“These are for you,” Esperanza Gonzalez says. “They’re Zinnias.”
She hands me an earthenware mug with flowers in it. We have not even fully said hello yet.
In a corner of the Penick Academic Complex, at the edge of the Counseling and Health Services hallway sits a cheerful but compact suite of offices. Esperanza Gonzalez, when she is not teaching Spanish, sits in the Office of Disability Services, ready to welcome visitors and students seeking accommodation.
Those students who walk through the doors seeking equal access for their studies will find more than just counseling about how to find reduced distraction testing environments or extended testing times; they will find a team of people ardently hoping that the student will succeed. This must be contributed in large part to Esperanza Gonzalez, who stepped into the role of Director of Disability Services last year.
For Gonzalez, the role of Director of Disability Services encompasses more than making sure students acquire equal access for their studies, although in theory that is all that might be required of her. Instead, Gonzalez believes that having someone who believes in them and seeks their success exists as the most crucial role.
“These are my Maracas of Success,” she said. They are the cheap wooden kind that you could purchase on Amazon for under $20. But as she tells the story of their origin, those maracas begin to be to her hand what a paintbrush might be to an artist.
She tells the story of a student in the hospital who believed that she was not going to make it to her graduation date. The student’s parents called Gonzalez about the situation, and Gonzalez responded with a promise that on the day of graduation she would be there, cheering the student on.
“The week before graduation, that student walked through the door, and they said, ‘I’m here just to thank you for cheering up for me and for believing that I could graduate,” Gonzalez said. “My mother wants to sit with you, because you told her that you were going to be bringing your maracas.’ And I was like, ‘Maraca…Oh! Maracas. Yes, I will bring my maracas. So as soon as she left, I was like, ‘Oh Esperanza, you need to watch what you say girl. I hope they sell maracas in the U.S.’”
With the “Maracas of Success” acquired, Gonzalez began a tradition of signaling her pride for the work of students who succeed. She has shaken the Maracas at two graduations so far, and she is anxious to have another opportunity to do it again.
Esperanza Gonzalez’s art is not painting or sculpting; her art is believing in people and loving them well.
This desire for the success of others comes in part from her experience as a Union student herself. In her undergraduate years, Gonzalez recalled how someone’s guidance rescued her when her chosen major—nursing at the time—felt like “teaching a fish to climb a tree.”
“I remember, that’s when I went to the Vocatio center, and I was like, ‘I think I’m going home,’” Gonzalez said. “And I don’t even know who—I think it was…I don’t remember. I think it was the secretary there back then. And she said, ‘Why are you going home?’ And I said, ‘I don’t think college is for me. I’m done.’ Then I met with a counselor in the Vocatio center, and she said, ‘Well, have you considered changing majors?’ And I was like, ‘Well I’ve been here two years already; is that okay?’ And she said, ‘It is okay.’ So, the power of…just having someone there to guide you, you know? So that you don’t give up on your unknown dream.”
Because of the guidance that she received, Gonzalez graduated with a degree in psychology and completed her Masters in Social Work in 2017. Now, she uses those degrees to help create a community of support, both for the students who pursue accommodations and for those who work in her office.
Esperanza Gonzalez spoke often about the importance of having someone there for you, cheering for your success. Perhaps she is not fully aware of it, but Gonzalez has become the very person that she once needed, and she will no doubt inspire others to become the same.
Donovan Croom, MSW Graduate Assistant working in Disability Services, has only worked with Gonzalez for a few months, but his report on her impact on the campus is nothing short of glowing. Regardless of whether or not Gonzalez’s work impacts as many students as Croom suggests, it is evident that those who come into close contact with her are privileged.
“I think she has a huge impact on the campus, because every time a student comes by, they always wave at Esperanza,” Croom said. “Like, I feel like she is the face of Union.”
