In room 1136 you can find the exceptional AP Spanish and Literature teacher Dr. Inguanzo, always smiling and giving her all in the classroom.

Teaches AP Language and AP Literature

She seems ideal to teach high level Spanish classes. “I love language; and literature is the sophisticated expression of the language,” said Dr. Inguanzo.

What excites her about her classes are her students and, of course, the things she is able to teach in those classes. Also, she appreciates the experiences she gets to share with her students because she has been teaching for more than 20 years.

If she had to choose her favorite subject to teach, she would choose literature because it is more complex, and she loves to read. “If I had the choice of teaching another class I would choose one that teaches me, one that would challenge me to learn new things. For example, I love French; I know a little, but I would love to be good at it,” she said.

Life in Cuba

She was born in Cuba, next to the sea, where she did not like living under a dictatorship. “I had happy moments; I loved to smell and feel the ocean, but also, horrible moments because of a political and social system that didn’t give me options as a person,” said Dr. Inguanzo.

She had a lot of sadness as a child, especially when she was left alone at 11 years old because her parents were forced to leave Cuba because of political reasons, and instead of meeting again in 4 months, it would be 6 years before she would reunite with them in Miami.

While she was studying in Cuba, her favorite subjects were literature and history. When she first discovered “El Quijote” she knew that literature was her passion. But also, her generation liked to read a lot, and the government only published classics such as Proust, Sala, etc.

She left Cuba when she was 17 years old, full of traumas because of all the struggles she went through. While living in Cuba, she had surgery and she had to go to therapy and endure all the pain alone. She was really lucky that the doctors there had compassion and accepted to treat her after her surgery because in Cuba minors have to go with a guardian to the hospital.

Jobs before teaching

Dr. Inguanzo had many jobs before coming to teach here at Miami High. “We, immigrants always have that harsh life when we get here,” she said. “When I came from Cuba, I worked at a bakery and in a Western Union. Then, little by little while studying, I worked in a jewelry store. I always worked for someone; that’s why I tell my students the importance of studying something they love because it’s really sad to work for someone else’s business or in something they don’t like.”

Those first jobs weren’t torture; however, she knew they were steps in her path that would help her continue studying and would take her to a brighter future. “I would say that my worst job was giving advertising for turrones in Publix. However, it did have a bright side because shemet someone very special in that time.

Life as actress and writer

“I can’t say when or where I started feeling a passion for the arts, but I was an artist since I was a little kid. I was 6 or 7 years old and I loved to write sonnets because I had these little books of sonnets and I tried to imitate them. My dad always took me to La Casa de la Cultura so I could recite them,” she said.

In college she studied philosophy and theater. She graduated from Miami Dade College in 1997 and then from FIU in 2001, where she got her masters and in 2010 she completed her doctorate degree in Spanish Literature.

“My first job after college was in Coconut Grove Elementary in 1997,” said Dr. Inguanzo. In 2000 she started working and studying full time at FIU as a teacher assistant and instructor. While working all these jobs, she was acting, and till today she is still acting.

Her first acting job was as a student at Teatro Prometeo in Miami Dade. “All of my works are big writing jobs for me because they are part of me,” she said.  She is most proud of her acting in “El Chivo” (2001) and “El Extravio” (2005). Also, she is proud of her upcoming book of poetry to be released in the fall at the 2018 Miami Book Fair.

She thinks that the best qualities an actor or a writer could have are to be prepared, be very selective, and to study a method. She also says that writers have to read and write a little every day.

“What excites me the most about acting is representing a character, when I characterize a character I give my all and don’t think about anything else. I study my characters very well. For that, we need an intellect. That’s why it frustrates me a lot when I see actors that don’t have any intellect; now I am being arrogant, but I don’t like actors that don’t have their own intellect or preparation,” said Dr. Inguanzo.

She has worked on a lot of plays. Last year she did “Lorca” and “A Story of Rene”. She writes about a lot of things like chinerias y japonerias. Writing relaxes and gives her that peace of mind that she is always searching for. She has published two poetry books and has a finished novel that she is trying to publish.

 Life outside of school

Dr. Inguanzo likes to do a lot of things for fun, including reading and traveling. She also likes to see Miami like a tourist, but not a tourist that only takes pictures, but to discover the deepest parts of Miami and beautiful places. In spring she went to Fairchild Tropical Garden because she wanted to walk out in the open and see butterflies. She also watches a lot of good cinema, likes to eat good and meet up with friends, and do exercise and yoga to relax.

For her it is not difficult to forget about school on vacations, and it is really necessary because “Sometimes you are in front of a classroom with 40 students with 40 different needs, and some are vampires. They take all of my energy,” she said.

She has many routines that are good habits, but she had one bad habit. It was smoking, but she quit in 2000. She likes to do different things to break that routine of doing the same every day.

Family

Dr. Inguanzo has been married for 20 years to her husband who majored in philosophy and now works at the University of Miami and Miami Dade College teaching History of the Arts and History of Design.

“He cooks really good and plays the violin, I think I married him for that reason. I think we are a perfect match because we like the same things,” she said.