Gaby Aguilera

Maria ‘Gaby’ Aguilera grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico with her parents and her older brother and sister. Deeply disturbed by the level of corruption in the government of her home country, at the ripe old age of 15, Gaby decided that she wanted to be a politician. She further decided that to be effective at this, or any other high-level job in her native Mexico, she would have to learn English. This was a decision that greatly changed the course of her young life.

In order to pursue her desire to learn English, Gaby moved to Portland, Oregon to stay with family friends, Mary and Brenda. There she attended high school and did her level best to cope with the normal teenage challenges of fitting-in, making friends and doing well at school – all while she tried to learn an unfamiliar language. When asked how she learned English well enough to get through her high school classes Gaby responded, ‘Well, I read a whole lot. I started with children’s books – you know, the ones for little kids – and I worked my way up. And I carried an English dictionary with me always. At first I had to look up every little word anyone said to me. But then, gradually, I was using the dictionary less and less…”

After high school and at the encouragement of her high school guidance counselor, Mr. Stern, Gaby enrolled in community college. Soon after that she transferred to the University of Portland. Her intended major was political science. But, after taking several math and computer science electives she realized how drawn she was to these areas instead and in the end she graduated with a major in CS and a minor in math. As the first person from her family to go to college Gaby could well have ended her journey in higher education there. But she’d heard about graduate school almost from the time she was a sophomore in college and she wanted to explore all opportunities. Knowing that it is not cheap to go to graduate school, she searched for somewhere with reasonable tuition and a good graduate program. Having had our own Dr. Karen Ward as one of her professors during her freshman year it was not hard for her to discover UTEP as an option – and the fact that it was only a few hours drive away from her family made coming here all the more attractive!

So Gaby came to UTEP and she has been in love with this place ever since. “I’ve been so lucky to have Dr. Teller as my advisor,” she says. “She introduced me to the whole exciting world of research and she’s been there to guide and push me every step along the way. Yup, I really love this place – I love being able to speak in Spanish or in English, I love being around people who understand and appreciate my culture, I love being able to get real Mexican food, I love my friends in SSEAL, I love my classes, I love my professors, I really just love this department!”

As she looks back on the journey that started when she left Mexico at age 15 and as she considers where she is today, getting ready to graduate with her master’s in another semester or so, Gaby realizes that there have been a lot of people who have made this experience special for her: “My parents and my family have been so loving and supportive. Mr. Stern and Mrs. Webber, Mary and Brenda in Portland, Dr. Ward and Dr. Teller – these people have all helped shaped my life in an amazing way. I have been really lucky.”

And for those of you who may be reading this and wondering if graduate school is the right choice for you, or wondering if UTEP may be the right place, Gaby has a few words of advice: “If you’re thinking about grad school, then, just do it! That’s what I did and I am so happy that I took the plunge. And I can’t say enough about UTEP and this department. If you are looking for a great school that will help you to accomplish your goals, and if you are looking for great people who will support you along the way then this is the place to be!”