Getting Older
I have spent six years at the Alameda Community Learning Center, and during this time, I have gained many academic and professional skills. ACLC is not just a normal high school in nearly every element. While sometimes it may feel as though we are heading in the direction of traditional learning, other times I look around and see how different we really are here.
I began my ACLC career in the fall of 2006 as a sixth grade learner. My class was considered to be a big class because we had 25 learners rather than the normal 24. In the years since then, the sixth grade class typically has 40 learners. It took me some time to adjust to middle school and to the ACLC environment, as ACLC was not at all what I had expected. I was not used to all the freedom ACLC gives its learners and ended up getting a couple of bad grades. Once I pulled myself together and adapted to the learning environment the Center provides, I excelled.
My freshman year of high school, the 2009-2010 school year, I decided that I wanted to graduate a year early. I talked to the guidance counselor and the college counselor as well as my parents and with a lot of help, I will be graduating after three years in high school. Many people ask me, "How were you able to do that? Are you just, like, really smart or something?" To that, I have to say no, I am not unusually smart or extraordinarily intelligent. I am simply ambitious and I have been fortunate enough to attend a high school that can make possible the learning ambitions of all its learners.
Throughout my time at the Center, I have taken a variety of classes. I have taken honors level math, science, social studies, and English classes. I have also taken courses at Laney college. Being challenged in classes like Honors PreCalculus and Chemistry have taught me how to manage my time and learn when I need to ask for help. I have been a Teacher's Aid for Science 8 and Algebra 1 and have had the pleasure in helping learners better understand the material being taught.
ACLC is a very project-based school. During finals week, when all of my friends are stressed out and cramming for tests, I work on projects for various classes. Many facilitators assign group or partner projects and we are assigned group members to work with. While sometimes group assignments can be frustrating, ACLC has taught me how to delegate tasks. I tend to take a leadership role in my group, but I make it a point to listen to the ideas of everyone else in the group. By delegating different parts of the project to the other members of the group, everyone has an equivalent amount of work to complete and the work load doesn't fall on one person.
By attending ACLC, I have become proficient in many technology mediums. From making photo copies to replacing printer ink to creating presentations on PowerPoint, ACLC has forced me to learn these programs to succeed.
Friends that attend traditional high schools have always been envious of my free periods and the small homework load I have had over the years. Some say it is simply too easy and what could I possibly do all day? It's true that I have rarely done homework at home, after school or on the weekends, during my three years in high school. Because of ACLC, I have been able to work on extracurricular tasks during school and be a part of organizations that I may not have been able to participate in if I had attended a normal high school.
ACLC allows its learners to experience an environment most people don't get to experience until college. I have been able to attend a class, work on homework for a different one, take a break, socialize, eat, attend another class, and go home and relax. Because of this, I think I am more prepared for college than most of the Class of 2012 in Alameda.
ACLC's environment has not only been good for me, it has benefited me in ways such as these: work habits, technology expertise, collaboration on homework and projects, time management, presentations, communication, writing and reading, leadership skills, and public speaking skills.
I would like to say a big thank you to ACLC. While I have been frustrated with the school more often than not, I would not be where I am today without it.
I began my ACLC career in the fall of 2006 as a sixth grade learner. My class was considered to be a big class because we had 25 learners rather than the normal 24. In the years since then, the sixth grade class typically has 40 learners. It took me some time to adjust to middle school and to the ACLC environment, as ACLC was not at all what I had expected. I was not used to all the freedom ACLC gives its learners and ended up getting a couple of bad grades. Once I pulled myself together and adapted to the learning environment the Center provides, I excelled.
My freshman year of high school, the 2009-2010 school year, I decided that I wanted to graduate a year early. I talked to the guidance counselor and the college counselor as well as my parents and with a lot of help, I will be graduating after three years in high school. Many people ask me, "How were you able to do that? Are you just, like, really smart or something?" To that, I have to say no, I am not unusually smart or extraordinarily intelligent. I am simply ambitious and I have been fortunate enough to attend a high school that can make possible the learning ambitions of all its learners.
Throughout my time at the Center, I have taken a variety of classes. I have taken honors level math, science, social studies, and English classes. I have also taken courses at Laney college. Being challenged in classes like Honors PreCalculus and Chemistry have taught me how to manage my time and learn when I need to ask for help. I have been a Teacher's Aid for Science 8 and Algebra 1 and have had the pleasure in helping learners better understand the material being taught.
ACLC is a very project-based school. During finals week, when all of my friends are stressed out and cramming for tests, I work on projects for various classes. Many facilitators assign group or partner projects and we are assigned group members to work with. While sometimes group assignments can be frustrating, ACLC has taught me how to delegate tasks. I tend to take a leadership role in my group, but I make it a point to listen to the ideas of everyone else in the group. By delegating different parts of the project to the other members of the group, everyone has an equivalent amount of work to complete and the work load doesn't fall on one person.
By attending ACLC, I have become proficient in many technology mediums. From making photo copies to replacing printer ink to creating presentations on PowerPoint, ACLC has forced me to learn these programs to succeed.
Friends that attend traditional high schools have always been envious of my free periods and the small homework load I have had over the years. Some say it is simply too easy and what could I possibly do all day? It's true that I have rarely done homework at home, after school or on the weekends, during my three years in high school. Because of ACLC, I have been able to work on extracurricular tasks during school and be a part of organizations that I may not have been able to participate in if I had attended a normal high school.
ACLC allows its learners to experience an environment most people don't get to experience until college. I have been able to attend a class, work on homework for a different one, take a break, socialize, eat, attend another class, and go home and relax. Because of this, I think I am more prepared for college than most of the Class of 2012 in Alameda.
ACLC's environment has not only been good for me, it has benefited me in ways such as these: work habits, technology expertise, collaboration on homework and projects, time management, presentations, communication, writing and reading, leadership skills, and public speaking skills.
I would like to say a big thank you to ACLC. While I have been frustrated with the school more often than not, I would not be where I am today without it.