New Cultural Experience

By Seneca Barker


A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to sit down with Madeleine, an exchange student at MSU who is visiting from the Philippines. She is here to study nutrition and health, and hopes to apply her credits to a medical degree once she goes back home. While we were meeting we discussed many of the educational differences between the two of us. Here are some of the differences I found most interesting:

• She started school at 7 am and went until 4 pm
• In high school they have 8 classes a day, not 6 like I had
• Their program is not K-12, it stops at 10th grade then they graduate 
• They don't take the ACT or any equivalent
• To get into college they don't submit test scores, they take an entrance exam 
• She would take up to 11 tests each week
• Students don't have a job during the school year to make sure school is their top priority 
• Professors in the Philippines don't like technology used in their classrooms 
• All of her papers were hand written
• She shared that the dorm rooms in the U.S. are much nicer that the ones in the Philippines 

Picture source: www.wikipedia.com

I thought learning about a different culture was such a neat experience, especially one so opposite of my own. I also think that one of the coolest things about MSU is that people from all over, with different backgrounds, all end u at the same place with the same goal, to receive a great education.

As a future teacher, this was a fantastic learning opportunity. It made me realize that once I have my own classroom, it with be filled with a wide range of students. Every student has their own background and culture that they identify with, and as an educator, it is very important to take that into account. Diversity is what makes education great, being able to learn new things from the people around you. I hope to always promote that in my classroom.