“I was born in the fields,” Isauro Perezchica says. “My parents grew maize, rice, and beans, and they had livestock: horses, cows, and donkeys. My brothers and I have dedicated our entire lives to gardening.”
That devotion and expertise is a big reason why the University of San Diego has nabbed The Princeton Review’s top spot for the country’s most beautiful campus multiple times, including last year. Perezchica has been part of the university’s garden maintenance staff for a decade.
The second-youngest of 10 siblings, Perezchica grew up in Aguascalientes, Mexico. “I played professional baseball,” he explains. “Then, I hurt my arm. My brothers said, ‘Do you want to continue in the career you have, or do you want to come to the United States?’ I told them, ‘You know what? I’ll leave with you.’ My older brothers helped me arrange my visa.” In 1985, at 18 years old, he arrived in the US. Five years later, he became a citizen.
He spent three decades in a stressful role as a cook until his brother, also a gardener at USD, invited Perezchica to return to his roots.
“My brother said, ‘I’m going to help you get out of the kitchen, and I’m going to get you to work with me,’” Perezchica recalls. “The [gardening job] interested me. I learned about [advanced irrigation systems] here. When we farmed [in Mexico], we used natural rain water. ”
Perezchica helps care for the 155 acres of landscaping on campus, but the Bishop Leo T. Maher Garden is his sacred space—a peaceful courtyard with verdant grass, neatly barbered hedges, and blooming rose bushes.
“I love trimming the hedges,” Perezchica says. “I love everything that I do, because I pour my heart into it. A lot of the students are my friends who offer to buy me coffee or food … and, when I leave, I go home very happy.”
