Eli's Viewpoint

Eli, 19, joined at 10

-How do you decide what to do every day?

I have a planner, so I’ll write down in there what I want to get done for the week or for the day. But of course there’s some stuff that’s more spontaneous.

-What makes you excited to show up every day?

The people, the community. It’s just nice to see everybody and it's a lot easier to get done the stuff that I wanna get done in a place that’s for doing that rather than trying to get stuff done at home.

-What’s something that you’re working on improving at?

There's a lot of things. I’m working on getting better at time management, I think I’ve definitely gotten better at that over time, but there’s still more that I want to improve on. Also advocating for myself. Especially because I have a job, figuring out how to navigate that.

-What was the transition like from just being at school to now also having a job?

For a while I’ve been taking classes at DVC (Diablo Valley College), I started that when I was 16, I’ve been doing things outside of school for a while, but for a little bit there I had a job and also was taking a class at DVC and coming here, and that was a lot ‘cause I was also JC Clerk  (Judicial Committee Clerk) at the time, so it was absolutely too much. But now I just come here and I do my job. It’s a little rough honestly to not be here as much because I really want to be here and spend more of my time here, but I think it’s also an important transitional period for me because I can be doing things that I’m planning on doing in the future once I’ve graduated, while also having the support and the community of the school.

-What are you most proud of during your time at DVS?

I wrote the rule in the lawbook that is about the right of students to be referred to by their preferred name and pronouns and I feel pretty proud of that. Also having been JC Clerk for a long time and trying to make JC less punitive, which I think I succeeded in.

-What has been your experience with JC?

When I first started at the school I was very nervous about JC, I was very anxious being called in. I wasn’t well versed in any conflict that wasn’t “You did this wrong and you’re bad!”, you know? But I was on the committee sometimes, or would substitute for people and I got more familiar with it. Then after the JC Clerks before me graduated I became one. I think all in all it was a positive experience for me because it’s a difficult job to have but it’s very rewarding being able to help solve problems and keep things running. And learning how to run a meeting and just the balance of trying to keep things interesting and not too boring. Letting people chat once in a while if we’re waiting for something but also being a little bit strict sometimes like “We need to stop talking now because we have work to do”.

[...] In the past someone would get a sentence and it wouldn’t solve the underlying problem, it would just punish them. It took a while for me to realize that sometimes you do need a [message that says] “if you’re causing a problem there just are consequences for that”. That took me a while to figure out, but once I got to that point, I wanted it to be like “This is is the consequence of your action, this is the natural thing, this has been pre-communicated”. It all makes sense and it all feels fair and we’re going to try to implement other things before we just move to consequences. All in all I feel pretty positive about the JC.

-What’s your experience with School Meeting?

I wasn’t very engaged with school meeting when I was younger, as I think most people are when they’re younger. Sometimes me and my friends would hang out in there (the Big Room) when School Meeting is happening and I’d be half paying attention because it’s interesting to see how the school runs and functions. As I got older I got more interested in how the school works and [since] there weren’t a lot of people at that time that were interested in how the school worked, it came from a place of “I really love this place and I want it to be able to keep functioning. Since I have the free time and the ability I want to step up.” I started going every week, then I became the school meeting chair for a few years. It was really nice to feel a part of things. It’s nice to know that you can change things. That was very meaningful for me and that’s also why I got more involved in running things. I felt like “Oh, if I put the work in, my opinion will actually be respected. If I just show up and share what I think there’s people that actually want to hear that.” And that my opinion and my input can actually impact things for the better.

-What kinds of things do you ask the staff members for?

A lot of guidance. A lot of like “I don’t know what to do in this unfamiliar situation, what do you think?” Whether that be interpersonal difficulties or job stuff or just practical things. They helped me figure out my resume and how to get a job. Basically “How do I get done the things that I want to get done in a way that will hopefully work?” They’ve been very helpful for that.

-What are you thinking of doing after DVS?

I’m planning on going to DVC. I don’t have a major in mind. I have a lot of different things I’m interested in and I want to take as many classes as I can with my schedule and just learn a bunch and try things and see what sticks. Probably at the same time have a part time job for a source of income.

-What classes are you interested in?

I like art and music and all kinds of creative things. I don’t think I’d want those as a career, but they’re things I want as an important part of my life. I’d also like to take drama classes and learn acting. Also public speaking and debate classes, I think those would be good for building my own confidence. I’m interested in psychology, sociology, I find people really fascinating, I like working with kids so also something in education could be nice.

-What room do you spend the most time in?

Hmm that's difficult. Maybe the Big Room? I mostly go where there’s other people and set up what I wanna do cuz I like being around other people so I’ll just go in there with my laptop and my sketchbook or whatever. But I do like to hang out in the Big Room because [of the] big comfy couch. Sometimes I’ll play the instruments.

-What's something you’d tell someone who’s thinking about coming here?

Do it! This place is absolutely worth a shot because anything you’re interested in you can pursue that here and you can have a community of other people that are invested in learning. I think it just works better for how people learn than most schools. 

-Why do you think it works better?

What I mean is that as humans we naturally love learning. That’s how our ancestors survived, if we didn’t wanna learn anything we’d be extinct. There’s this inherent drive to learn things and to do meaningful things with our time. I think the traditional school system kind of beats the love of learning out of people and that’s sad because it makes people think that learning only has to be this rigid thing that feels like a punishment. Being able to learn on your own terms can foster that love for learning in a much more healthy and sustainable way.

-How has this environment helped you grow as a person through fostering your love of learning?

That's a great question. When I first came to this school I was very depressed and I didn’t really want to do much of anything. Then I made friends and I wanted to spend time with them and I wanted to make art. I realized that I really did want to become better at art and for that to be something I could be proud of. I had the space to spend my time doing that and hanging out with my friends, which honestly was a big learning experience for me because before coming here my social skills were abysmal. My friends did art and that was part of why I started taking it more seriously. I got to rediscover learning, you know?

I never went to traditional schooling, but because of the weird circumstances I grew up in I had a similar experience where I started out loving learning and that got taken out of me. I got to explore what learning looked like for me and I didn’t even realize that’s what I was doing. I remembered that “Yeah, I do love learning, just not every form of learning works for me”. I’d say now I seek out learning new things a lot more. I try to ask a lot of questions and do new things. It was really great starting to take college classes while being here so I could get support and figure out how to make those classes work for me because that was a kind of struggle in the beginning.