JOSHUA DICKEY
Senior Portfolio Essay
ACLC has helped me develop many important personal qualities, foremost among them being teamwork. With all the group projects and class efforts, it would be hard not to improve my cooperative skills. I have also been more diligent in getting my work done; ACLC has taught me the dangers of procrastination, and how I can better manage my time to effectively get my work done.
All of my basic skills have vastly improved in my years at ACLC (as they should have, after 7 years!). I speak English better than most adults, and have a decent grasp on Spanish. My critical reading skills are more developed than 90% of California students, according to my California STAR Test results, Since I have completed Calculus, I am confident in my mathematical abilities. Being a Judicial Committee clerk has improved my listening skills, while being a CCC MC both last year and this year has improved my speaking skills.
My thinking and reasoning skills have grown considerably in my time at ACLC. It is important to know how to learn in life, to ensure that learning doesn’t stop with school; this is a skill that I think is one of my better ones. Whenever I have a problem or need to do something, I figure it out, and teach myself how to do it, anything from fixing my bike to building a café. I have always been a creative thinker; I’ve always had big plans for my future, and have dozens of ideas on how to achieve what I want in life. My decision-making hasn’t always been the best; (just ask Carlton about the spool of wire!) but over the years I’ve learned to think before I act, weigh the pros and cons, consider the repercussions of my actions, and make the best decision. ACLC can sometimes feel like a constant problem that needs solving, and in my years in Leadership, as a JC clerk, and as a primary fund-raiser for the class of 2014, I have solved many problems that I’ve come across. I’m a good visualizer, which is shown by my effective use of Prezis in many presentation projects. My ability to reason is one of my best, I’m able to look at the facts and draw conclusions that make sense.
As mentioned earlier, my cooperative skills have increased at ACLC considerably, far more than it would have at other school, I think. I’ve learned how to work in groups large and small, from Leadership to JC to class fund-raising, working well with others is essential in day to day life at ACLC. Furthermore, I’ve learned how to lead groups; I know that a good leader isn’t the best at everything, but he knows who is. A leader’s responsibility is to put people where they can be most effective, and I believe that I excel at this.
Technology has always been my friend, but being at ACLC has made me truly appreciate the versatility of the technologies that we have available to us today. I am well versed in many important programs like Word, Excel, Photoshop, and even Solidworks. I am especially proud of my skill with Solidworks, a CAD program that most people don’t get to familiarize themselves with until their later years in college. I believe that this will give me a step up in my future courses, because as a Mechanical Engineering major having a basic understanding of CAD programs is a luxury that many students will not have.
All my years at ACLC have made me a well-rounded learner, confident in most academic areas. The unique opportunities that ACLC has given me have allowed me to grow into a hardworking individual who is appreciative of knowledge. These qualities will follow me throughout life, improving it in almost every way. I feel very lucky to have gone to ACLC and been educated in the way I have. I feel that it has given me an advantage that I will not take for granted.