![\"Alexis](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2015\/02\/Alexis-Gomez-KC-audition.jpg\")
<\/a>After performing in Hollywood, Alexis Gomez, a 2014 Wright State graduate, advanced on \u201cAmerican Idol.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cAmerican Idol\u201d began airing on Fox in 2002 and has become one of the most successful shows in the history of American television.<\/p>\n
The goal of the singing competition is to find new solo recording artists, with the winners ultimately being determined by viewers who vote by telephone, text or on the Internet. The show has launched the careers of stars such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, David Cook and Clay Aiken.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Gomez\u2019 third try at \u201cIdol.\u201d She didn\u2019t make it past the first round on her initial try. The second time she made it to the celebrity judges, but not Hollywood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I look at that, I see progress,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLexy\u201d grew up in West Carrollton, Ohio, the daughter of a mother who is an interior designer and a father who was a rising star in auto sales. The family spent two years in East Lansing, Mich., when he bought a dealership there.<\/p>\n
But they returned to Ohio when he decided to use his business skills in a different calling. He is currently executive pastor of SouthBrook Christian Church in Miamisburg.<\/p>\n
Gomez learned how to play piano and guitar at a young age from her father and loved to tag along with him and her older brother and sister as part of the family band Grow. She soon became a member, and the group is now called Alexis Gomez and the Mad River Band.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played anywhere we could, and it evolved into bigger and bigger things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gomez also fell in love with cars, working on them with her father and brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI rebuilt my first car when I was 15,\u201d she said. \u201cWe took an \u201985 Mustang convertible apart. The block was cracked, so we had to buy a new engine and then put it all back together. When me and my dad hang out these days, we often go work on the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also likes to go four-wheeling on the trails of her family\u2019s four-acre property in Centerville.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up I always had four-wheelers,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so much fun. In the wintertime, we hook a sled to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gomez attended Centerville High School, where she played volleyball, basketball and softball. But she reached a sports\/music crossroads when she was 17.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could always play sports for fun and really wanted to focus on music,\u201d she said. \u201cSo my senior year I started really doing more music stuff, getting involved with my family band.\u201d<\/p>\n
She decided to come to Wright State because she wanted to be close to her family and continue to sing with the band and work on her music.<\/p>\n
Gomez, who is Mexican and whose grandfather still lives in Tijuana, elected to major in Spanish<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSpanish was something as a kid I was so intrigued about and developed a huge passion for,\u201d she said. \u201cSo at Wright State I wanted to get in touch with my heritage and my culture even more.\u201d<\/p>\n Gomez graduated in May with a bachelor\u2019s in Spanish. She eventually plans to get her master\u2019s degree and teach Spanish.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always cared a lot about my grades and my schooling,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m the first person in my family to graduate from college. I\u2019m really proud of that accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n Gomez, who lived both on and off-campus during her Wright State days, says the environment was what she loved best about the university. She says there were other musicians living on the floor of her dorm, and they would all get together and write music.<\/p>\n \u201cWright State for me was just the perfect fit,\u201d she said. \u201cIt put me in a place where I could focus on my grades, but I could still have music as a part of something I was doing with school. It was great.\u201d<\/p>\n For the time being, Gomez has put her future schooling on hold to focus on \u201cIdol.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, every single day, I\u2019m just trying to practice,\u201d she said. \u201cI think of songs I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time Gomez is keeping up with her Spanish. She is currently tutoring two home-schooled children and one from Centerville schools.<\/p>\n Gomez says being a singer and songwriter is her number one dream right now.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, I\u2019m a realistic person; I know how big that dream is,\u201d she said. \u201cSo if in three or four years I can walk away and say \u2018I gave my all to music and I tried my hardest and hey it didn\u2019t work out,\u2019 then I\u2019m going to be thrilled, ecstatic to come back and be a Spanish teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n Wright State is engaged in a $150 million fundraising campaign<\/a> that promises to further elevate the school\u2019s prominence by expanding scholarships, attracting more top-flight faculty and supporting construction of state-of-the-art facilities. Led by Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks and Amanda Wright Lane, great grandniece of university namesakes Wilbur and Orville Wright, the campaign has raised more than $110 million so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After performing in Hollywood, Alexis Gomez, a 2014 Wright State graduate, advanced on \u201cAmerican Idol.\u201d Continue reading