Garrett Berkley has been busy since graduating from Eagle Ridge Academy with the Class of 2008. As a member of the first graduating class at the school, he has fond memories of his time at ERA, which he says had a "deep and lasting impact" on his life.
What impact ERA made on Garrett's life, he has worked to pay forward. Garrett is a father of five children ages 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 and is married to his wife, Alison. Garrett and his family spent four years in South Africa with an international missionary organization. As Director of the South Africa Mission Base, he helped run an orphanage, a daily feeding program, a small bible college, a network of churches, and an outreach program for sex workers.
Garrett's family lived at the orphanage, where there were about thirty orphaned children living with them. While he was the Director of the orphanage, they were able to connect 25% of the children with next-of-kin and place them into loving homes. The feeding program fed approximately two hundred people daily and the outreach program helped women working in the sex industry learn new job skills and find alternative work in the community.
Given the lack of resources and personnel where Garret was stationed, he says he was able to use a wider range of skills. "You kinda have to do everything yourself there." He shares that it "changes the way I see the world around me and makes me grateful for the resources I have in Minnesota."
Back in Minnesota, Garrett served as a Firefighter/EMT for the Minnetonka Fire Department for five years and he now works as a Paramedic.
He says, "Being a first responder isn't easy but I have always seemed to have the right temperament and skills needed to care for people who are usually having the worst day of their life."
One of his most memorable moments as a paramedic was a few years ago when he responded to a situation with an elderly man who fell at his home. After helping the man back into bed, they found him to be very sick. The man was dying, and he knew it. Though he declined further medical attention, he did accept Garrett's offer to stay and sit with him. Garrett held his arm and read to him until he passed away. "The only thing the man said to me was, "I'm glad you're here". I'll never forget that peaceful moment," Garrett shared.
Though Garrett and his family are home in the U.S. now, they hope to continue to make an impact in the lives of people experiencing poverty in Africa. "We plan on starting a non-profit organization to allow for people in the West to connect with "at risk" people on a more personal level."
Garrett credits his time at ERA with helping him develop critical thinking skills that helped him succeed in his career. He says his Latin knowledge has helped him understand medical terminology and learn new languages from around the world. More importantly, he says, "I still have meaningful friendships that were formed at ERA (including 5 of my teachers)."