Cool Kid Jenniffer Aguilar uses her experiences to help other kids

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Our ABC7 Cool Kid for Thursday, June 12, is 19-year-old Jenniffer Aguilar.

The senior at New Village Girls Academy has faced a lot in her young life. She was abused as a young girl and sent from family to family in the foster care system. Aguilar got caught up with drugs, gangs and alcohol, and, at 14, she had a baby. Then, legal troubles brought her in front of a judge and to a decision.

"I'm standing there, like, 'I'm really going to lose my daughter. This is the point where she's going to be lost forever and I'm never ever going to see her grow up or ever have her in my life,'" she recalled. "That was the point where I said, 'No!'"

At St. Anne's, Aguilar decided to take charge and change her life. Then in high school, she worked with Enrich L.A. and came up with an idea to help troubled kids who were dealing with some of the same situations she experienced.

"We built gardens in public schools and we teach the kids how to garden. And at the same time, we're giving kids the skills to communicate with each other, to not be angry, and it's therapeutic," she said.

Now, as she raises her daughter, Angie, and continues her education, Aguilar is hopeful about her future. She has big goals, but all with the same idea: to help others.

"I"m going to finish to get my Ph.D. in Psychology. I want to get my associate's in environmental science and my master's in child development. I want to help kids," said Aguilar.

She said at one point in her life, she felt "lost in the world." Now she wants to be a guide for others who might feel the same way.

Watch Jenniffer Aguilar's story above.