Schneider & Andre

I have attained local schools in Hong Kong all my life till my mom decided to transfer me into an international school in freshman year of high school. The obvious differences between local schools and international schools in Hong Kong are the languages we speak at school and the curriculums in the school systems. Students in local schools communicate mainly in Cantonese (one of the Chinese dialogues) while students in international school are only allowed to speak in English (the most commonly used language around the world) since the race of the students in international schools is more diverse. Students in local schools do not have the chance to pick their own classes and make their own schedules. Everyone in local schools have to take the same courses (from art to science), because they are all designed to prepare students for the college entrance exam that tests each individual student on over 10 different subjects. On the other hand, international schools allow their students to select classes that best fit their own interests.

There are many more differences between local schools and international schools in Hong Kong that I haven’t mentioned above. Personally, I would choose to study in an international over a local school after having the chance to experience both. In international school, I got to study and made friend with peoples from other parts of the world. I found myself to see things from different perspectives when I became better acquainted with the rest of the world. I have become more open mind to different ideas and cultures. Later on, I decided to continue my culture exploration and chose to attend college in New York, the city of dreams.

Despite the giant food serving size, bluer sky, and slower pace in America, I was most surprised by the point of views people in America have on education compared to people in Hong Kong. No one learns by text in America, active discussions in class are very commonly seen. Students in the same major do not necessary need to take the same courses, there are different concentrations in one major to prepare students to be qualified for a wider range of jobs in the field. Being an expert in the field of the study will not guarantee you a job. Writing workshops are provided to let students practice how to write in common workplace genres, how to analyze and use data base for research purpose if the students want to get into graduate school, and so on.

University in the United School is not just a school, but a place for people to come together, interact, and grow together as a community. This article has inspired me to write a research paper in my other upper division writing class (WRT380 Advance research writing) on the differences between West and East education. I focused on the good and bad of both education system, and talked about how culture can shape a country’s education system based on scholars’ opinion. While reading all the scholarly journals for my research paper, I have found a phenomenon where Western countries racing to copy East Asia’s education system, while the East is scrambling as fast to reform it, which I found very shocking as a person who got out of the East, because of its “strict” and “square” education system and went study abroad in the West.