By Isabella Schultz
NKyTribune staff writer
When someone first meets Thomas More University Spanish professor Cari Garriga, they see that she is neither the average professor nor even the average person.
From teaching as a yoga instructor to traveling all over the country to visit her three children, she has anything but an ordinary life.
Garriga had a unique journey as well to becoming a professor at Thomas More University, as she started many, many miles away from Kentucky itself.
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Garriga studied biology at the University of Puerto Rico and during most of her college years, she was on track to attend medical school. However, during her junior year at the university, she took a random elective in French and ultimately changed course.
“I took a class in French as an elective, and I loved it,” said Garriga. “My parents were always about learning, so then I started studying French, and I went to study in France over the summers.”
Due to this love for the French language, when she finished undergrad, she moved to France to begin her master’s program. This particular master’s program was a joint master’s program with the University of Cincinnati. In 1985, she did 15 months in Paris, France, and then came to Cincinnati for five months as a teacher’s assistant.
When she finished her master’s program, her plans to go back to France came to a halt when she met her now husband, Todd, on a blind date. After that, she moved to Washington, D.C., to start her teaching career teaching high school students the French language.
After a few years of teaching in Washington, D.C., she and her family moved back to Covington. Eventually, she started her PhD in foreign language education so that she could teach in colleges and universities.
“I always knew that I wanted to teach because both my parents were college professors at the University of Puerto Rico,” said Garriga. “I applied for the PhD program at Ohio State and it was only two hours away, so I thought that’s a good fit…We were living in Fort Wright, and I was finishing my degree, but I had three kids, so I didn’t know what to do.”
As Garriga was looking for schools to teach at, her neighbor introduced her to what was then Thomas More College.
“My neighbor across the street, her son’s godfather was Raymond Hebert, and he was the dean of Thomas More College,” said Garriga. “She said, ‘Hey, come on over and meet Raymond. He put me in contact with Monsignor Cleves, and they hired me.”
At the time, Thomas More College was looking for a professor to teach the French courses. By the time she interviewed and accepted the job, it was 1996, and she has not looked back since.
Garriga eventually transitioned to teaching Spanish courses, and she is grateful for her incredible experience at TMU.
“I love my job at Thomas More, and I always tell my students the reason I love my job is because of you,” said Garriga. “The students that do make it to the advanced classes like Spanish, want to learn. So then that’s a great opportunity to create a sense of community. Part of Hispanic culture is we’re very social, and I grew up where students were coming in and out of the house, because they were coming in and out of our lives. And so to me, that’s natural that, of course, you’re going to take a personal interest in your students and make them part of the life that you have.”
Now more than ever, she is encouraging the upcoming college students to embrace new challenges and take a leap of faith. She emphasizes learning a different language and studying the humanities.
“Historically, reasoning skills and critical thinking come from the humanities areas,” said Garriga. “I want the student to take humanities courses, to take art history, to take Spanish, to study logic, through philosophy. And when they get to me, I can teach them what to do with it.”
Garriga continues to be an inspiration to all her students, especially when it comes to learning how to be comfortable outside the norm. And, as the new school year is coming, the advice she will give students today is to take classes that are not related to their major and to study abroad.