Say hello to Jessica Aguilar! She’s not only one of the cutest and flirtiest girls on campus, but one of the most involved too! Jess is from California and when she came to Denison, she decided to make community service a big part of her life. She joined tons of organizations and (unlike a lot of people) stuck with all of them! Most of the organizations she’s involved in involve some sort of leadership on campus, like Leadership Fellows, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and DSL. When asked why she decided to join these specific clubs, Jess explains that when she was a freshmen on campus she found it hard to be a leader in an organization in the traditional way, like the president, or the vice president, and thought these clubs were an even better way to understand what it means to be a true leader.
“I love how clubs that emphasize leadership teach that everyone has the capacity to be a leader, and it’s in all of us. It’s not like some people are born leaders and others aren’t” explains Jessica. For example, Leadership Fellows is a non-positional organization and they put on different programs and workshops such as DU Lead, Leadershape and Signature. “I coordinated stretch as a Leadership Fellow. It’s a high ropes program about challenging yourself by choice and proving to yourself that you can do what you set your mind to. Being able to do it, and organize it too, taught me so much about myself and what I’m capable of”.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is another organization that Jess is involved in at Denison. “It’s really rewarding because you get to interact with young kids which you consider your siblings. You get to be a friend, a mentor… it’s super fun. Recess is fun too!” Jess got involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters her freshmen year. “My little is now in middle school and she started in elementary so it’s really cute to see how she’s growing up”
Some other things Jess is involved in include being a DSL leader last year where Jess “helped to organize and coordinate a weeklong service trip to Washington DC for 25 freshmen”. Also, Jess is currently coordinating Signature— “a program about identity where you get to further explore your personal identity and also your identity as a Denisonian”. “Usually coordination involves doing things like contacting different organizations, like shelters, that we would work with for a specific service project. Sometimes it’s challenging but I think it’s definitely worth it” explains Jessica.
“I really hope to continue doing these things throughout the rest of my Denison career, I can’t picture what my time here would be without it” In addition to everything Jessica does with leadership clubs, she’s also a Spanish tutor and will be travelling abroad to Spain next Fall.