Meg Richards graduated from Dublin in 2009. She lived in Argentina for a bunch of years, married a really nice Argentine guy named Pablo, dragging him back to Dublin in 2023 when she returned to campus as Ms. Richards. The Advancement Office was lucky to have Meg on board during her first year back, but when a Spanish teaching position opened up last spring, she ran off to join Mr. Ortiz in the lower level of Lehmann House. By all accounts, Meg has had an immediate impact on the Spanish Department in her first teaching year. 

First Question. Do you drink that full [very large] thermos of maté every day?

Oh, absolutely not. Maybe like a half thermos. This particular maté is smoked and comes from the Northeast of Argentina. It’s a little dose of caffeine, keeps you going throughout the day. 

You’re halfway through your first year of teaching. How has the experience been so far?

It’s been going really well. There are definitely exhausting days, but the kids energize me every single day. If I come with one percent less energy, they usually give me that extra one percent. First semester was a huge learning curve. I’m working with groups who are really new to Spanish and also groups who are much more advanced, which means teaching totally different classes. But I’m learning how to plan and develop strategies. So yeah, it’s going really well.

You also graduated from Dublin. Has it been strange to return as a member of the faculty? 

It’s really a full circle experience. It’s never something I imagined for myself, but one thing led to another. Dublin is where my love of the Spanish language and Latin American culture began. I traveled to Costa Rica twice with Dublin and it was the best experience, really the experience that led me to want to study Spanish in college and then study abroad. Dublin was a jumping off point for me, even if I didn't realize it completely until much later on. It’s where that inkling of interest began. I feel like if I can inspire a similar passion in my students, I’ll be doing my job.