In all my posts thus far, I have managed to avoid talking about the education system or my classes at all, so, I will devote an entire post to them. As I am double-majoring in journalism and some sort of biological science (biology? bioengineering? biochemistry?) next year, I opted out of taking any courses remotely related to either of those subjects this year. That said, I am taking Business studies, Economics, Psychology, and French this year, and so far enjoying all of them. The classes are extremely easy for me, but in all fairness, they put me in classes with 16 year olds.
The system of education here is very bizarre to me coming from a private american boarding school. They don't receive "grades" in the traditional american sense, but rather receive a predicted note on the A exam which they take in 4 parts spread over 2 years. For example, I received on my grade card, 3 A's and one A*. This means that my teachers predict that, were I to sit all four parts of the exam, I would receive an A or A* over all. This prediction is based on the grades I have received on classwork and the teacher's opinion of my in-class participation and study. I also receive a behavior grade... which is more or less equivalent to a smiley face or a sad face. And that sums up the boring part of the school system. Now for my classes.
Business Studies: This is probably my favorite class so far. We've recently finished the basics of setting up a business and are moving into more interesting topics, like the external forces which affect businesses and the ethics and responsibilities a business must deal with. My professor is animated and engaging and tries to come up with real life examples we're familiar with, which I think help a lot of students learn better.
Economics: My next favorite class is economics. This class is taught by two different teacher's, one teaches microeconomics and the other (my business teacher as well) teaches macroeconomics. This class is interesting, though limited to the UK for the most part, and I like learning about the different economies of the world managing to interact.
Psychology: Though not currently my favorite class, I think it soon will be. Thus far we have only studied attachment and aggression which I did not find particularly interesting, but we're moving into eating disorders and other psychological disorders which I think I will find much more interesting. My teacher is young and fun and easy to pay attention to and I pick up the information very quickly. We do a lot of debates, which is a particular area in which I excel, and analytical papers which are always interesting.
French: This is my least favorite class, but not because I don't like french, I just enjoy my other subjects much more. The problem with french, is they've put me in a class at least one if not two years behind, so I've already learned most of what they're studying. My french teacher thankfully understands, and allows to me to just write the exercises and then move on to reading french literature and short stories by Guy de Maupassant. I've been able to practice my french with a friend from Paris, and I'll be headed there in just about two weeks!
That is an update on my international experience with education. In other news, I'll be going to London this weekend with some friends and Brighton next weekend to see the annual Santa Dash in which many generous souls dress up in full Santa garb and run a 5k on the beach. I'll be updating with pictures of course! I'll be trying to update more often, but i don't want to bore you with the day to day life in sleepy Eastbourne, East Sussex! Miss you all very much and can't wait to come home in 3 weeks!
Cheers xx
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