Hello, my name is Joseph Lemos, I have attended ACLC since my sophomore year. A family environment is what I noticed and was brought into being at ACLC. A place where I have developed tremendously academically and I wouldn’t have chosen any other school.
PERSONAL ABILITIES/WORK HABITS
In basketball, I keep a positive and confident mindset. I always have goals in my mirror to accomplish. I want to major in Kinesiology in college. Kinesiology helps me understand the body so that it can help me with basketball. I want basketball to be my career so I have to study the body. Both of these will be a stepping stone towards my basketball career. The past years at ACLC, I have learned to become more responsible and to communicate. I have always struggled with school work and needed assistance throughout my work. Speaking up and communicating with my teachers and classmates have separated me from failing. From being lazy in school to being focused and matured has shaped me in the best way possible.
NEW BASICS
I worked for Mcdonalds in the beginning of my junior year during the pandemic. The first month of my first actual job was stressful because I didn't know anyone, I was the youngest, and I was very anxious to mess up. I knew if I wanted to keep this job I had to pick myself up and become more friendly. I got closer with my co-workers and eventually it became easier because I communicated with them and learned how to interpret different messages from workers. I gained knowledge on listening skills and how to formally respond to customers. I decided to start to do physical training and work out in the beginning of my sophomore year. The amount of knowledge that I have learned was tremendous. My diet and seeing what I ate was very important to how I wanted my body to be. I had to control the amount of food to eat, taking care of my body with stretching exercises. I have been working out since sophomore year, the amount of food you eat, taking care of my body to perform well.
Thinking/Reasoning Skills
Concepts I learn about school like not being a bystander, an active citizen , and changing society with my education. I have learned about climate change and rights in America. I have applied my knowledge on these topics by helping climate change in our homes. I use less electricity by turning unused lights and unplugging outlets. I also have a 5 minute time for shower use. I decided to take a creative writing class for my senior year. Every class day our agenda is to pick out a letter of the day and you have to come up with as many words of the chosen letter, then our teacher chooses a prompt where we have to generate ideas to come up with a story. This class has opened my mind in the best way because I can use my imagination and one day it can come true in my writingings.
Productive/Outgoing
In Summer of 2020, I decided to help others learn by teaching them how to play basketball. Instead of sitting on the couch on my phone, I wanted to be productive while doing something I love. I would train kids around my neighborhood. Every other day I would train kids at a local park near my house for 2 hours. Teaching them basketball to become not just better as a player but as a person by helping them learn values of life like responsibility and leadership.Family and friends during the pandemic try to stay positive. During the pandemic and lockdown, most of my families and friends were very scared and out of place. I was there for them, motivating them to stay happy and civil. My family is really close with each other and when the pandemic hit we couldn't see each other that often due to safety reasons. I came up with the idea to start zoom calls with our whole family on both my mom and dad's side to keep our bond strong and keep each other lively.
Technology
I use internet tik tok as a learning tool. I started using tik tok in the beginning of my junior year, before I downloaded it, everybody was saying how addicting it was getting and how bad of an app it was for teens. I saw how addicted it got to me at first, but I have been taking advantage of it as a learning source. I have always been a visual learner so those videos like life hacks and concepts of life have been a huge positive impact for me.I always use calendar apps on my computer and phone to keep track of my schedule and I also use the ACLC Jupiter for my schoolwork. Sometimes I use my email and twitch account to communicate with my friends. I have a great understanding of computers because every summer in middle school I would go over to my uncle's house and he would teach me network engineering, so now I know how to troubleshoot a lot of people's problems with their computers. Conclusion ACLC has taught me about friendship. I have been able to create a bond in the last 3 years I have been at this amazing school. All the weirdness and differences in people’s backgrounds we all come together as one as a school, connections and friendships will sty with me forever. I will really miss the relationships with most of my facilitators and being able to call them by there first names.