Introduction: Hello, my name is Bethlehem Melaku. I was born and raised in Oakland, but my family is from Ethiopia. I have been a student at ACLC since the 6th grade, and I'm glad I decided to stay all this time. Going to ACLC has allowed me to take ownership of my education, and be the best student that I could possibly be!
Personal Qualities, Work Habits, And Attitudes: I believe that one of my best personal qualities is my ability to handle responsibilities. I took college classes almost every year in high school, joined clubs, became a JC Clerk. Outside of school, I did 2 internships (one is still in progress), and I worked a part-time job. To be truthful, it is tiring, but my goal is to have a successful future, and I believe that starts in high school. No matter how much I may want to give up, I push through the struggles. Besides, if I can't handle all of this stuff now, how can I manage college? Another one of my strong qualities is time management. I am good at pacing myself when it comes to dealing with my responsibilities. Throughout the week, I work on assignments from my internships, as well as my classes. Since I go to work on weekends, I try to get my homework done during the week. I try and use my planner to map out all of my assignments, so I don't forget to do time. I also utilize the project periods we have at school to get my work done. Because I don't have that many classes (especially as a senior), I have a lot of free time. Since I am good at time management, that free time doesn't go to waste.
New Basics: Writing is very important to me because it allows me to express myself in multiple ways. During my free time, I write poems relating to my activism, or any other world issue I feel is important to me. I also enjoy writing essays for Molly's class because I get to show my analytical side. Writing also allows me to show my creative side. For my Common app essay, I wrote about how an anime character inspires me to be a good person. Speaking allows me to express my thoughts verbally, which I believe is more powerful than writing. In my freshman year, I joined the ACLC Junior State of America (JSA) Chapter, which was a debate club. We went to a convention filled with students from other schools and chapters, and we got to debate them. I got to use my speaking skills to use and share my ideas with others! Another thing I love to do is recite poems. I have recited many poems at school, and I hope to recite more in college as well. My goal for the future is to use my writing and speaking skills to inspire other people.
Thinking and Reasoning Skills: In my Economics class (college class), we have many discussions about the morality of economics. One discussion we had was based on a Ted Talk, where someone talked about her growth. They said was that we as humans are pushing planetary boundaries for the sake of economic growth. The assignment asked if we agreed or disagreed, and we were asked to state our case. While I do appreciate the system in which we live and work, I understand that there is a lot of room for improvement. Since our planet is dying at an increasingly high rate, we need to make a decision: prioritize our economy, or save our world. I chose the latter because there won't be an economy to worry about if we all due climate change and lack of resources. With this discussion, I was able to demonstrate my understanding (or opinion) of how our economic and environmental systems work, and how they relate of affect each other. Though I'm not good at creating visuals, I am good at understanding them. Since I am a visual learner, I prefer to look at visuals, rather than numbers and letters. One of my favorite projects was the Hidden Figures project in Patricia's geometry class, where we created drawings using geometrical shapes. That project helped me understand geometry a lot more than before! When it comes to math in general, I tend to do better on units that involve graphs and symbols.
Interpersonal Abilities: One of the most important skills to have as a student is the ability to work with others. Group work is something that we will do past college and in our professional careers. Though I prefer to work alone, I can participate in teamwork when I have to. One of the most demanding assignments was the Mock Trial in Lynn's English class. There were so many aspects of the assignment, that every group member had to complete multiple tasks. For the project, I played my role as the prosecutor well by helping my group members collect evidence and research and prepping the witnesses for testimonies. In the end, our teamwork paid off because we won the trial! Being a JC Clerk has allowed me to exercise leadership in ways I'd never seen before. I've never seen a school that encourages democracy amongst students, let alone a student-run democracy. Being able to lead a student-led system like JC has taught me a lot about myself. One of our jobs as clerks is to make sure that no unfair punishment is being given by the jury. Since we go to school with middle schoolers, it can be hard to steer kids away from giving a punishment that is too harsh. There have been times where I've had to convince younger learners that the punishment they want to give might not solve the problem. Going through this experience has allowed me to see that I have the ability to persuade others to do the right thing. I'm proud to say no one has gotten suspended through JC in my 3 years of being a clerk!
Technology: Over quarantine, I had to use technology for my class every day. Since our school was on a zoom format, I had to use my computer for my academic needs. On top of that, both of my internships were online. I had to go on zoom, as well as create posters and videos to complete the tasks for my internships. I also used my computer to create my resume and various job-related applications, as well as apply for colleges. If you go to ACLC, you know that our printers are not always the most reliable. Sometimes they just stop working for no reason. One time, I was trying to print something, but the computer wants connecting to the printer. I didnt know what went wrong, but I did what I usually do when things stop working: unplug it, plug it back in. And it worked! I've learned that with technology, all you usually need is a quick restart and things will be back to normal again.
Conclusion: ACLC has given me the best academic experience that I've ever had. And I know that I would not be as much of a good learner if I went to a different school. Aside from the academic aspect of ACLC, I appreciate the overall environment. To be honest, I didn't want to go to ACLC at first because I thought it was "weird." I mean, "The Vibe You Can't describe?" How lame! But I gave it a chance anyway because, why not? Being a student here has let me be who I am. I know are some aspects of me that wouldn't be accepted at a "normal" school. But that's what I like about our school. We have created an environment in which students can excel, not just academically, but personally as well. I know I wouldn't be amazing as I am today if it weren't for ACLC, so thank you for that!