Introduction

I have been at ACLC since 6th grade.  And I can't even remember or would recognize that sixth grader that walked into the center all those year ago. I couldn't recognize that quiet and shy 8th grader that graduated from middle school at ACLC a few years ago.  And I don't know where I would be without ACLC helping me improve my academic skills.  And I never thought that I would be able to ask my English facilitator or even other facilitators for help on an homework or on an essay for there class. I don't know where I would be academically without my experiences at ACLC.

Personal Qualities

    The most influential part of my life has been scouts, because it has changed my life for the better in many ways.  And has given me some of the best leadership experiences.  It also has helped my with time management,  and this has changed the way i spend my time in and out of school for the betterment of myself.

New Basics  

At ACLC I have drastically improved my academics.   I know that it is nowhere near where it should be, but this because of my learning disability. I don't know where I would be without  the help of my teachers.  As a student I have learned that I will always have a hard time in english classes because of my learning disability.  During my time at ACLC, i have been able to improve my writing abilities and  get it to where it is today. I can only improve with time.    

Thinking and reasoning

    One of the advantages of my learning disability is being able to visualize how things work. And because of this, I can visualize the final picture before I have even started.  For school projects, this is helpful because I can see the final picture then start to get there.  And for all the design of projects that I blueprint this is a quality that I have sean as a blessing. When i see how something works i can then later visualize it and then reconstruct it in my mind. For example the engine of a car i can visualize most parts that are involved in the its operation so i can have a better understanding of how it works. This skill is nice since i  like to draw technical drawing and blueprints of misukanis, things like houses and miscellaneous parts for random things.

Interpersonal Abilities

Because of scouts i have learned what it is to be a leader.  And the first thing they taught me was that before you can be a leader you must be a fowler or a team member.  And this is one of the things that most people don't know.  And went to let others lead is also what is a part of being a leader.  As well it is not the leader's job to just watch, they teach the skills to those who don't have them then help them after with the tasks.  I have experienced their first had with my eagle project and many other times in scouts.  I will always remember when i first taught a new scout how to tight a knot then they helped another scout learn the same task i helped them with.  And i still to this day carry around the cards from (NYLT) national  youth leadership training and (nls) national leadership seminar.  These and the experiences using the nola get that they gave me to reinforce what it is to be a leader.

Technology

I know the help that technology can bring first hand because of my learning disability.  I have used programs to help me with writing to taking notes on a computer.  This past year, I started to finally start to use technology to my advantage in school by taking digital notes, by using a program called onenote. And even though my current computer isn’t ideal for this it is helping me in so many ways, I am ultimately looking to get a computer that will allow me to take notes in all my classes including math.  Last year I started to take notes for biology on my computer and my notebook was then all digitally and I could go back and actually read my notes be cause they were tipped. I know that I have come a long way with technology and I have learned to use it for my betterment.

Conclusion

Looking back on my growth and experiences, I have come a long why in many aspects of my life. From using a computer to taking notes, to writing my essays for English.  But there is still a long way to go, and I am prepared for what’s to come next; I have spent a lot of time thinking about my future.  The strange phenomenon is that for my career, I am looking at becoming a middle school history teacher.  I find it interesting that if you ask some people my age about their career plans, they don't know what their career will be.  I have a clear vision, and I  am prepared to make it to that goal and am passionate about it.  So i know that I will do great moving forward and  it only gets harder from here on out.