Ms. Aguilar is a first year teacher at DePaul College Prep. She is a graduate of Lane Tech and DePaul University. Her original plan was to teach English, but switched to art because “where [her] heart was.”

She is a part of the Fine Arts program at DePaul, and teaches Art Foundations. This class is an introduction to art in many forms, and some of the units include drawing, embroidery, and paper quilling.

She reflects on her experience at DePaul University as greatly positive. She calls the other students “welcoming, more nice,” and admires the professionality of the professors, saying “they knew their stuff.” She majored in Secondary Visual Arts Education, which means she “enjoyed most of her time in the Art buildings.” Overall, she greatly connected with the University and its people, and says that “if [she] had to go back in time and choose a different college, [she] would still choose DePaul.”

Prior to DePaul, she taught for 11 years at a variety of schools, from “all the way from preschool to high school.” Directly prior to teaching at DePaul, she taught at ICSJ, a Catholic school. 

She appreciates the values of both DePaul Prep and DePaul university, saying that both schools “match up with [her] values and what she believes in,” which is what drew her to the schools. The main value that drew her in was “excellence” she says, something that is present in the students, staff, and performance of both schools.

One quality that she appreciates about DePaul is excellence, and that is what she looks for in her students. Not excellence in execution, but excellence in effort. She tells her students that “willingness to try” is more important than “if you’re the best, or if you’re really good at drawing.” She tells her students not to “be scared” of pursuing their interests, whether those be in art or other areas. “If you find it and you like it, go for it,” she says.