Bakersfield College history professor Matthew Garrett’s wife, Jennifer Garrett, has stepped into a new role as BC’s new director of choral activities. Jennifer took over as director at the beginning of this semester after Ron Kean retired at the end of the spring semester.
When asked how she felt to be taking over for Kean, Jennifer said, “I don’t think you ever fill someone’s shoes. I think you come in and you do your own thing.”
Jennifer explained that she felt that the transition was an easy one for her and the students because she has similar expectations and musical tastes to those of Kean. She also explained that she did not think that she was an odd choice for the job considering the fact that she was already an adjunct instructor for the music appreciation class, helped with the choirs in previous years, and is local to Bakersfield.
Jennifer has big goals in mind for BC’s choir but said that her main goals are to instill musical knowledge in her students, provide exposure for the choir, and bring the community and BC together to show people that BC still produces good music.
“I want to continue that reputation of excellence and I hope that the community just continues to expect the best music from Bakersfield College,” she said.
She said among her many goals, she would like to make a tradition of the choir performing the national anthem at homecoming games and possibly have them perform during lunch hours in the Campus Center.
She feels that these ideas would provide exposure for the choir to people who would not ordinarily go to a concert and also give an opportunity to peak student interest.
Jennifer said that she felt the experience of conducting at Arizona State University and through her church activities really helped to alleviate any nerves she might have had stepping into this new position at BC.
“I don’t have 30 years of experience teaching like Ron Kean does, but neither did he when he started,” she said, explaining that she feels like she is geared up and ready to go.
Among other reasons, Jennifer said her husband’s presence on campus helped her to settle into her new role at BC.
“I think he’s well-respected and his students really like him,” she said. “We’ve got some of the same students and some people say, ‘oh, I had your husband,’ so there’s already kind of a connection.”
She also explained that she had already met some BC faculty because Matthew was already a professor at BC.
The Garretts moved to Bakersfield when Matthew was offered a job at BC, which he started in 2010. Matthew grew up in California so he said that the position at BC was a “wonderful opportunity to get back close to home” and they both felt it was the best move for their family.
Matthew said that he feels that Jennifer is going to be an asset for BC, stating, “I think that’s one of the luckiest things they did in hiring me here.
“They hired me because they thought I was good, and I am OK, but the real win was that by getting me, they got a chance to get her, which she’s way better than I am. She’s so good at what she does.”
Jennifer’s love for music started at a young age when her father who, she says inspired her and is her “musical hero.” Among skills in conducting, Jennifer’s many musical endeavors include singing and playing a wide array of instruments including piano, organ, flute, violin and clarinet.
Jennifer began teaching as an adjunct instructor at both BC and Cal State University-Bakersfield, giving private voice and piano lessons, and working with church choirs after the Garretts moved to Bakersfield.
Matthew and Jennifer are both excited to be working together at BC and said that it had been a goal of theirs to work at the same college.
“This was a dream,” Jennifer said. “We hoped that we would get to work at the same school some time, but never did we think that it would be so quickly in our lives.
“I don’t know how life works out the way it does, but it just seems like since we’ve come to Bakersfield we have been just really greatly blessed with so many things.”
They both said that they were very excited to get to see each other at work, support each other’s activities, have a mutual understanding of what is going on in each other’s careers, and have the same breaks and vacations.
Although Jennifer is buried in work as a first-year instructor, the Garretts admit that they fully intend to take advantage of the fact that they now work together. They both mentioned hopeful plans of having a weekly lunch date at The Renegade Room. Matthew said, “It’d be so wonderful to have a date. We love our kids, but it’d be nice to have adult time, too.”
Jennifer mentioned that on a couple occasions Matthew has brought her lunch to her office. “How nice is that,” she said. “How many people get to see their spouse and have them bring them lunch?
“It’s really just nice to be on the same page.”
Matthew said that he really feels that the opportunity to experience things together strengthens their marriage. He said that a lot of times people have difficulty in marriages when they feel left behind when their spouse advances in his or her own career or the couple might just argue because they can’t understand each other’s responsibilities.
“We both had the opportunity to be in the same place at the same time doing the same things,” he said. “So that was a fun journey together where neither one of us felt like the other was getting left behind, which was nice.”
The couple explained that although they both have always individually had the goal of being teachers, it definitely became a joint effort once they met during the pursuit of their undergraduate degrees at Brigham Young University. They pursued their education together after obtaining their undergraduate degrees until they both received their doctorate degrees at Arizona State University.
Jennifer said that the main thing that she is happy about is the fact that they get to be a part of a faculty that focuses on the students.
“We both really like teaching,” she said. “We just want to make a difference in students’ lives. I think that’s really our collective goal, the reason we come to school every day.”
Matthew and Jennifer both talked about their favorite aspects of teaching being the ability to help students on more than just an academic level.
Matthew said, “It’s nice to be able to help, try to help. Sometimes it means I just listen.”
Jennifer said that she felt that even her struggles in life, including many health challenges, have helped her to be a better mentor for her students. “Those things help me help students because I can empathize with them and I can kind of understand where they’re coming from.
“I love to be able to help them accomplish the goals that they have, or even form the goals that some of them don’t even know what they want to do. So to be able to help them figure that out is just exciting.”
Jennifer conducted her first concert with BC’s choir on Nov. 1, which she felt was a complete success. She explained that her students are extremely hard working and she has seen a lot of dedication from them.
Matthew also commented that he felt his wife’s students are very helpful and that he believes that she will also have a big impact on them, calling it a “symbiotic relationship.”
Jennifer urges students to get involved and enjoy good music provided by BC’s choir at the next concert, which will be Dec. 6 at First Presbyterian Church at 7:30 p.m.
She said, “It will be a wonderful winter concert and we would love to see people from our campus community there.”