Aileen Cerda ’23 lives by the mantra that everything happens for a reason. Events in her life have born this out. The political science major says that though Guilford wasn’t her first choice, little by little, she realized it was the college for her.
“I liked that Guilford was very small and community based. I get a little bit of social anxiety when it comes to going into big places, and Guilford isn’t like that,” she says. “It was bound to happen because I liked the school a lot from the start. I just didn't come to realize it until I was accepted.”
Exploring Her Interests
Born and raised in Greensboro, Aileen enjoys being near her supportive parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico and have encouraged her to pursue her dreams. When they noticed their daughter had a gift for sharing her opinion, they suggested that she pursue a law degree.
“It's common for parents to have a big influence on what you do with your life,” Aileen says. “Their words of encouragement pushed me to find out if law school was the right path.”
At first Aileen thought there was a specific major she had to choose to go into law school, but she soon realized she could choose anything that interested her. That turned out to be political science.
“There are so many social issues in our political system that really are crucial,” she says. “It’s affecting everyone, and I think that studying political science and understanding it would allow me to be of help somewhere.”
If Aileen’s legal career pans out, she may decide to specialize in family law, immigration law or corporate law. She is currently the president of the Pre-Law Club at Guilford and helps other students as they prepare for the LSATs and applying to law school.
Solving Problems
Aileen says the education and training she has received at Guilford would prepare her for a range of workplaces. Her experience in the Principled Problem Solving (PPS) program has been especially beneficial as a scholar and now as a peer mentor. As a PPS peer mentor, Aileen is helping to reestablish the program by attending meetings using her experience to advise board members.
For scholars, the year-long program involves two classes, one in the fall and one in the spring. The first one is an introduction of the concepts and the core values of the PPS program. “It starts to get you engaged in the critical thinking,” Aileen says. “They teach you how to think, they open you to new ideas. This provides skills so that when you graduate, you're able to engage in real problems in the world.”
As part of the program, the scholars are required to complete an internship. Aileen chose to intern at Eliza’s Helping Hands, a social work agency in Winston-Salem, N.C., that offers domestic violence and anger-management classes to offenders and services for victims.
“For part of the internship, I got to see some of those real-world problems, and we would talk about in class,” she explains. “When I started to encounter problems during my internship, I started to see that I can really apply the skill sets and strategies that I learned in the PPS program. I experienced a little bit of everything from the work environment within the internship to the environment outside of it in the legal field, which was very beneficial for me because of my law school aspirations.”
Reflecting on Guilford
With graduation coming in May, Aileen reflected on the support she has received over the years.
That included the help of JPS professor Michael Costolo whom she said was good advisor and an amazing professor. Political Science professor Ken Gilmore has also had a big influence on Aileen’s academic career.
“I really like the way he teaches and how easy it is for me to engage in his teaching,” she says. “No matter the topic, he makes it interesting.”
Aileen leaves some parting advice: “Take every opportunity that comes your way even if you think you're not best suited for that opportunity. We all have to take risks, and we learn from those opportunities,” she says. “We have to make sacrifices, which is very hard, but I think that's one of the things that has contributed to why I am the person I am. I want to do the best that I can. Even if you’re not the best student in class, everyone has potential.”