Many believe that, in order to get an “A” in a class, you must be academically gifted. Ethnic Studies teacher Mr. Aguilar is here to disprove that notion.
“Anyone can get an A, it just takes hard work and communicating with your teacher,” states Mr. Aguilar.
He also advises, “Life won’t just happen, you won’t just achieve what you want by sitting there and doing the bare minimum.”
Mr. Aguilar’s main point is that he just wants to prepare students for the next stage in life, if they’re willing to try. He believes personal accountability and personal choices play a major role in students’ success in his class.
When prompted about his grading style, he mentions that, although he is lenient, the finals do matter. “You don’t have to get every single question right, but if you put in the effort to try, eventually you’ll understand.”
A lot of how Mr. Aguilar runs his class relates to his own high school experience. Spending his high school years at St. Mary’s College High School, in Berkeley, Mr. Aguilar was not very passionate about his education, doing the bare minimum to get by. He recounts that he didn’t try as much as [he] should’ve and that he just went with the flow of things as he didn’t want to go through all the effort.
However things changed for Mr. Aguilar when he was attending class at Laney College in Oakland. During class one day, he vowed to himself to take initiative and be engaged. As the school year progressed and the semester was coming to an end, Mr. Aguilar watched as his final grades were A’s. “All it took was to try and engage to get an A, anyone can do it,” states Mr. Aguilar. Graduating from UCSB as a history major, he is currently pursuing his master’s at St. Mary’s College of California.
