How Montclair Turned My Passion for Service into a Career in Policy and Child Advocacy

Jose Carlos Aguilar spent last fall helping children find safe places to live, one of several internships and fellowships that have taken him into child welfare, government and advocacy work. At Montclair State University, he has also contributed to child maltreatment research and taken on leadership roles, building toward a career in government and child protection.

Looking back, Aguilar, a double major in Political Science and Child Advocacy and Policy, is surprised by where those experiences have taken him.

If, as a high school senior, you told me I’d have these opportunities, I would have said absolutely not. I knew I wanted to work in government, but I didn’t think the Governor’s Office or these fellowships were for me. Having a strong support system has given me values and confidence that I belong in those spaces.” – Jose Carlos Aguilar ’26

Learning Through Internships and Fellowships

For Montclair, his story is one example behind its recognition as a top 30 public university nationally – rankings that highlight how well its graduates are prepared for strong outcomes after college.

From state offices to child welfare agencies, Aguilar has worked in a variety of settings during his time at Montclair, including:

• The Division of Child Protection and Permanency, where he helped children who had been removed from their households and worked to place them in new homes or reunify them with family.
• The Governor’s Office, where he contributed to outreach efforts in the Labor Relations and Stakeholders Engagement Unit and saw how government initiatives can support underserved communities.
• Supporting the research of Professor Emily Douglas in the Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy, analyzing child maltreatment data across the United States.
• A combined undergraduate and graduate research team, led by Douglas, examining safe haven relinquishment data in partnership with the National Safe Haven Alliance; the team surveyed Montclair students about their attitudes and opinions on safe havens, and their work was recently accepted for publication in an open-access journal later this year.
• Campaign and leadership development experiences, from putting lessons from his Campaign Politics course into practice by phone banking, canvassing and knocking on doors for a candidate to participating in fellowships such as America Needs You and the Governor’s Hispanic Fellows Program.

Inspired by a First-Gen Grad

Aguilar’s path to Montclair began years earlier, when his aunt, Montclair alumna Daisy Layme ’20, a Molecular Biology major, brought him to campus as a sixth grader to study in breakout rooms; she tutored him in science while he helped her with Greek mythology, one of his passions.

Seeing his aunt as the first in the family to go to college, at a Hispanic-Serving Institution filled with people who shared their background, convinced him that Montclair was both aspirational and attainable.

Theater as Training for Public Life

Aguilar, who grew up in both Passaic and Clifton, also visited campus for theatre events and programs with his vocational high school. At that school, he focused on theater, working both onstage and behind the scenes. The experience made him comfortable speaking to different audiences and aware of how he moves and communicates. “I’ve been able to take that away and put that into the field that I’m in now,” he says.

Aguilar carries forward an improv principle that guides how he engages with others. “I believe in ‘yes, and,’ a technique where you listen and then continue the conversation. That’s important for someone like me who wants to go into policy and public service. Listening to people, gaining their experiences and driving the conversation forward to better serve them – that excites me.”

COVID: A Turning Point Toward Policy

It was during his senior year of high school, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that Aguilar began to set his sights on serving others. 

“I saw people going through unfortunate circumstances and the federal policies enacted didn’t seem to be in the best interest of the public. I started acquiring more knowledge. I became fascinated by what was going on globally, locally and statewide. I went beyond politics to wonder how policy worked – who drives these things.”

“Seeing leaders pushing forward agendas and policy that I align with, I thought to myself, how can I put in the work to do that?”

Next Steps in Public Service

As he prepares to graduate in May 2026, Aguilar, an EOF scholar, continues to serve in leadership roles with three student clubs: Child Advocacy and Policy, NJAEA Future Educators Association and Spark Pride Alliance.

“If my career allows me to better my community, the state of New Jersey and help others, I’ll feel satisfied,” he says.

“Having been given so much, I can’t be a taker – I have to be a giver. That’s my commitment right now, and wherever I end up, I know for sure I want to serve the public.”

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