Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Ecuador vs. USA: College Class Edition

Prompt: "Describe how your classes have been so far. How are they similar to and different from those at Washington & Jefferson."

Similarities:

  • Very little diversity among the students, except I'm on the other end of the spectrum now #gringaprobs
  • Similar workload, lot's of reading for each class 
  • Hellish online system that I find impossible to comprehend, here it's called d2l instead of sakai, same evil different name  photo post3gif3_zpsdc4165e4.gif
Differences:
  • There are far more debates, that are much more formal. Each person on the team has to get their point across in under two minutes, a feat that is challenging for me in English. My groups always hate me.  photo post3gif2_zps2a2c36f7.gif
  • There is a lot more weight to in-class presentations. In a lot of my classes they are worth more than tests.
  • In Ecuador you call teachers by their first name, which I think creates a better relationship between the faculty and students.
  • At home, I talk all the time in class. Here, I have an intense fear of speaking in front of the class. I would consider myself fluent in Spanish, but when you put me in front of a class of Ecuadorian students, I not only can't speak spanish, but I develop a crippling stutter. It's always awkward for the front row of kids who feel obligated to act like they understand me/encourage me as I stumble over basic sentences.  photo post3gif1_zps433d4933.gif

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