As a graduate of ACLC class of 2014, I am ready to take my life to the next level. ACLC has done its amazing job teaching me about many skills and abilities that will help me succeed in life. Skills such as technological and interpersonal abilities, thinking and reason skills as well as academic benefits are very useful every day. I believe that higher levels of education such as college will only further my skills in life and my goal to becoming ideal citizen.

 

     Completing all of my high school years in ACLC taught me that you must be responsible in your own learning. Whether it means using your free time efficiently or taking charge of your learning, it is all on you to make use of what is given. At first I thought that works assigned at ACLC was easier compared to traditional school since students are given lot of time with less homework. I later realized that students are given more time because they are supposed to use the opportunity to plan, produce and perfect their work which is greatly beneficial to the learning rather than grades that everyone chases to get. To me being responsible also means that I must show interest and enthusiasm to everything I am investing time in. I think it is more important to thoroughly learn about the subject and get lower grade than not understand the material but manage to receive “A”. ACLC also taught me about integrity and honesty with the JC system and overall personalities of the students. When you also get into higher grades such as 10, 11 and 12, younger students look up to older learners to learn and copy their behaviors. If you show honesty and smart conscience when dealing with others, not only does it makes you look respectable, trustworthy and reputable but also encourages others to act the same.

 

     I believe that listening is one of the best ways to receive knowledge of any kind. I always thought that those who know about the subject more than me in depth and extensively will help me achieve and learn the same things they did. Listening how and what others think is the best way to learn about any type of subject because we all have different perspectives on everything and each one should be accounted for. There are never wrong answers when the question reasoned by perspectives, morals and ethics. Listening respectfully to anyone that could teach me new things is something I always do whenever it is meeting new people or familiar faces. Also sharing your ideas that you collected from others and spreading your thoughts for others to think and talk is important aspect of my learning as well. I am able to look at certain issues from different angles in Jake’s Government class because there are reasons that various happened or happening right now. Current world issues such as Syria and U.S conflict could be viewed form many perspectives and I try to look through all of them. In this issue, I can look from Obama’s, Assad’s, U.N’s the Americans as well as Syrian citizens’ perspectives. Sharing what you know with others is another crucial step in mastering the subject because you should be able to explain and give cohesive ideas about the topic if you truly understood it.

 

     With the amazing teachers that ACLC had, they taught me many ways of learning things that would best suit me. One of them was visualizing it in your head. This was helpful especially to memorize formulas that were required in most science and math classes. Another was using logic to think about the various math and science problems because most things have even the smallest logical reasons behind them and understanding them could mean understanding the subject I am trying to learn. Anything could possibly be looked from practical angle. This skill helps me the most in science classes because they are subjects that are built on logical thinking that if something is this way, there is a reason behind it.

 

     Rather than being the leader or the organizer in most groups, I prefer to be the member that contributes greatly to the group with anything that we are trying to accomplish. I believe it is the hard works of the members that make most things happen, not just the leader. While leader is greatly needed to help members stay on task and plan the whole work, ultimately members are the ones that have to make it a reality. With my experience as member in various groups, I had the chance to work and thrive together with many different diverse groups. I also understand the each group has specific needs and goals that they want to achieve and it is most effective when the whole group is working towards a common goal. To make that a possibility, you have to negotiate and compromise their interests so that everyone could be happy and could progress. 

In the 21st century, computers became necessary tool. Computers are machines that could greatly improve your work rate as well as save great deal of time. Sometimes it is even required to type your essays or give online presentations in ACLC so I had to adjust and learn many new things that could be done on the computer that could greatly improve my efficiency. Computers are crucial part of my learning and working aspects. It almost seems impossible to imagine a world without it.

 

     Skills in all aspect, both interpersonal and technological will definitely help me in life along with thinking and reasoning skills that I have learned in ACLC. I think I have spent my previous years of high school to my advantage and I will continue to do so till I graduate because I know everything I learned and will learn will be useful in life.