ASG president shares her inspiration

Laura Aguon
ASG President

ASG President Laura Aguon is driven by something she rarely shares: She is the single mother of soon-to-be two-year-old Aubrey, her daughter.

“It’s all sacrifice now so it’s better in the future,” said Aguon, elected by her fellow MHCC students in May.

She has rerouted her life since she learned of her pregnancy. She had been accepted into the Integrated Media graphic design program at Mt. Hood, but withdrew due to her new time commitment.

The Gresham High School graduate began to take online classes and got plugged into MHCC with ASG. She served as ASG director of communications, using graphic design skills she picked up at the MHCC-affiliated Center for Advanced Learning.

“It totally tied in,” Aguon said. By the following year, she was named ASG director of state and federal affairs.

“I definitely can attribute my continued education to student government, because if it wasn’t for being a student leader here and having the support system and the fellow student leaders… I wouldn’t be here today,” she said.

“I’m very blessed that I got hooked in.”

Aguon, 20, became a single mom after Aubrey’s father, Robert, a military man and “the love of my life,” was killed in a traffic accident caused by a drunken driver.

“Being a teen parent, and then the loss of my partner, has really put a huge wedge in what I thought I would be doing in the future,” she said. “But, I think it has ultimately put me on a better path. It’s been really hard, but it’s definitely pushed me to be a bigger person for (Aubrey).”

Aguon said she and ASG Vice President Eduardo Ortiz, as a pair, embody the epitome of a community college student. The running mates triumphed as write-in candidates last spring after a spirited ASG campaign.

Ortiz is a gay Latino born to Mexican immigrants, which he said has given him a different perspective on student events and has ultimately benefited him.

Aguon said her experiences the past two years have more closely bonded her to MHCC students on campus, “whole heartedly, because I understand what they’re going through. I understand what it’s like to choose between textbooks and a quality meal.”

As ASG president, Aguon wants to focus on making MHCC more inclusive, reaching out especially to the people who have “fallen through the gaps,” she said.

She hopes that students who are parents or attend night classes can enjoy such events as the Welcome Back Week marshmallow roast and similar festivities in the future.

ASG should ensure there is a campus resource focused on “more than just the standard norm that we see,” she said.

An example would be including more than just ethnic diversity in the new Diversity Resource Center in the Student Union: Different walks of life should all have a place in the center, she said.

Aguon said the platform on which she ran for president was crafted by listening to concerns voiced during the previous year. “I took a lot of the constructive criticism that came out of last year and put it in my platform to make sure we were touching on those bases,” she said.

Pressing issues include improved public safety, state and national advocacy and a focus on intramural sports.

Already in the works is a monthly night for students to gather and play a sport alongside ASG officers.

Aguon is particularly excited for a potential soccer game. “I would love to get out there and, you know, rub elbows with some students,” perhaps during winter term once the rain subsides, she said.

On the serious side, motherhood has helped turn Aguon’s career outlook more toward to politics, or perhaps, emergency preparedness.

“I love the stress of emergencies and what they bring on, and having to think on your feet,” she said.

Whether it be near or far, Aguon she said will transfer to whichever four-year university offers the best scholarship and feels blessed to be able to do so.

She hopes eventually to run for public office and be able “to show my daughter and young girls that we are far more than what our society puts on us,” she said. “We can face (any) adversity and we can be successful.”

And, if her two top career choices don’t work out? She could always go and “sell surf boards in Costa Rica,” she said, laughing.

Advocate Staff