About a decade after graduating from Laurel Ridge with a degree in General Studies, Kaaz Garrett is making the world a better place through her work with the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Originally from Baltimore, Garrett had been homeschooled in K-12, although she did take dual-enrolled classes at Laurel Ridge her senior year.
“Laurel Ridge was the first time I was in a classroom setting with other people my age,” said Garrett. “It was a good way for me to adapt to a new format of learning. I was paying for my own schooling, so I wasn’t going to go straight to a four-year because of the cost. The class sizes were smaller, and it was better for me, more chill, which was also good.”
She remembers particularly enjoying her English and World Religions classes at Laurel Ridge.
“I was interested in traveling, which I ended up doing later,” said Garrett. “Anything that sort of gave me some context of the world outside of the smaller world I had lived in up to that point was something I was eager for at that time.”
Having to work three jobs meant she was only able to take a couple classes per semester. Meeting fellow Laurel Ridge student Nat Srisiriwongchai, who was from Thailand, was life changing for Garrett. While Garrett was good at English her new friend was good at math, so they tutored each other.
When Srisiriwongchai mentioned her mother still lived in Thailand, which had U.S.-accredited universities that were inexpensive with a low cost of living, Garrett was intrigued.
“I had never left the U.S.,” she said. “I had barely traveled out of the areas I’d lived in. I don’t know what possessed me.”
Garrett moved to Thailand and attended Stamford University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Broadcasting in 2021.
“When I left the U.S., it expanded my horizons,” she said.
Garrett was president of a gender equality club, worked on sexual-harassment policies on Thai university campuses and founded Dream Tree, for which she won the Hult Prize Thailand for innovative social entrepreneurship. It was also in Thailand that she began an internship with IOM Asia-Pacific.
Today, Garrett lives in Baltimore, but commutes to Washington, D.C., for her work as a senior operations and communications manager with IOM.
“I work in countering human trafficking,” she said. “We support victims of human trafficking around the world.”
This work has taken Garrett to Ukraine, Kenya, Brazil, Bangladesh and Ghana.
“I think I was always impact driven,” she said. “I always wanted to do something that would have a positive effect on the world, but I didn’t know exactly what that would be.”
Laurel Ridge was key part of her journey, said Garrett.
“It was a great way for me to start because my family didn’t go to college,” she said. “I just needed to have somewhere that I felt was a little more approachable, where I had more support. From there, I felt more confident to do some of the others things I went on to do.
“I’m a big fan of the college. I think it’s important to have institutions like Laurel Ridge. They’re very needed.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.