REFLECTIVE ESSAY

The ACLC community has helped me feel like whatever I choose to do; I will be able to do it.

When I came to ACLC, I wasn’t the best at writing, I didn’t know how to put my thoughts into words, and English didn’t come as naturally to me as it did to my classmates. I worked countless hours to try and improve my writing, and I realize now that the mistakes are what got me to where I am now. Each facilitator makes the classroom a safe space, where learners can make mistakes and learn from them without feeling embarrassed. After my three years at ACLC, I can truly say that I am more comfortable and confident at expressing myself in my writing. 

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Some of the classes that I took at both ACLC and the college presented a lot of challenges, but I was able to easily adapt and work through the struggle because of the work ethic that I have continuously developed throughout my time at ACLC. While certain classes were challenging, looking back on them now I appreciate the challenge and am glad that I was able to put in the work and achieve a level of understanding that makes me feel a sense of accomplishment.

One of my favorite opportunities at ACLC, which I hope to continue in college, was being part of the leadership class. I got to embrace the ACLC model and take part as a member of a democratic society by deciding proposals, voting on rule changes, planning school events, and leading a small group. Leadership required me to step up and be a leader which pushed me out of my comfort zone. I'm used to being vulnerable in front of a group based on my experiences in music, but leadership made me step up and lead. I appreciated the opportunity because now I feel more comfortable using my verbal communication and leading skills.  

With the different learning technics at ACLC, I discovered which learning method was effective for me. I realized that I learn by hearing and seeing things, but also with hands-on activities where I can physically move items. The class that made me realize that hands-on activities add to my learning was Geometry. We were working on translating shapes, and I didn’t understand it. I learned that I didn’t have to be ashamed of needing extra help to see it. I was given a piece of tracing paper and was able to move it around to see where the shape was moving.

I learned that hearing and seeing methods also work in English class, especially in honors English 4. The summer assignment, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was hard for me to understand, but I found that listening to the book as I followed along and annotating helped me comprehend the text. 

ACLC taught me to set goals, and once I set those goals to achieve them. About halfway through my sophomore year, I realized that I could graduate a year early. I worked with my parents, teachers, and counselor to achieve this goal. I took extra college classes and doubled history classes in my senior year, and as a result, I will be graduating this year, 2021, a year early. Similar to setting goals, ACLC taught me to problem-solve, when I wasn’t happy with a grade, I could figure out what I had to do better next time or make the incorrect work up. I learned that almost every problem had an answer that I could solve.

One of my favorite things about ACLC is project-based learning. For the most part, ACLC didn’t have final exams. Instead, it would be a final project. Sometimes the project would be individual, but other times they were group projects. I learned how to participate in a group, without doing too much, work with different opinions, and incorporate detail into the work that mattered when it came to a final grade.

In US History, we were assigned a podcast project and grouped with 3-4 other learners. In my group, we did a ton on researching, writing, and we all had different opinions on what topics we should discuss, but we incorporated them and got an A on the assignment. I worked as a leader taking ownership of parts of the project, but also I was a follower when someone else had an idea. We communicated ideas and negotiated when we encountered a disagreement.

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Recently, in English 4, I worked with other learners in my group to recreate a scene from Hamlet. It was hard to do over Zoom, and I didn't particularly know anyone in my group, but I still worked with others to reach a goal, and we ultimately got a good grade. 

ACLC has a wide assortment of technology; printers, desktop computer, and Chromebooks for each student in every classroom. Technology was essential during the COVID-19 pandemic when we switched to distance learning. ACLC made sure that every student, no matter what, had access to technology so they could get an education.

I used the ACLC printers a lot during the school year, to print out science fair information, or my English essay. It was extremely important for me to be able to write my essays and almost every other assignment on a laptop and be able to then print and reread it.