I have been at ACLC for six years. When I first moved to ACLC I was a scared naïve middle schooler, who did not know much about the world. ACLC has been a welcoming community and one of the many places I feel at home. What other school would allow me to sing and dance through the school? Or sit on the couch during school hours? Or play apples to apples in the center? Or take part in a student run judicial program? ACLC is a unique place where I feel at home. I have gained so many qualities, work habits, and attitudes that I will continue to work on throughout my whole life.
Throughout my years at ACLC I have adopted many valuable work habits, attitudes and qualities that have and will help me in my future. First off, I have become a much more optimistic and confident person. I was a very negative person when I first came to ACLC, but now that I have experienced life at ACLC, I feel that there is hope for my future. The teachers have helped me gain confidence in my academic skills. Because I am able to ask lots of questions and receive help during my free periods, I have grown as a student. The teacher student bond gives me confidence because I know that facilitators have my back and will be there for me. In addition to teachers, older learners have also helped me gain self-esteem. I look up to them because they have been in my shoes, going through the same exact process of growing up and transitioning into college. They did it, which means I can do it. As well as providing an inspiration, I have talked to many older learners who have given me valuable advice. Just like the teachers, they also help learners, especially me, gain self esteem. I have also learned how to self manage during my time at ACLC. I finish all my assignments and know when I am supposed to be at class. I have arduously gone through the impossible COA process, and taken multiple college classes, a few without anybody I knew. I have also learned to manage my time with free periods. I have not procrastinated (well at least not as much) during my high school years. I have balanced sports, musical, and homework well maintaining my health, and still having some time to see my friends. It definitely has not been easy, but I have grown as a person.
I have become a better writer, I have taken an abundance of math and science classes, but the most valuable academic skill I have gained at ACLC is speaking. Endless PowerPoint presentations, LLCs, and Socratic seminars have submerged me in the material as well as helping me become a more comfortable speaker. I have gained confidence through presentations, which will help me with future careers and college. Some of my favorite memories were from debates in my ninth grade English class and AP Euro class. Winning multiple debates boosted my confidence and made me realize that I enjoy and can always improve at speaking, even though it can be stressful at times. After taking college Classes at College of Alameda, I already feel very prepared and confident while giving presentations. I have given numerous presentations in psychology and sociology class, all of which I have felt good about and received good grades. In addition to speaking I have also mastered mathematic skills. I have taken many different math classes up to calculus. I even got to take statistics at College of Alameda. I have really found my passion for math and I hope to continue advancing my math skills in college.
I have also gained thinking and reasoning skills. I have learned how to memorize and study. I remember one of my first tests was in Julian August’s humanities class. I got a D on my fist ever history test in sixth grade. I was devastated! For our next test he helped us through the studying process and it became clear and easier to study. I improved on my tests and since then I have become better at studying and thinking. In addition, I have also learned how to problem solve. Since many of the assignments are projects there is a lot of room for things to go wrong. This can be frustrating, but this gave me the opportunity to fix things and improve them. For instance my Rube Goldberg project freshman year was one of the most frustrating things I have ever done. There was one problem after another, so it took about forty tries. My partner and I worked diligently solving every problem and making the proper adjustments. Even though it did not work at first, we made it work and got an A on the project.
ACLC’s project based learning has helped me to participate as an effective team member. I have had many group projects, sometimes with people I like, and sometimes with people that I do not get along with as well. I have learned to work with everybody. I have learned how to be an effective group member as I worked to complete a copious amount of projects thought my years at ACLC. I work hard by doing my part in the projects and contributing my skills to the group. It is really hard not to take control of the whole project. In my earlier years I used to take charge of the whole project and do it alone, but since then I have learned that people bring different skills and not everybody is perfect at everything. By collaborating there is a possibility for a really strong project, I have also become an effective team member in sports. On my track and cross-country team I have learned how support my teammates as well as take advice from others. Being on a team has really helped me to unify with others and work together.
When I fist came to ACLC, one of the first things I talked about when I got home was how excited I was that there were so many computers that we could use all day. I was obsessed with my ACLC login, I even logged onto most of the different computers so I could change my backgrounds into cute pictures of random fluffy animals. Since then I have been consistently caring and using computers in the center. I have also learned how to troubleshoot computers due to the fact that most of the ones in the center are never working. I use the computers to do projects with online tools including PowerPoint, Prezi, Video making an more. This knowledge has helped me create some amazing projects that I feel great about. I have also learned how to use a graphing calculator, which has helped me with my math classes at ACLC, as well as COA classes.
Over my time at ACLC, I have acquired many valuable skills that will help me in my future. I have learned how to manage myself and time, have confidence in what I do while I gained skills in reading, mathematics, and most importantly speaking. I also know how to think, learn, and problem solve and have been working on and improving these skills since sixth grade. I also work well on teams at school and on my running teams. I use the computers to make wonderful presentations for my classes. Wow, I am a senior. I never thought this time would come, but I am ready to move on to new chapters of my life. Using Thoreau’s theology, I am leaving ACLC for as good as a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more schools to attend, and could not spare any more time for ACLC. I have learned so many valuable skills and made so many extraordinary friends that will stick with me forever.
Throughout my years at ACLC I have adopted many valuable work habits, attitudes and qualities that have and will help me in my future. First off, I have become a much more optimistic and confident person. I was a very negative person when I first came to ACLC, but now that I have experienced life at ACLC, I feel that there is hope for my future. The teachers have helped me gain confidence in my academic skills. Because I am able to ask lots of questions and receive help during my free periods, I have grown as a student. The teacher student bond gives me confidence because I know that facilitators have my back and will be there for me. In addition to teachers, older learners have also helped me gain self-esteem. I look up to them because they have been in my shoes, going through the same exact process of growing up and transitioning into college. They did it, which means I can do it. As well as providing an inspiration, I have talked to many older learners who have given me valuable advice. Just like the teachers, they also help learners, especially me, gain self esteem. I have also learned how to self manage during my time at ACLC. I finish all my assignments and know when I am supposed to be at class. I have arduously gone through the impossible COA process, and taken multiple college classes, a few without anybody I knew. I have also learned to manage my time with free periods. I have not procrastinated (well at least not as much) during my high school years. I have balanced sports, musical, and homework well maintaining my health, and still having some time to see my friends. It definitely has not been easy, but I have grown as a person.
I have become a better writer, I have taken an abundance of math and science classes, but the most valuable academic skill I have gained at ACLC is speaking. Endless PowerPoint presentations, LLCs, and Socratic seminars have submerged me in the material as well as helping me become a more comfortable speaker. I have gained confidence through presentations, which will help me with future careers and college. Some of my favorite memories were from debates in my ninth grade English class and AP Euro class. Winning multiple debates boosted my confidence and made me realize that I enjoy and can always improve at speaking, even though it can be stressful at times. After taking college Classes at College of Alameda, I already feel very prepared and confident while giving presentations. I have given numerous presentations in psychology and sociology class, all of which I have felt good about and received good grades. In addition to speaking I have also mastered mathematic skills. I have taken many different math classes up to calculus. I even got to take statistics at College of Alameda. I have really found my passion for math and I hope to continue advancing my math skills in college.
I have also gained thinking and reasoning skills. I have learned how to memorize and study. I remember one of my first tests was in Julian August’s humanities class. I got a D on my fist ever history test in sixth grade. I was devastated! For our next test he helped us through the studying process and it became clear and easier to study. I improved on my tests and since then I have become better at studying and thinking. In addition, I have also learned how to problem solve. Since many of the assignments are projects there is a lot of room for things to go wrong. This can be frustrating, but this gave me the opportunity to fix things and improve them. For instance my Rube Goldberg project freshman year was one of the most frustrating things I have ever done. There was one problem after another, so it took about forty tries. My partner and I worked diligently solving every problem and making the proper adjustments. Even though it did not work at first, we made it work and got an A on the project.
ACLC’s project based learning has helped me to participate as an effective team member. I have had many group projects, sometimes with people I like, and sometimes with people that I do not get along with as well. I have learned to work with everybody. I have learned how to be an effective group member as I worked to complete a copious amount of projects thought my years at ACLC. I work hard by doing my part in the projects and contributing my skills to the group. It is really hard not to take control of the whole project. In my earlier years I used to take charge of the whole project and do it alone, but since then I have learned that people bring different skills and not everybody is perfect at everything. By collaborating there is a possibility for a really strong project, I have also become an effective team member in sports. On my track and cross-country team I have learned how support my teammates as well as take advice from others. Being on a team has really helped me to unify with others and work together.
When I fist came to ACLC, one of the first things I talked about when I got home was how excited I was that there were so many computers that we could use all day. I was obsessed with my ACLC login, I even logged onto most of the different computers so I could change my backgrounds into cute pictures of random fluffy animals. Since then I have been consistently caring and using computers in the center. I have also learned how to troubleshoot computers due to the fact that most of the ones in the center are never working. I use the computers to do projects with online tools including PowerPoint, Prezi, Video making an more. This knowledge has helped me create some amazing projects that I feel great about. I have also learned how to use a graphing calculator, which has helped me with my math classes at ACLC, as well as COA classes.
Over my time at ACLC, I have acquired many valuable skills that will help me in my future. I have learned how to manage myself and time, have confidence in what I do while I gained skills in reading, mathematics, and most importantly speaking. I also know how to think, learn, and problem solve and have been working on and improving these skills since sixth grade. I also work well on teams at school and on my running teams. I use the computers to make wonderful presentations for my classes. Wow, I am a senior. I never thought this time would come, but I am ready to move on to new chapters of my life. Using Thoreau’s theology, I am leaving ACLC for as good as a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more schools to attend, and could not spare any more time for ACLC. I have learned so many valuable skills and made so many extraordinary friends that will stick with me forever.