José and I stood patiently outside her office, and we were not alone. Several others also stood in front of the door, and one by one they were dispatched by Dr. González. I wondered why her office, out of all the others, is the only one with people coming and going. After about half an hour, it hit me: this wasn’t going to be your average article, because she is not just your average professor.
Professor. Author. Master storyteller.
These are just a few of the things that encompass the essence of Dr. Miriam González-Hernández, a UPR Río Piedras graduate who specializes in Hispanic Literature. This Moca’s native talent blossomed form a very young age. Since five she’s had a knack for telling stories, and this has defined the course of her life. “My teacher, Ms. La Salle, used to let me tell stories to the kids when she left the room. She gave me chalk and I would teach the neighborhood kids to read and write.” This was the moment she knew what she wanted to do.
As both an author and a professor here at the RUM, her otherworldly mastery of her craft is evident from the moment she begins giving her class. Her countless anecdotes show off her energy and willingness to share, and she definitely doesn’t lack experiences to share. After all, when you’ve studied at institutions from here to Florida and Texas, there certainly isn’t going to be a scarce amount of lessons and stories to tell.
Her office is littered with awards and projects from her students, one of her biggest inspirations, aside from the desire to deliver a message. “The people, the situations in our island, the world we live in, those are the things that move me. I could write every day just about these things.” Her family and (especially her pets) are also a driving force in her vast collection of short stories and fables. “I get most of my ideas for the fables I write from the critters I have at home.”
All this being said, there is one thing that drives her more than anything: “I am here, in the RUM, and getting up in the morning to share my knowledge is the most beautiful thing for me. Someday, I hope my students will be my colleagues.” Dr. González’s biggest goal, she explained, is getting to where she is at in life, and you can’t help feeling humbled by her words.
That doesn’t mean she hasn’t suffered for her art. One of the things she shared with us is what she would tell her younger self: “Fight. Every morning, when you wake up, think about what you want to fight for today.” She also offered words of wisdom about what we, as today’s young people, will face more than anything in life: “The thing you will see the most in life are angry, jealous people that want to see you fall.” She explained that this comes from personal experience, and she jokingly said “people don’t know what they’re messing with.”
In the end, I can only refer to what I said in the beginning: this isn’t just a profile, an article that I write as a member of the team; this was a learning experience from beginning to end. It’s nearly impossible to not learn from a conversation with someone who has a statue dedicated to them here in the RUM. Dr. González’s boundless wisdom will stay with me forever, and after everything’s said and done, I can definitely add something to the list of things she represents for me:
Professor. Author. Master Storyteller. Friend.