A behind-the-scenes look at Pam Garvey
BY: MAX WILSON
Staff Writer
Meramec professor Pamela Garvey didn’t always know she’d be teaching literature and composition to college students.
“I went to college as an undergraduate and had no idea what I would do, and I loved a lot of things. But what I really loved was to read literature, and I loved literature and language,” she said.
Garvey decided to major in English with a minor in Spanish. “In both cases, I focused on literature,” Garvey said.
After graduation, Garvey worked in insurance. “I hated it. I liked the salary; I hated the job. It was very soulless. And I’m not criticizing people who do it, it just wasn’t me.”
Garvey quit and got a job at a bookstore. “I got in trouble all the time for reading books at work, which I thought was funny, because it was a bookstore,” Garvey said.
After getting in touch with some professors, an English professor recommended Garvey go to graduate school to study English.
“A few months later, I ran into my favorite Spanish professor,” Garvey said. The professor told Garvey she’d seen some information about getting a PhD in Spanish literature at Georgetown university.
“If I had talked to her [the Spanish professor] before I talked to my English professors, I would have done that [the Spanish literature PhD]…I loved both. I really loved both.”
Not wanting to take on any more debt, Garvey knew she’d have to get a full scholarship.
“When you get these assistantships and fellowships in graduate school, you either teach or you tutor or you do some kind of editing work with academic journals, and that’s what I really wanted to do,” Garvey said. “But they had me tutor, and that was my entry into the classroom.”
After getting an MFA, Garvey did freelance work. “[I did] All sorts of weird kinds of jobs, from corporate to science writing.” Garvey also taught part time, and says while the freelance work paid well, it didn’t feel “like I was having an impact on the world.”
After moving to St. Louis for her ex-husband’s job, she taught at Washington University for two years before getting a job at Meramec.
“I set a goal for myself that I had five years to get a permanent tenure track position, or I would go into another field,” she said. “I got my job at Meramec and I’ve been here ever since, and I have no regrets. It is infinitely more meaningful and purposeful than what I was doing before.”
Garvey said teaching at Meramec is especially meaningful because “we get a lot of first generation college students, we get a lot of students who have a lot of different things going on in their lives…which can at any point pull them away from school and what school has to offer them.”
She also said she enjoys the opportunity to share poetry.
“If you ask me, who do I want to share poetry with? I want to share it with people who might not find it if they didn’t come to Meramec. I want to share it with people who are hungry for it. I want to share it with people who say, ‘Oh my God, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,’” she said.
She said she also enjoys inspiring students. “I want to see students walk into a poetry writing class, and walk out and feel proud of something that they didn’t even know they could write,” she said. “My job is one of empowering other people. By giving them access to language, and literature, and tools that can open up more doors than I’m even aware of.”
Outside of school, Garvey is passionate about “my kid, of course, and parenting. I’m passionate about travel and cultures, in particular Spain and Latin America.” Garvey described herself as a ‘health food fanatic’ and said she loves to cook. “I love cooking curries. Indian food is my favorite.”
After the pandemic, when Garvey feels comfortable, she wants to go back to the theater.
“Some of my favorite theaters from around the country have done things through Zoom. And I’ve watched it, and I’ve enjoyed it. It’s not the same. I want to be in my seat watching it,” she said.
