One of the hardest points to get across is that in the United States, you normally don't apply into a major - here, students have chosen by age sixteen or seventeen the career they want to spend the rest of their life pursuing. (I'm almost nineteen and still have NO idea what I want to study - I can't imagine having to decide three years ago!) I've taken to saying that I'm going into Nursing (which may or may not be a lie, but lately I've been toying with the idea of becoming a Nurse Anesthetist) because when I try to explain that in my circumstance it isn't necessary to choose a major for a year or two people give me a quizzical look and ask, "but what course are you going into?"
Rather than putting together a gigantic folder of information for each college, in Brazil the entire college application process consists of a test. This test, called Vestibular, is a BIG deal - it's a constant subject of conversation at school; in fact, the entire purpose of the third (and final) year of high school is to get you to pass this exam. All the material needed to pass Vestibular is taught the first two years of high school, and then the third year is a review of all of the information so that everything is fresh in your brain when you go to take Vestibular.
Generally, Vestibular works like this: you go to your desired university and take an exam of every subject. If you score high enough on this first test, you are invited back to take a second exam that consists only of the specifics for your major (for example, if you were going into Nursing your test would consist of something like Biology, Chemistry, and Portuguese). Each program accepts a different number of applicants, so the test is used to find the best x number of people for each major. Of course, it is harder to get into some programs (like Medicine or Law) than others. For example, the University of Londrina (the college many of my cousins attend) accepts 120 students for their law program, so you must have one of of the top 120 scores on the exam in order to be admitted to the college. Because of this, passing Vestibular is a big deal. Everyone knows when a classmate has been accepted into a university, and it is often celebrated with pictures, parties, and even standing in the street screaming with the cars passing by giving the person who just passed money (one of my classmates made almost $200 USD the first week I was here from doing this!)
It's also not uncommon to not pass Vestibular (especially if you want to go into a field like Medicine). There are specific schools here for those who haven't passed the test to attend - these schools review all of the information needed for the exam, as well as help you refine your skills needed for your specific exam.
But, before all of this, of course, is high school, and it is very different here than in the United States.
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| My school (located 2 blocks from my house) |
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| My class (3rd years/seniors) |
I attend a small, private school where there is only one class per grade, meaning I am with the same 26 students all day. We stay in one classroom and the teachers are the ones that move around. The biggest difference, though, is that we have a different schedule of classes everyday. My schedule looks like this:
Monday: Biology, Physics, Chemistry, (20 minute break) Physics, Chemistry, Algebra
Tuesday: Biology, Chemistry, Phsyics, (20 minute break) Chemistry, Physics, Portuguese Literature (an hour to go home for lunch), Geography. Then, there are either tests (which I don't take) or Phy Ed.*
Wednesday: Portuguese grammar, Portuguese literature, Biology, (20 minute break) Portuguese literature, Algebra, Geometry, (an hour to go home for lunch) a double period of Geography, Sociology (20 minute break) Sociology, Geometry
Thursday: Algebra, Art History, History, (20 minute break), English, History, English
Friday: History, Biology, Philosophy (20 minute break), Biology, Portuguese literature, Physics
* Here, tests are planned out for the entire year. There are four week blocks scattered across the school year where students take three or four tests every Tuesday afternoon. This time is generally really stressful for students, as the tests only consist of a few questions per subject, giving great weight to each problem on the exam. Again, this is designed to help the students prepare for Vestibular. (but really, in the grand scheme of things, these tests don't actually matter - your grades aren't even looked at by colleges, only your Vestibular score!)
I think it's very interesting that school is scheduled this way - for example, there are five Biology lessons per week, but some days we don't have Biology, and other days we have it twice (and at two completely different times during the school day).
Needless to say, Wednesdays are always pretty difficult to get through - the last few classes of the day most of the kids are sleeping! My favorite day of school is Thursday because 1) it means Wednesday is over, 2) there are no science classes (which are still incredibly difficult to understand in Portuguese), and 3) there is English class. I actually think I learn more Portuguese in English class than I do in any other class because the teacher explains English concepts in Portuguese. I'm also asked to read aloud often and to correct things whenever they're wrong -- it feels nice to actually know something in school here!
Although the school I attend is very nice, I can't help but miss high school in the United States (I know, I never thought I would say that, either). I really miss having art classes and choir breaking up my school day, but extracurriculars like that are not offered here. There also aren't very many sports offered through the school (I know of karate, but it seems that only very young kids participate). I asked some of my friends about this, and they said that there just isn't time for sports or extracurriculars because they spend so much of their time studying and preparing to take Vestibular.
Students here also tend to take additional classes outside of school - for example, my host brother attends a separate school a few nights a week for English, and he also goes back to school in the afternoons for Spanish class and sometimes for Physics. I'm exhausted by the end of the school day, and I don't even fully participate in everything - I can't imagine having to go to additional classes and study on top of it. School here just seems to be very stressful (not that school in the US isn't, but it is stressful in a different way). One nice thing I've noticed is that students don't really have homework here - occasionally I've seen teachers assign a problem or two in Math, but that's really it (save studying, of course).
Another thing I really miss about high school back home is reading - here, they read Orwell's 1984 their second year of high school, but that seems to be the only full work that they study (they do read a lot of poetry and small passages in class, though). I've been told that there is a list of books that you need to have read for Vestibular, but the impression I've gotten is that most kids here are too busy to do this or any other reading.
Overall, attending school here has made me even more thankful for the education I received in Northfield - and I'm not saying that because my school here is bad, because that isn't the case at all. I have just realized that I took for granted how nice it is to be able to design my own schedule, to take advanced classes, and to have opportunities offered to me through school to be able to do things like sing, dance, paint, and run. I am also even more thankful now that I have the option to attend a liberal arts college back in the United States where I can take my time figuring out what I want to do with the rest of my life.
(For any of you who are wondering, I still haven't decided where I will be going to school when I return home. Last year I was accepted at St. Olaf, Luther, Lawrence, Macalester, and St. Ben's (no, not Harvard, although many Brazilians ask), but I didn't feel comfortable making a definite decision without knowing how much each school would cost (the financial aid package will look very different with my younger brother, Mark, also attending college come the fall of 2012). Lawrence, St. Olaf, and Macalester all required money to defer my acceptance, so I turned those schools down. I may or may not reapply - time will tell!)
Beijos,
Kate
Catherine I loved reading this! Sounds like you are crazy busy but being awesome all at the same time. Miss you and love you. Let me know what I can do to convince you to come to Lawrence :)
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