Senior Portfolio: 2013-14 

I'I have been at ACLC for seven years. During that time I have grown significantly as a person. When I came to ACLC as a sixth grader, I was quieter and far less mature. From my time here, I have grown louder, in a good way, and have matured into the person I am today. I have also learned useful, important skills that will accompany me into the future so I am ready for whatever it is that I will do. It is because of ACLC that I am ready for college and whatever lies beyond.

Personal Qualities, Work Habits and Attitude

 During my time here at ACLC, I have learned the skills of time management and cooperation with others. The skill of time management has been used to my advantage. Of course, my advantage was doing what I wanted to do now and doing the work later. I went by the philosophy of eat dessert, or free time, first and then eat dinner, or work. The problem with this philosophy is that your stomach has a limited capacity, or time until your work is due; and you need to eat your dinner, but not necessarily your dessert. So over the years, the trick has been finding a way to eat all of my dinner and some of my dessert. With a lot of trial, error, and time, I have found that the best way to get work done, for me. I would do my work and in between assignments I would take a small break. This way doesn't always work because there were times where I had to work cooperatively with other people in order to complete an assignment. I needed to use the skill of cooperation in order to complete those assignments. When those times come up, the team and I would usually break the assignment into sections, which every group member would work on individually. I would be sure to complete my section on time, as I do not want to let my team members down. When most of the sections are completed, we would come together and work to finish any sections that are not completed and fix any sections that do not work. It is because of ACLC that I have learned the skills of time management and cooperation with others.

New Basics

The classes of ACLC have benefited me by letting me learn things that interest me and by making me continue my education. While I don't have interest in every subject that is taught at school, I am curious about certain subjects, like Astronomy or Cultural Geography. Sadly, at the time these classes were not available at ACLC, so I got to go through the process of signing up for classes at the College of Alameda. I have taken two classes at the College of Alameda, one more than what is necessary to graduate. I took the extra class because I was interested in what I could learn, but also because ACLC supports the idea of taking more classes than what is needed to graduate. I have taken more classes than what is required in subjects such as Math because it felt like I should continue to build on my education. It is because of ACLC that I know that I have an educational background that will ready me for college and what lies beyond.

Thinking and Reasoning Skills

ACLC has allowed and forced me to think creatively and strategically. While it is usually about how to use my time, there are many times where I have been forced to think creatively during a project. An example of this was in 9th grade when I was working with a group of two on the roller coaster project for our Physics class. I came up with the idea of having the roller coaster go through a mountain. While the roller coaster never worked and our project plagued with problems, I have always felt that the mountain idea was a good idea that was worked on for weeks after the due date but, sadly, was unable to be completed. ACLC has allowed me to think creatively.

Interpersonal Abilities

ACLC has allowed me to build my skills as a leader and as a follower. ACLC's Leadership class and group projects have bolstered both of these skills. I am able to effectively coordinate people to work on specific parts of the project. An example of this was the 9th grade Boat Project, where my team and I had to build a cardboard boat and get it to the other side of the Encinal pool. During the project I had to work with a team of three. We had to work with each other's schedules in order to figure out when to build it. I had to do some leading on the project by making sure we were on task. However, some others also did some leading. I learned that it is important to lead and to follow. I have acquired both of these skills leading thanks to ACLC.

Technology

I have had to use a lot of technology at ACLC. The more I have used technology the better I have gotten with it. Examples of these different technologies would be programs like Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. When I first got to ACLC, I had no skills with PowerPoint. I gave my presentations too many colors, images, and sounds. Over the years I have learned the importance of having a simple PowerPoint that catches the eye, and that the presentation is more important that the PowerPoint, itself. I know that in the future that my experiences with technology will allow me to succeed. I have learned a lot at ACLC. The science, history, and math that I have learned will allow me to be knowledgeable about the world I live in. The skill of time management will allow for me to succeed at any project I work on. Being able to think creatively will allow me to solve any problem I run into. Being able to use technology will allow me to survive in our tech-heavy world. Being able to lead and to follow will allow me to work in any position in a group. ACLC has taught me the skills that I need to survive in our modern world.