January 4, 2019

Guided by Numbers

By the Rev. Dr. Miguel A. Hernandez

“Do not worry about your difficulties in

mathematics, I assure you that mine are
greater”

(Albert Einstein)

Since I was a child, I have been fascinated by numbers. Going to school in the sixties and

seventies allowed me to wonder a lot because I missed so many classes since my teachers were

on strike most of the time.1 I do not recall going to classes on a regular basis. In fact, there were

years I did not attend classes for months due to teachers’ strikes and other political turmoil in El

Salvador. My traditional educational experience was filled with many obstacles as well as

opportunities to try different things. At first, counting numbers was the thing to do. I would

complete pages upon pages writing numbers from one to a thousand, a million, and so on. Then,

the timetables became the next challenge for me to memorize. I would add that numbers were

also part of my daily life as a street vendor as I calculated the change that I had to give to my

customers who paid for the bread that I sold to them.

1 The teachers in El Salvador were organized in the workers’ union Andes 21 de Junio.

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While growing up, I did not have a mentor or someone to guide me along the way. My brother

Edgardo Walter Hernandez2 was the only person who was able to attend school continuously

from elementary school to high school, to university. However, he was not around to show me

any of the things that he was learning as he spent time away in a boarding school supported by

the government until he graduated from 9th grade. After graduating from high school, Edgardo

earned a scholarship to study geology at the Federal Do Rio Grande Do Sul university in Brazil.3

So, he left for Porto Alegre at the same time I was finishing middle school.

When Edgardo left for Brazil, he left behind some school materials, which I got hold of.

Among his papers and other things, I found a book titled Algebra.4 I started to read this book in

my free time, and tried to solve the problems one by one. However, I was not able to get some

of the solutions correct, but I did not give up. I just continued to read and to practice the

examples.

When I finally concluded middle school (9th grade), I used the Algebra book to prepare

for the high school admission exam at the Instituto Técnico Industrial (ITI) in San Salvador. I

could not wait to find out the results of the admission exam. To my pleasant surprise, I was

accepted into the ITI. The two years that I attended the technical school, I had the opportunity to

be exposed to some outstanding teachers. One of the teachers who left an imprint on me, in

particular, was the mathematics teacher, Mr. Manuel Orantes, who had a gift for teaching

mathematics. As an example, I still remember one of the topics, The Pascal Triangle. I have used

2 My brother became a geologist and worked at El Ministerio del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARN)
in El Salvador.

3 See http://www.ufrgs.br/english/home.

4 J. A. Baldor, Algebra: Con Gráficos y 6523 Ejercicios y Problemas Con Respuestas.

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the Pascal Triangle to solve equations in the form of (a+b) raised to the nth power.5 As an adult,

I try to influence children to learn and love mathematics. I introduced them to the Pascal

Triangle, the Fibonacci sequence, and Fractals so that they could start to learn very early. One of

my goals is to let the children discover that mathematics is not a subject that we are to be afraid

of.

When I moved to New York City in 1977, I had numerous obstacles to overcome. First, I

had to learn English. This was a barrier since my English was very rudimentary. I had had some

English lessons, but that knowledge was not good enough for me to communicate well. The

second thing that I needed to overcome was the fact that I did not finish high school.6 This was

frustrating for me. I had a hard time accepting the fact that I could not reach my potential as a

person, and I knew that I lacked the skills to succeed. As providence would have it, I had the

wonderful experience of getting to know a person who I called the ‘Unknown Dominican’. I met

this person one day when he came to visit the language school that I was attending in NYC: The

Immigration School of Languages. This unknown person was celebrating his graduation from a

technical school, and he came to share the good news with his previous teachers and schoolmates

at the language school. I paid close attention to the gentleman. When the opportunity arose, I

asked him: how did you get the certificate in electronics? The man told me that after learning

English as a Second Language (ESL), he completed the GED (General Educational

Development)7. Afterwards, he was accepted into a technical school. The man perhaps took an

5 When I was doing graduate work in Electrical Engineering at Polytechnic University in New York, I was able to
solve a problem in the exam using the Pascal Triangle.

6 The technical high school was a 3-year program, so I did not receive the high school diploma when I left for
NYC.

7 The GED also referred to as a General Education Diploma.

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interest in me and he asked me if I would like to study for the GED exam. I told him yes, and

that same day, this ‘Unknown Dominican’ man took me to a special program offered by the City

of New York. I was accepted into the GED preparation program, and I completed the classes in a

few months. In June 1977, I passed the GED exam with a high percentile rank that allowed me to

attend the New York City Community College (NYCCC) in Brooklyn, NY.8

It took me three years to complete the requirements for the Associate degree in Applied

Sciences (AAS) in Electrical Engineering Technology at NYCCC. I decided to study engineering

because I felt competent in mathematics. Although I graduated with the associate degree, my

English proficiency was still not good enough. As a result, I was not able to secure a job after

earning the associate degree. One day, I was talking to professor Brianza, and I told him that I

had not found a job yet. Professor Brianza suggested that I continue my studies at The City

College of New York (CCNY). CCNY offered a bachelor degree in technology that interested

me because I could complete the program with two additional years of studies. So, I followed the

lead, and I applied at City College. At the City College, I was exposed to one year of engineering

mathematics where professor Feria was responsible for the class. I did very well at City College,

graduating with the Bachelor of Technology in 1982, with honors (Cum Laude).

Even with the bachelor degree, I could not find a job. So, I decided to continue taking

classes at City College. I took additional math classes in preparation for the Master in Electrical

Engineering Program. I had the fortune to study Calculus II under professor Alberto Guzman. He

was an earnest teacher who demanded a lot. I did very well in the class. Prof. Guzman invited

me also to apply to a Summer Engineering Program at CCNY, which I did. This experience was

8 NYCCC became the New York City College of Technology (http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/).

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very positive for me. It opened the door to the possibility of continuing my studies at the

graduate level.9 Again, providence manifested itself in the form of a professor in the Engineering

Technology Department: Professor Eugene Boronow. Prof. Boronow asked me if I had found a

job. I told him that I had not landed a job yet. I told him that I was preparing to enter graduate

school. Professor Boronow informed me that AT&T Bell Laboratories was going to be

interviewing, and invited me to send my resume. I did so. To my surprise, I was hired by AT&T

Bell Laboratories in 1984 to work in Holmdel, NJ, at their research facilities.

Getting hired by AT&T Bell Laboratories opened a new avenue for me.

Providence manifested itself once again. My first manager, Mr. Robert Muise, welcomed me and

advised me that to advance in the company, it was a good idea to enroll in a master degree

program sponsored by AT&T, as part of the benefits offered to its employees.10 I was given a list

of universities that I could apply. I selected the Polytechnic Institute of New York because it had,

at that time, one of the highest rankings in engineering.11 Besides, I had visited the Polytechnic

Institute when my friend, Juan Quijije, attended there to complete his bachelor degree. I

remember that one day as I was going to New York City Community College, I said to myself: “I

am going to attend that school one day.”12 I was attracted to the Polytechnic Institute for these

reasons.

9 It is important to mention that I did my studies full time while also working full time at Bright Cleaning Company
on Long Island City.

10 When I was given the opportunity to continue with graduate studies, I felt that I was being guided to continue my
journey with mathematics.

11 Note that The New York Board of Regents approved the affiliation of Polytechnic and New York University on
July 1, 2008, creating Polytechnic Institute of NYU.

12 Polytechnic Institute was out of my reach since my income was the minimum wage at that time.

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 Being accepted at Polytechnic Institute of New York was a blessing in disguise. I was

required to take extra courses, prior to entering Graduate School, including more mathematics

courses, such as Differential Equations and more Electrical Engineering classes. This meant that

I was exposed to more mathematics and excellent professors. Upon the completion of the

requirements for entering graduate school, I had the opportunity to study the core courses for the

degree and the electives that were allowed. To my surprise, the additional studies in Mathematics

were accepted as part of the program for graduation. I completed the requirements for the Master

in Electrical Engineering in 1992, which included classes in advanced mathematics such as

Calculus, Linear Systems, Applied Complex Variables, and The Theory of Matrices.

At AT&T Bell Laboratories, I continued to take classes in Engineering and Mathematics

as part of the yearly continued education requirements. To stay in touch with mathematics, I

became a volunteer in the AT&T Summer Program in 1986, which encouraged middle and high

school students to continue their studies in engineering. I have made the conscious effort to

review the mathematics that I learned many years ago, and to stay up-to-date with the new

developments in science and mathematics. After retiring from what used to be AT&T, Lucent

Technologies, Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia) in 2012, I attended the General Theological Seminary

to be formed as a Priest in the Episcopal Church. While serving as a Priest at Holy Trinity

Church in West Orange, NJ, I introduced the God, Science, and Art Summer Program, emulating

the AT&T Summer Program in which I volunteered for many years. Mathematics is one of the

areas that is emphasized to instill in the children the love for mathematics and science.

Providence manifested itself once more in the person of Dr. Joan Burke. One day

when she was donating some things at the Thrift Shop at Holy Trinity Church in West Orange,

NJ, we started talking about mathematics. This conversation resulted in Dr. Burke’s invitation for

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me to apply to teach mathematics at Caldwell University.13 I did so. Now, I am teaching a

mathematics class to first-year students.

Other doors will be opened in the future because mathematics is always moving forward

revealing God’s secrets. It is evident that numbers have been guiding my life. To express it

better yet, God has been guiding me through the numbers.

13 Visit https://www.caldwell.edu/ for more information.