Reflective Essay

Intro

My name is Shayan Etebar and I am a senior at Alameda Community Learning Center. I was born in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and have lived around El Cerrito my whole life. While relatively new to ACLC, I’ve managed to find a place for myself within the community and academically succeed.

Personal Qualities

I’ve always been a very self-sufficient person, so personal management has been a necessity as I operate with more and more self-determination. My prior school, while encouraging self-determination, lacked the community support one needs to fully learn. Because of this, I was just as much encouraged as forced to learn how to manage my own time in and out of school, as well as how to balance when to work and when to live.

The adjustment to ACLC was at first a challenge, the new environment and social space daunting, but I eventually found a group of friends and mentors who have helped me settle in. I’ve never been particularly extroverted, so I often fall back on humor to act as the bridge for connections. Reading people is a gift I’ve had that also comes in handy. I can often pick up on subtle clues as to someone’s mood and “vibe” and adjust myself accordingly.

New Basics

We live in strange times. These days truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and that’s if you can determine what’s actually true, especially in politics. My first interaction with politics came from getting a cookie from a poll worker when I was 4 years old, teaching me my first lesson in government: Money wins people over. I grew up in a very politically active household, news always playing somewhere. During the pandemic, I came to learn another lesson. Money wins over people.

Speaking my ideas became a necessity for my own sanity. I discuss current events with friends, family, sometimes coming across contrasting opinions. I learned to keep a level head and present ideas clearly since many misconceptions are derived from poor wording. Communication will be a vital part of my future, as it’s central to teaching.

Thinking and Reasoning

I’ve found I work best thinking about the Big Picture. If I’m writing or creating something I try to think of how all the moving parts fit together to a cohesive whole. I put a lot of stock into broader systems and how they work to affect things, whether they be creations in fictional worlds or structures in our real world.

Whenever I take on a new interest or idea, the first thing I take on is learning how to learn it. It took a whole year of practice in order to learn to teach myself the guitar, and after that, it all fell into place. I used that knowledge to teach myself the bass guitar, ukulele, mandolin, banjo, oud, anything stringed. I’m still learning how to learn the drums, but I’m making swift progress.

Interpersonal Abilities

When I started learning guitar and putting more and more focus into music, I piqued the interest of several friends. I can count on two hands the number of friends who started playing guitar after I gave them a go at it. All along the way, I gave them tips on technique, practice routines, music recommendations, gear, and anything else they needed. Our new mutual interest in the instrument created new friendships and deepened bonds in preexisting ones.

My dad worked as a conflict mediator for 20 years. He would always teach me the incredible power of communication and compromise. While we don’t always agree on any myriad of subjects, we can both find common ground and respect each other.

Technology

I am fortunate that technology has always been a part of my life. When I was younger I would borrow my dad’s old laptop to mod Minecraft. Eventually, I learned the ins and outs of computers, tablets, phones, and what makes them work, learning a fair bit of code in the process.

As I got more into computers I learned what they could do with music. I started recording, using a variety of software and microphone interfaces to capture sound. With a computer unoptimized for audio engineering, I’ve run across every conceivable roadblock in software. Driver errors, power supply issues, processor speeds, anything under the sun. Through a little design knowledge and experience, I can reliably produce the results I want, even when faced with unfamiliar technology.

Conclusion

ACLC has taught me a lot, inside and outside the classroom. I believe my time at ACLC has shown me what a true community looks like in the ways my previous schools couldn't. A place where people can collaborate, grow and thrive. I'll certainly miss it. Maybe a little too much. Who knows, I may even come back to work here as a facilitator.

Regardless of what the future holds and where it takes me, I have been changed by my time here at ACLC.

(me circa 2007)