization where he served as the Director-General of the Virginia International Crisis Simulation in his first year.
"He was just a really nice, genuine guy," said Max Griffith, a friend of Gomez and University graduate who worked with Brian in IRO. "Brian was very comfortable with himself, and it made everyone want to hang out with him. He was going to like you for who you were, and we're all going to miss him a lot."
Gomez was also very involved during his high school years.
He was the secretary general of model United Nations, a member of the varsity tennis team and an International Baccalaureate diploma recipient at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, Va., where he grew up. Brian was also an avid guitar player.
Others who knew Gomez remembered him as an excellent student with a noticeably friendly personality and an appetite for life and learning.
"He was a wonderful, strong young man who fought valiantly against this terrible disease," Assoc. Dean of Students Aaron Laushway said. "He was very glad to be a student at the University of Virginia."
Gomez is survived by his mother, Adriana Mariscal; his stepfather, Alejandro Casta
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