Reflective Essay
My name is Kayley Ryan and I have been attending ACLC since I was in 6th grade. Being at ACLC before high school and having siblings who went here before me made it an easy transition, as I already knew a lot about the school and how things were different from traditional public schools. That difference is what made me want to stay at ACLC; the project-based teaching methods of many of the facilitators here mesh well with my work habits, and it is a lot easier to get to know people here because of the small size.
Personal Qualities
I consider myself to be a very responsible person. I’ve always done my best to take ownership of my educational experience, as is necessary to have a full experience at ACLC. When I am having trouble with an assignment, I always go to either one of my peers or the facilitator whose class I need help with. Throughout my high school years here I’ve taken four college classes, which also required a high level of responsibility. For example, my mythology and folklore class was centered around reading and essays, so I had to be organized and responsible enough to get them done on time because the deadlines were strict and the content was difficult. There was almost no communication from the professor, so I had to make use of my ability to be independent in order to complete the class with an A.
Self-management is a huge, necessary part of being a learner at ACLC. The implementation of project periods encourages learners to complete their work efficiently and on their own time. Knowing how to manage time really helps later on when the workload is heavier, and I know that having the free time in middle school helped me complete assignments on time now that I am in high school. Because I know how to properly manage my time, I almost never turn assignments in after the due date, and have them completed early or on time. I am even writing this during one of my project periods.
New Basics
I have always been a very artistic person, although I have managed to gain more confidence in my art since I came to ACLC. Artistic expression is not only accepted at ACLC but it is encouraged and is a meaningful part of our campus. We have murals, paintings, and other art projects made by learners displayed around the campus. Being surrounded by such an accepting community helped encourage me to focus a lot on my passion for art. I’ve managed to sell art on multiple occasions and even had my own gallery to show it off. In the future, I intend to continue creating art, and I hope to open a small business and start a comic series. The comic would include a fantasy world and characters that I’ve crafted myself, and I’ve been working on them and developing new information about them since I was in 6th grade. In the time since then, I’ve filled countless sketchbooks with new concepts and ideas related to this world. Because I’ve put so much work into it and it often occupies my mind, I consider it to be one of the most important things to me.
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Although my interests in science may be considered niche, I have always had an appreciation for all areas of science. I have most enjoyed biology and environmental science, but my top pick will definitely have to be physical anthropology. I took a class on physical anthropology at Berkeley City College during my junior year, and I can say with confidence that it is the most intriguing class I’ve ever taken. I learned about genetics, evolution, fossil records, and more. The class was difficult and included long lectures and a lot of writing, but I finished with an A and I loved every moment of it. I am even considering studying anthropology when I go to college.
Thinking and Reasoning Skills
I consider creative thinking to be one of my greatest strengths. When assigned a project, I almost always go the creative route if it’s an option, and I do my best to think outside the box. Whenever possible, I’ll choose drawing over writing because I feel that I can express myself a lot better that way; a picture can represent something that’s much harder to put into words. In my World History (11th grade) and Government (12th grade) classes, we had a few projects that can be used as good examples for this. In Government, we had an assignment for a New York Times contest that involved creating a piece of work that represented the experience of being a teenager in 2021. I chose to make an animation that gave insight to a day in the life of a teenager in the midst of a global pandemic, combining heavy topics, humor, and art to make it an enjoyable and meaningful video.
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Visualization and creative thinking go hand in hand. Since I’m a primarily creative person, I visualize just about everything I do in some shape or form. For me, information is most easily understood when it’s in pictures rather than just words.
Interpersonal Abilities
Group projects are one of the most important parts of the ACLC learning experience, with facilitators often opting for projects rather than exams. Formerly someone who only enjoyed individual work, I’ve learned how to work well in a group and enjoy it at the same time. Cooperation and communication are key factors in a good group, and these are two things I’ve had to work hard to appreciate. For example, this is my third year being a small group leader. This calls for participation between both my co-leader and I, as well as the small group itself. Planning and leading CCCs requires a lot of communication, because they’re events for the entire school to take part in. I pride myself on my communication abilities; I always contact people when I have trouble or if I have new ideas. This can help keep the group together and working hard on the task at hand.
I’ve been a part of ACLC’s Leadership class since my freshman year here, minus 11th grade. Arguably the most significant part of Leadership aside from discussing and voting on proposals is leading CCCs, with learners who are part of the class being the small group leaders. In addition to planning the activities, we lead the classes in pairs. It can be difficult to encourage people to participate in CCC, but that’s a big responsibility of the CCC leaders.
Being a good leader is more than just speaking in front of groups. This year I was one of the editors for Speakeasy, the school newspaper, as well as one of the leaders for that bevy. This required a huge need for communication between a lot of people. As one of the leaders of this project, I pitched a lot of ideas for what could be put into the newspaper, both for submissions and the editing aspect of it. It’s often hard to motivate people to submit their work, so a lot of encouragement was required; I also took the initiative to talk to people outside of the bevy, and received submissions from them too.
Technology
At ACLC, assignments are more often digital than physical. I don’t consider myself to be a particularly tech-savvy person, but I know that I’m at least capable and I’m confident enough in my knowledge. I know how to use the computers and printers here, and I’ve been introduced to all sorts of new websites and programs that facilitators have used for classes. I’ve learned how to intertwine technology and creativity to do my best work, especially for presentations when I can create slideshows with an artistic touch.
During distance learning, especially, facilitators experimented with a lot of new forms of technology. Websites that I was introduced to are Peardeck, CommonLit, and Turnitin, to name just a few. The most difficulty I had with a program was during the precalculus bridge project. We had to make a digital model of a bridge of our own design, and the program, Bridge Designer, was incredibly difficult for me to figure out. I overcame that difficulty, though, and scored a 100% on the project. I had never heard of any of these websites or programs before, but discovering the ins and outs of such a large variety of them helped me better understand how to make use of technology at ACLC as a whole.
Conclusion
ACLC is a weird school. It's definitely not for everyone, but after staying here for six years I think it's safe to say it was a pretty alright match for me. It's unique, and is nothing like "traditional" high schools, but I think that's fine. It's a completely different community than what you would find anywhere else, and I really like that.
One of my favorite things about ACLC is one of the biggest reasons that people are driven away from it. I am a person that finds great value in independence, which is something that is strongly encouraged here. Learners have plenty of free time to, for the most part, spend however they please. Like I said, this school isn't for everyone; it depends on a person's work ethic. Some need more structure than what this school provides, but others, such as myself, thrive in this kind of environment. To be honest, I don't think I would feel nearly as ready to move onto college if I went to a different school.