Shaye Phillips, Features Editor–

Tired and dazed from an early morning, students shuffle into the classroom, preparing for another morning of Spanish conjegations, prepositions, and adverbs. Yet, when they settle into their seats, coffees in hand and notebooks laid out on their desks, the electric sound of a guitar erupts from the speakers in front of them. 

Running and jumping around gleefully, Professor Ramiro Garcia-Olano, who prefers to go by Rami, blasts the Spanish cover of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC to rouse the students from their slumberous states. The cover is sung by Chilean musician and YouTuber, Nico Borie.

“As we approach the end of a semester, the students are exhausted, right? I decided that they needed to be electrified as much as I do,” Rami said. 

Rami treats the activity like a cultural bridge, a “marriage between Spanish and English.” He shares that the music is also very energetic and the students are all usually screaming and throwing up their hands. 

“AC/DC is an important part of American culture; the band is legendary and this song is so famous, so the students who knew the song by heart and knew the lyrics are making wonderful connections even when its in Spanish.” 

Nora Walsh ‘25 has been working as a TA for Rami for four years. She has been in the classroom during this activity and has expressed a fondness for it. 

“Rami’s goal in doing this activity is to encourage students to get culturally involved outside of the classroom through listening to songs in Spanish. As a TA, witnessing this activity is entertaining and fun,” Walsh said. 

Kavi Stevick ‘27 took Rami’s Spanish classes for two semesters. “Rami loves to play music and dance and sing all the time; I think it brings a lot of hopeful energy to the class and brings up the mood,” Stevick said.

Rami has been working at Denison for seven years. He grew up on a ranch in northeastern Argentina, which he visits regularly over the summer, and got his B.A. in business administration at the Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires. Deciding later that he wanted to pursue learning English, Rami traveled to America and attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His father had a friend there who was a professor.

Rami pursued a master’s degree in agricultural economics before he met his wife. “That moment changed me,” Rami said. “I realized that I was not going to go back to Argentina because she loved being in the States and I was having a good time in Nebraska.” 

Soon after Rami decided to start over and switch to doing a Master’s degree in Spanish, he went on to get his PhD at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “I don’t regret that decision,” Rami said in regards to switching his degree path. “I could now be working in Argentina at my family’s ranch but I love what I’m doing and I believe that you can love many things and trying different things is just right for some people.” 

Rami traveled to Ohio when his wife got a job as a Spanish professor at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware. He ended up getting a job as a visiting assistant professor at Denison and then came on full time to teach Spanish 111, 112, 211, and 213. 

“I love you guys; you’re incredible and my colleagues being so supportive from day one,” Rami said. “I would love to continue to work here as long as I can.”

Rami calls the students here “Denisoñantes,” which most of his students think means Denisonians but because of the special ñ included in the word, it translates to Denisonians with dreams. “Soñar means to dream and Denisoñante then becomes a Denny dreamer,” Rami said. 

Walsh said that Rami is one to give passionate speeches in class, and that they serve as a way to get students to think about things they normally wouldn’t think about. “I can recall several instances where those rants have genuinely changed the way I thought about some aspects of my life,” Walsh said.

“I want to be as much a part of nurturing that curiosity as I can,” Rami said. “I tell my students to make the most of these moments [in college] because it’s not going to be like this forever for having all this time to learn new things.” 

According to Rami, one can always continue to learn one’s trade, but that also prevents people from growing in other areas of knowledge that could also be helpful, like arts, chemistry, astronomy, and writing. “Unfortuntely we have to choose because of our limited brains, but maybe that’s not so bad,” Rami said. 

A fun fact about Rami is that every year he makes a resolution to learn something new. Last summer he learned how to surf while visiting an island in southern Brazil with his brother and nephew. “I went for it and made progress very fast,” Rami said. On his first day he was able to stand on the board for 3 seconds and even through his failures he never got frustrated. “I was enjoying learning it and felt that even when the waves crashed over me and sent me down to the bottom, it was part of the experience,” Rami said. 

This year Rami is thinking of learning how to play an instrument; he also can’t wait till summer comes again and he can return to the island to surf. “I tell my students that learning really takes place outside the classroom and outside each other,” Rami said. “You know, time is limited but as long as you structure your routine, you can do so much more and learn so many more things.”

Editor’s Note: The professor spotlight is a recurring feature. Email [email protected] if you would like to suggest a professor to be featured.