Isabelle Renderos
Personal Essay
September 1, 2017
ISSA SENIOR YEAR
When I got to ACLC junior year, it was a tough time for me. I didn't know anyone and I wasn't used to the environment. I was previously home schooled from 6th grade to 10th grade, which made going into a public Charter high school difficult. But it was a choice that I wanted to make. It was the social aspect that I wanted to experience. And when I got to ACLC, the people here made it very welcoming and open for anyone to be there. To be honest, the two years I've been at ACLC were the toughest years of my life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Personal qualities,Work habits and Attitudes
Since I can remember, I've always been able to display responsibility. One of the responsibilities that I enjoyed doing in junior year was being a TA for my chemistry teacher. It was a wonderful experience and taught me new things including to always strive to be better. I try to put that extra level of effort so I can accomplish something to the best of my ability. My sociability skills are also amazing. I cooperate and work really well with others. The jobs that I've had in the past have always been with many people, including having to work in teams. I adapt great to group settings and love to be friendly because I believe in always treating people how you want to be treated.
New basics
I remember ever since I was little, I always had a book in my hand. Reading was a very big passion of mine and it was something that I've always enjoyed. I especially enjoy fiction books and history books. They always inspire great ideas in my head and help me when I need to be creative on writing assignments at school. Including writing essays or even when it came to having to film a movie project in my spanish class. Also, for just going to ACLC for one full year, my writing skills have developed tremendously and quickly. I've been able to tackle so many things I thought I couldnt, Including being able to take texts apart and analyze them from different points of view.
Thinking and Reasoning skills
Coming into ACLC I developed new learning techniques that will forever help me in the future. Including how to talk and properly engage in socratic seminars. I also learned that annotating text helps to understand pieces of texts more, including looking at the text differently and asking questions. Ive also always had a great skill at creative thinking. It's a skill that I've actually took pride in. Ever since I was little I could always remember dreaming for the future. When I was in elementary school I wanted to be a teacher, when I was in middle school I wanted to become an editor and slowly that turned into me wanting to become a director. It's a passion that I've always had, but never acknowledged it as a career. But slowly I realized that it was something I really wanted to do. So my plans for future is to go to school for film, and hopefully do something like that in the future. I've also had a skill to keep situations from escalating, ny properly assessing the situation and decide a plan to solve or settle out something that's great for both people. Like when I've been at school and we could either be in class or outside of class and if a problem erupts, I will do my best to solve the problem to the best of my ability. And when it's over, both parties feel content with their ending decisions.
Interpersonal Abilities
I cooperate greatly with others. Especially in school when we have group projects, I think I work even better when we have teams. I remember when I was in junior year, Molly assigned groups parts of texts that we had to reenact and we got assigned a pretty long scene. But we managed and pushed through and all of us were everyone equal parts and I put in ideas and made sure everyone else's ideas were heard. It all turned out great, we even got an A on that project. Coming from an independant studies I acquired more independant skills, so I think working with my classmates I helped with teach them new sets of independently working, for example just encouraging them to finish or giving them sort of an outline to help themselves when they get home. I'm constantly ready to help anyone if needed, even when I see a colleague or classmates struggling, I will help them to the best of my ability. At work, constantly my coworkers will need help or struggle with something, and I will help to try and fix/solve the problem. For example, when I use to teach kids how to sail, my coworkers would get the schedule confused or maybe they weren't sure on what they needed/should be doing, I would direct or even coax them in the right direction. It's something I enjoy and that I try to encourage everyone else to do.
Technology
Ever since I could remember, I've been great with technology. If there's a problem, i'm always trying to troubleshoot to see if i can possibly fix the problem. For example, when my friends or family are having trouble with there computers, they’ll ask me for help, because they know that I have the most experienced with computers and that I have more knowledge than they do when it comes to the functioning of one. I also love to edit and use different programs on the computer, and that is a main part of my life because I enjoy it so much. It's one of my hobbies that I love so much. I make youtube video and I make edits just or myself of different parts of my life because I enjoy editing, working on the computer. I think having these skills will help achieve my future goals because if I ever wanted to become a director, an editor and screenwriter, these all tie into one big category. Especially in 2017, everything revolves around technology, so having this skills could mean more job opportunities.