About Justin Kelley-Cahill

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--Intro

Over the six years, I have been at ACLC, I have learned many new and important skills that I would not have learned anywhere else. I remember the first day I attended ACLC, I was scared and shy because this was a whole new school for me and I didn't know many people. It was middle school, a whole new world with new, scary, but exciting things to come. In the coming weeks I made some new friends that were in the same boat as me, so we decided to take on this unique experience together. I have learned a lot over my time here, and I am thankful for the experience of a different type of high school. It has given me a different perspective on how one can learn about the world. I believe that I have learned some fundamental life skills here that I wouldn't have learned if I attended a regular high school like Encinal.  

--Personal Qualities

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During my time here at ACLC, I have found that being responsible for yourself is critical, if you are responsible you can open many doors of opportunity. The primary way I learned how to be accountable for myself and my learning was in project periods, or as most people call them “Free Periods.” This is a period of the day where a student could choose to do whatever they wanted; whether it is homework or playing on there phone, it was their choice. This was where I learned the important skills of responsibility and self-management. I was given the same two options that every other student had, work or play; unfortunately, I picked play. This was when I was in six grade and didn't really knew what to do with the time, so I usually slacked off and played games with my friends, thinking that “I had time to do it at home”, but I would soon find out that was the wrong type of mindset. My grades took a hit during my first year due to my lack of responsibility to work, but during my seventh-grade year, I got a handle on what my priorities were: my learning. After I had taken hold of my own education, my grades went up, and I was getting the best grades in all of my years of school. I also learned in this process about self-management. I learned this skill by putting my priorities of learning in front of my free time, making sure that I had the time to do quality work. One instance that comes to mind when I think of putting my free space aside was in 7th or 8h grade when I was doing a major English assignment. I wanted to go see a new movie that just came out with my friends, but I decided to stay home and work on my English project; it was a good choice because I got an “A” in the end. 

 

 

 

--New Basics

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Communication is an essential skill to have in life, but it can be hard to learn it at first. It takes practice and time to truly communicate in a comprehensive and thorough way, I personally learned this skill by talking to my friends and my teachers at ACLC. When I didn't understand a math question, needed an extension on an assignment, or needed help, I went up to a teacher or friend and explained my situation. At first, I was shy and scared to talk to such people because they were grown-ups or I didn't want to embarrass myself, but after a while, I gained the confidence to speak up. This skill also transferred over to my writing, such as email and essays, but also in my speaking. The way you speak is very important as if you don't know what you're are talking about,  you can mess up the meaning of your thought or argument. I learned this by publicly speaking and by going job interviews; they both require thinking through tough questions or topics and expressing your side comprehensively. One specific example of this is when I was putting on “Fear Fest,” I had to speak to a lot of people about the event to make sure there was supervision and approvie to do it. I had to make sure my points were to easy to understand so that everyone I talk to got it.

 

--Thinking and Reasoning Skills

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School can be difficult at times with all of the work, extracurricular's, and college apps; it requires some skillful problem solving and prioritizing skills to get through it all. My whole grade and I have experienced this many times, for example, I remember having a major assignment due in Molly’s class that required a group of students to act out a scene from Othello by William Shakespeare. This project required many elements; acting, costumes, and editing the script. It required a lot of work, but we sat down and planned out what everyone would do and when it would be done by. I made the “Play Bill” programs while my partner edited the script; this splitting up of the work helped minimize the work for everyone, making the project easier to accomplish. We visualized what we wanted and planned around that (almost like an outline), we also used reasoning so that the work we were doing was not too much but not too little.

--Technology

We are now living in the 21st century where technology is used in all corners of our lives, it can be overwhelming sometimes with all of the new and innovative things but also very useful. I used technology, like computers and my phone, to communicate with people and create things. It comes in very handy when working on big assignments or even when you need to communicate with people on projects.  

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--Conclusion 
In conclusion, my time here at ACLC has been one of the best and most eye-opening experiences I have had in my life. I grew up with a class of amazing students that stuck together through the tough times. Even if people transferred they still came back everyone I whale or stayed in touch with people. The life skills I learned there were also super helpful and gave me the courage and drive to reach for my highest potential. It will be hard to leave ACLC, it's a little scary to go to college, but I will have the memories and skills to live my best life and make it my own.