Recently, the Spectrum staff decided to procure some words of wisdom and advice for students who will begin their college experience at Penn Valley in the fall. As I meandered from the Spectrum office, downstairs to the Atrium Cafe, I was asking myself, "Who should we look to for this advice and these words of wisdom?"

As he slid my latte across the coffee bar, Chris Aguilar, one of the Atrium Café's full-time employees, told me that he really enjoys his job here at Penn Valley. "Some of these people… I look at them and say, 'he reminds me of my son,' or 'she reminds me of my daughter,'" he said.

Chris Aguilar

Aguilar said that his barista job at Penn Valley reminds him of bartending jobs that he has held in the past. "It's always fun to hear the stories that people bring to you. You get wisdom from the older students. I'm a firm believer [that], rather than make my own mistakes, I can learn from somebody else's," said Aguilar.

At the age of 43, Aguilar has often relayed snippets of his past experiences to me as I waited for my coffee. I asked Aguilar if he would be interested in sharing some of those experiences, and the lessons he has learned from them, with the student body of Penn Valley. He graciously complied, and proceeded to give candid, thoughtful answers to my questions.

Aguilar said that most of the lessons he has learned, he had to learn the hard way. While growing up he was often known as the class clown, and he basically refused to listen to anyone's advice. One of the greatest obstacles that Aguilar had to overcome was growing up with a father who was an alcoholic. Now, Aguilar and his father are "the best of friends," but that wasn't always the case.

"For a long time I blamed my father's alcoholism on my failure to do anything in life. I always said 'he's not going to control me.' I started to realize that I [was] blaming him for everything, which meant that he still controlled me....I finally woke up and realized, 'it's not my father, it's me now… when do I take responsibility for what I've done?' So I turned it around right then and there. I quit blaming [my father]."

"When I see capable people using their bad situation or bad relationship with their parents as a crutch for the rest of their lives, I have very little sympathy for them. At some time in your life you have to take responsibility for your own happiness, or your own downfall," Aguilar said.

Twenty-four years ago, Aguilar was a student at Penn Valley. However, the prospect of making a good salary and working a "manly" construction job enticed him to leave his education behind. Looking back, Aguilar said that he wishes he had taken advantage of his opportunity to finish his college education.

"If I knew then what I know now, education would have been my priority, my utmost one concern in life. I would have continued, and struggled, and really put effort into [my education] because it would have made my life a lot easier now."

Aguilar expressed his hope that Penn Valley students would not trade their education and their long-term prospects for the chance to earn some extra money in the short-term future as he once did.

"No matter how tough it gets — no matter how rough it gets — these four, to six, to eight years of your life are going to be nothing when it comes to facing the rest of your life. So, no matter how much of a struggle you might hit...how much of a snag...don't ever give up. Because when you look back, you'll see this as the precious little time you spent to better yourself."

"Although I love my job, it's still a job, and I've got to get up and hit the time clock by six. I'm still under that control. I would much rather have stayed [in college], gotten what I wanted out of life — gotten what I wanted out of education — and owned that coffee shop myself," said Aguilar.

Incoming students who are coffee junkies such as I am will likely develop some sort of relationship with Aguilar. He enjoys talking with students, telling stories about his past, and giving people a hard time for the drinks that they order. However, students should be aware of the unspoken rules that govern the ordering process at the cafe.

"This stuff that the customer is always right… it's only right when I say it's right. I love the conversation, but we're not 'hold the pickles, hold the lettuce'...I have to tell some people, 'hey, hey, quit pinching the cookies...keep your hands off the cookies,'" Aguilar said.

In case you have already forgotten, there are three major things you should have learned from Aguilar's advice: 1. Do not give up on your education no matter how arduous the path becomes.

2. Take responsibility for your own downfalls even if it seems easier to blame someone else.

3. When ordering at the cafe, do not request a drink that sounds like your weekly grocery list, and don't ever, ever, pinch the cookies.

Copyright 2007 Metropolitan Community College