First day of school! First day of school!

Try to imagine the title of this blog in your best Nemo voice (from the movie Finding Nemo). School has almost always been something that I looked forward to. I like to learn, what can I say? Of course, my learning experience is definitely going to be different in another country! This semester, I am participating in the Semi-Integrated Program here at CC-CS. What that means is that I have three classes in PECLA (the part of UNC that is specifically directed towards international students) and take one class at the UNC with other Argentine students. Here is a list of the classes I am taking: Intensive Conversation II, Advanced Grammar, Socioeconomic Problems, and Algebra (UNC). I have been in classes for two weeks already, and already I have noticed many differences between my education here and at Wartburg plus differences between classes at PECLA and UNC:

My friend, Hanora, studying in Parque de las Tejas
Photo Courtesy of Liza Gashi

1. Classes NEVER start on time. All of the faculty say that if a class starts at 9:00 in the morning, be there by 9:00. Usually though, the professor hasn't arrive by the time class should start or the classroom may not even be open. It's kind of strange for me because I still come to class early because I don't want to miss anything. I just end up wasting fifteen minutes or more of my time just sitting and waiting for everyone else to get to class. In the United States in general, we focus so much on time that it's part of me that is so hard to change!

2. There is not very much homework in comparison to the United States. I am not sure of the reason. Personally, I believe that because we are in class for a minimum of two hours (maximum of four), that extra time that might have been spent on homework in the US is being used for extra class time. Also, obviously, it is just a cultural difference that I am still not used to (but don't mind either!). Along with this thought process, I wonder why there is that difference between cultures. What does Argentina value in comparison to the United States in terms of education?

3. At UNC, the classes are so much larger than my classes at Wartburg. Since I am here in the winter, it is second semester in the school year in Argentina. My Algebra class is the recurso of the course (AKA what people take if they did not pass the course the first semester). During the first semester, there are around 500 people that take my course. This semester, there are about 50-60 people taking my class. For some people, it's not a lot, but for a girl whose biggest class at Wartburg has been around 35 (Lifetime Wellness lecture excluded), it is a little overwhelming. At a university that has 128,000 students though, one should expect to have larger classes.

Miss Liza studying in Parque de las Tejas
Photo Courtesy of Liza Gashi

4. At UNC (at least for my algebra class), we don't have books to buy. If I want to read about the subject material that we covered in class or need more explanation, there are books in the library that I can read (but I can't check them out). For the homework, instead of doing work from a book or getting a worksheet from the teacher, the professor has one copy of the homework for the next class and then everyone has to go during break to pay to copy the assignment.

5. The typical class is just full of lecture - nothing more. This is not always true in PECLA (because we as students are still trying to learn the language and learn from one another) but is definitely true of the professors at UNC (one teachers my socioeconomic problems class and the other one teaches algebra). Sometimes this can be true of the environment of some classes at Wartburg. However, two hours is a
long time to sit and listen.

 6. This isn't Wartburg. At times, I will miss my beloved college with our Outfly, multiple bands and choirs, great staff and faculty, delicious breakfast pizza and cookies, and amazing people, but that does not mean that going to school at PECLA/UNC is either better or worse. It's just different.

Random information about education in Argentina:

There are both public and private universities here. However, studying at UNC is more prestigious than studying at a private school. It is free to attend a public university though which gives more people the opportunity to obtain their education. Initially, after hearing both of the aforementioned statistics, I was not sure why anybody would decide to go to a private school. First, there are some extra majors at some universities that one cannot do at a public school. Also, like me, people actually like smaller classes and getting to know the faculty.