Senior Reflective Essay
In my six years as a learner here at ACLC, my learning experience has been amazing. The atmosphere at ACLC provides a challenge for any learner to adjust to a different style of school and I’m happy to say, that after these six years, I have met the graduation standards of ACLC. The skills I have learned here are more than just reading, writing and math skills. They are people skills, leadership skills, and listening skills. All of these you can’t learn in a standard school. These skills have helped me live a better personal life; I am happier, more approachable and friendlier than ever before.
In my first year at ACLC, I was a little nervous and unsure how to go about doing things and my desire to goof off and play around over whelmed my will to finish my work during free periods. I felt that managing my time was extremely hard to accomplish and I kept slipping into a world of freedom to goof around. But then my eighth grade year, I was able to overcome my playful desires and work hard and do much better than the previous years. And now, my ability to manage my time has increased by leaps and bounds. I am no longer putting playtime before work and I feel I am doing better than ever in that skill.
I have always been average at math and through my first year of math, I struggled to understand and grasp the concepts of the Pre-algebra class. But taking it over was a great opportunity for me and I realized my failures in the previous class could be changed. Armed with a new understanding of math, I continued on into each class and passing every math class I had over the years. And though the grade I received was not the grade I wanted, I always tried to come back to my mistakes from the previous year and try to correct them as best I could.
A basic class I have always been adequate in is English. I have always been very good at English because I enjoy reading and writing a lot. But I had no idea how elementary my writing skills were until I arrived at ACLC. I needed to learn how to write essays and such assignments all over again because the way I had been writing the assignments wasn’t clear. I realized this and I worked really hard on each essay to tweak my writing into a well-tuned, muscle car type of work and I amaze myself when I reflect on how far my writing has come since the old days.
Because every learner is surrounded by technology at ACLC, each learner, though they may not realize it, has learned something new about all the technology at our school. I have never really been technologically inclined, but since coming to ACLC, I have learned how to use PowerPoint, word, publisher, and all the basic educational tools as well as learning how to fix little bugs in computers that interfere with my work.
One of the skills that I considered the most important to me is my leadership skill. I always want to be looked at as a community leader and one who helps out everyone with any problems at any available time. My first taste of being a serious community leader was when I volunteered as a counselor for Hannah Camp. It was a tremendous experience and I gained a lot of respect from fellow counselors and learners. Since them, I have joined leadership and became a small group leader, and I am now working with a fellow learner to run Hannah Camp this year. I consider those two things as major difference makers in my life. Because of my experiences with Hannah camp and leadership, I am well respected by all learners and facilitators and have become a friendlier and more approachable person.
In Conclusion, I have enjoyed all my years here at ACLC. I love how the different experiences come in handy at the most convenient times. I wouldn’t trade my experience here for anything else in the world because I know I wouldn’t be the person that I am today without ACLC. I have met the graduation requirements for ACLC with some difficulty, but some ease as well and that balance reflects my years of learning at ACLC.
