Senior Graduate Outcomes Reflective Essay
Since seventh grade, I have attended the Alameda Community Learning Center, a small grade 6-12 charter school. ACLC has not only contributed to my education in the traditional academic sense, it has also helped me to develop personal qualities that will aide me throughout my life. Two main skills that I attribute to my time at ACLC are responsibility and self-management. The many opportunities for learner leadership and learner-led events have developed my sense of responsibility. As an eleventh grader I co-led Hannah Camp, the annual camping trip for incoming learners. We were in charge of everything, from booking a campsite, to organizing transportation, to formulating an activity schedule and meal plan. Being responsible for the safety and happiness of seventy twelve year olds and thirty high school counselors in the forest for a few days was a demanding, but also exhilarating and fulfilling experience. As a senior this year, I am also running a school-wide snow trip. I plan to take about fifty learners from ACLC and Nea to Tahoe for a fun-filled day of skiing and snowboarding. Being able to say that I made these incredible events happen is a huge accomplishment and something that I am very proud of, and it never would have been possible without the support of the ACLC community. Self-management is another quality that ACLC has nurtured in me. In eighth grade I decided that I wanted to study abroad during high school, and the school was very supportive of this goal. To make this possible, I planned out a rigorous high school schedule taking lots of classes early. With all of these advanced classes to manage, I quickly learned how to use my time wisely and be responsible for my learning.
Strong academics have also been an integral part of my high school experience. I have accomplished all of the new basics by completing the ACLC graduation requirements and UC/CSU entrance requirements, but for me my education has been about a lot more than that. I have gone above the requirements in almost all areas in order to pursue my passions and explore a wide variety of subjects. I have taken a multitude of classes at the local community colleges, resulting in me graduating with over 40 units of credit. The vast majority of my courses were rigorous math classes; I took through Calculus 2 as well as a Statistics. I also enjoyed the opportunity to explore some subjects that would not have been available to me if I had not taken advantage of the community college. For example, I have pursued classes in Psychology, Astronomy, Art History, and Ceramics. This opportunity has enriched my high school experience and broadened my academic horizons.
ACLC’s unique project-based educational model strengthens thinking and reasoning skills in learners. By teaching us to think creatively and develop interesting solutions to problems, I have become a stronger intellectual thinker. This is my first year in Molly’s English class, as I previously took English at the college, and I regret not having more time to benefit from her classes. English is not my strongest subject, but I thrive in Senior English, where we dive deeper into interesting texts than I ever have before through the use of Socratic Seminars, creative writing assignments, and even watching the Simpsons. Having a teacher who isn’t afraid to push us with these challenging, yet innovative teaching strategies has made me extremely passionate about learning in that class. In addition, I have decided that I want to pursue engineering in college and beyond. ACLC offers many unique projects that sparked my interest in this intensive problem-solving career path. I have participated in the annual science fair, where I consistently move on to and place in the regional fair. One year I even placed first at the San Francisco fair and progressed to the State fair in Los Angeles, which was an incredible experience. Every year, these projects challenge me to come up with interesting new ideas and ways to go about solving them. In addition, I found the roller coaster and cardboard boat projects in Physics particularly engaging. These many opportunities to explore concepts in a more creative, hands-on environment developed my analytical skills and encouraged me to pursue engineering.
ACLC’s unique project-based educational model strengthens thinking and reasoning skills in learners. By teaching us to think creatively and develop interesting solutions to problems, I have become a stronger intellectual thinker. This is my first year in Molly’s English class, as I previously took English at the college, and I regret not having more time to benefit from her classes. English is not my strongest subject, but I thrive in Senior English, where we dive deeper into interesting texts than I ever have before through the use of Socratic Seminars, creative writing assignments, and even watching the Simpsons. Having a teacher who isn’t afraid to push us with these challenging, yet innovative teaching strategies has made me extremely passionate about learning in that class. In addition, I have decided that I want to pursue engineering in college and beyond. ACLC offers many unique projects that sparked my interest in this intensive problem-solving career path. I have participated in the annual science fair, where I consistently move on to and place in the regional fair. One year I even placed first at the San Francisco fair and progressed to the State fair in Los Angeles, which was an incredible experience. Every year, these projects challenge me to come up with interesting new ideas and ways to go about solving them. In addition, I found the roller coaster and cardboard boat projects in Physics particularly engaging. These many opportunities to explore concepts in a more creative, hands-on environment developed my analytical skills and encouraged me to pursue engineering.
Another aspect of the ACLC learning community that I have thrived in is the emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. Many of the aforementioned projects, such as the roller coaster and cardboard boat, were group projects. This presents another component to the learning experience far above the work required to simply do the project. Sometimes it can be frustrating working on group projects, especially is there are scheduling conflicts or not everyone pulls their own weight, and this has taught me a lot about how to work with people. I have developed stronger leadership and organizational skills, which can be useful when working in a group. However an even more valuable skill that I have developed is knowing how and when to let go or compromise on something if it is in the best interest of the group as a whole. These skills, which I developed over my years at ACLC, have been extremely valuable this year for co-chairing the leadership class. This enormous leadership responsibility has come with a steep learning curve, but I highly value the interpersonal skills I have developed through this experience.
Technology is an integral component of our developing culture, and it is vital for all students to be capable of working with it. My father is a software engineer, so I grew up around advanced technology, but ACLC has made it feel more accessible to me. I remember attending Summer Bridge before entering the school as a seventh grader and one of the first things we were taught during this emersion day was how to create a PowerPoint presentation. Since then, I have built upon these technology skills by working with Prezi presentations, Microsoft Excel and Publisher, and even Reason music software and SolidWorks engineering software. In tenth grade I took Engineering Design and Graphics, which is where I was first exposed to real engineering concepts and the SolidWorks program. I have just started a paid internship at an engineering firm where I will continue to develop fluency in the language of technology, which is a skill I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Technology is an integral component of our developing culture, and it is vital for all students to be capable of working with it. My father is a software engineer, so I grew up around advanced technology, but ACLC has made it feel more accessible to me. I remember attending Summer Bridge before entering the school as a seventh grader and one of the first things we were taught during this emersion day was how to create a PowerPoint presentation. Since then, I have built upon these technology skills by working with Prezi presentations, Microsoft Excel and Publisher, and even Reason music software and SolidWorks engineering software. In tenth grade I took Engineering Design and Graphics, which is where I was first exposed to real engineering concepts and the SolidWorks program. I have just started a paid internship at an engineering firm where I will continue to develop fluency in the language of technology, which is a skill I will carry with me for the rest of my life.