WOODBURY — Imagine being fresh out of college and living in a foreign country surrounded by people speaking an unknown language to you. 

For Nonnewaug Spanish teacher Matthew Greaves, this was a reality. He completed a mere three months of governmental training and was left to his own devices in a country he’d never been in. 

But before then, he was just a normal college student.

“For undergrad, I went undecided for a major, but I really loved Spanish,” Greaves said. “When I found I could study abroad in Spain for an entire year, I switched my major. I spent two semesters in Grenada, Spain, at the Universidad de Granada, Centro de lenguas Modernas, or the University of Granada, Center of Modern Languages, as well as in Andalucia.”

Greaves explains that he was completely immersed into life in Spain from day one. 

“I took classes all in Spanish, like literature, history, art, Spanish culture and society, and I lived with a host family,” Greaves said. “I lived with a woman from Argentina. It was a complete immersion for me in the beginning. We shared meals together, she cooked for me, and helped me really improve my Spanish.”

Over the course of his time in Spain, Greaves began to reach proficiency in the country’s language. After a meeting with a staff member of his alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, he was persuaded to join the Peace Corps, an agency and program from the United States government with the sole purpose of providing international developmental assistance. 

“I was a perfect candidate for Latin America, so I applied, and [the representative] said the countries [I would serve in] would be either Ecuador or Paraguay,” Greaves said. “I knew about Ecuador, but I didn’t know a thing about Paraguay and I was trying to keep an open mind, and then I got the invitation to serve in Paraguay and I took it right away. I was assigned to a site in southern Paraguay. It was a really rural place.”

From there, Greaves began learning one of the many native languages in Paraguay, Guaraní.

“Because my Spanish was so strong, I started studying Guaraní from day one,” Greaves explains. “I was able to get a pretty good base of Guaraní, the indigenous language.” 

Greaves’ project in Paraguay was sustainable agriculture. He lived with a host family until he built his own house on their land. 

“I moved out there and lived with them for about six months; and then we built a house on their land, a wood house with a dirt floor and a well out front,” Greaves mentions.

Throughout the Peace Corps program, Greaves kept himself busy. 

“[In Paraguay] I was doing some site work, learning about farming in Paraguay, and that’s also when I started doing a bit of beekeeping, which was another side project that was really cool,” Greaves adds.

After his time abroad, Greaves found himself doing freelancing jobs before he went back to school to get his teaching degree. 

“When I came back from Paraguay I had some different jobs, some landscaping, I lived in Martha’s Vineyard and landscaped for the rich and famous,” Greaves explains. “I painted some houses and did other types of odd jobs and went back to school to get my teaching certificate.”

When Greaves went into college, his plan was not to become a teacher. 

“My mom was a teacher and she encouraged me [to become a teacher] and I definitely pushed back on it, and low and behold, it’s been a great career, one that I’m happy with, and it’s been rewarding,” Greaves says. 

But the very beginning of his teaching career was not at Nonnewaug, where he arrived in 2019.

“I was also at Oxford High School, and before that, at Trumbull High School,” Greaves adds. 

Greaves is also an adjunct professor at UConn Waterbury. 

“I teach at UConn two afternoons a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays.” Greaves explains. “What I really like about it is that most students’ families come from different countries and there’s a very wide diversity of backgrounds. I have some native Spanish speakers who’d never had the opportunity to study the language formally and need the credits. I have students from Asia, students from Africa, and really all over the world. It’s fun to engage with them and they share some culture with the class. I enjoy it and I’ve been doing it for close to 10 years now.”

But along with that, Greaves teaches four Spanish classes at Nonnewaug.

“[This year] I teach one section of Spanish 1, 2 ECE classes, and AP Spanish,” says Greaves. “My favorite course I teach is the ECE UConn course. This is because it’s almost biographical because of the order that it goes in. It matches up with the trajectory of my life and the things that have interested me and brought me down this path. I share that experience with the students in that sense. The class has been a labor of love and I’ve definitely put a lot into it and it’s at a good spot right now. I’m always tweaking things and changing things.”

But besides his remarkable experiences — and lots of schooling — Greaves remains a humble and kind person who is filled with passion about his interests and his family. 

“In my free time, I love to cook, travel, hike, ski, anything outside really, surf, bike, backpack, all sorts of outdoor adventures, especially with my family,” Greaves mentions. 

Greaves has two daughters, Avery and Quinn. Avery is a sophomore at Nonnewaug, and Quinn plans on coming to Nonnewaug next school year.

“She is looking forward to coming to Nonnewaug next year as a freshman,” Greaves said. “She’s really excited.”

Avery, a sophomore at Nonnewaug, recalls a special memory of a trip to Panama between her and her family. 

“There was this one vacation where we went to Panama and my dad went to some schools to teach English to the Spanish speaking high schoolers there,” Avery says. “I got to see what he did and it was interesting to learn and watch from him. I also learned a lot from their culture the time that I was there.”

Zinnia Marcus, a sophomore at Nonnewaug says that she enjoys having Greaves as her Chiefs teacher. 

“I really enjoy going into his class because he has such a kind energy and a positive attitude and always puts in so much effort to ask everyone how their day has been and how they’re feeling,” Marcus said. “It makes me feel welcome.”