Friday, April 3, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Around the Block
I finally did it. I drove in a car. Yeah, I didn't press on the gas, and therefore was only going about five miles per hour, but it was cool anyways. I, with Mommy in the passengers seat giving me instructions, drove around the block. You won't be seeing me driving to school or to town anytime soon. I still am new to this kind of thing, and I had Mommy going, "Turn now! Turn now! Straight, straight! The car! Move away from that car over there!" Oh, well, it was fun anyway. After spending a day running back and forth getting all the paperwork just to take the test to get my permit, it had better be.
What a Surprise!
Two saturdays ago I went to the University of Puerto Rico in Arecibo(UPRA). I went there to take a test so I could take a special math course on Saturday. When I first heard about it, I had to enter. I learn such little amounts of math here in Puerto Rico that I saw this as my chance to finally learn some more math.
So, I entered the building, ate a little breakfast they provided, and waited for the test to be given out. Fifty-five people were going to be accepted. There was about a hundred kids there. I thought, I am getting in for sure. I am pretty good in math. Just recently I won a competition against eleventh graders in the high schools of Arecibo. I thought, I have a pretty good chance.
They gave out the tests. There were twenty five multiple choice questions. Hm, the first two were sort of difficult. I skipped them, and went to the others. About an hour later, I handed in my test, pretty confident. I didn't know everything there, but I knew enough.
I went outside to wait for Mommy to pick me up. Some classmates of mine were there. They were discussing the test. They were looking at a review for the test they had got the day earlier. My heart sank as I realized it was the same exact questions as the test. If they knew the answers beforehand, how many more people might have known? My chances of being accepted suddenly seemed to grow slimmer. I pushed away the thought. Nah, I made it. I had to have made it.
On Tuesday, some students who took the test asked me, "Did they call you?" I shook my head. Days passed and I still recieved no word from the UPRA. I sadly accepted the fact that I didn't make it. Besides, I didn't have time to think of that. Cafe Digital was closed, and we had a lot of moving to do.
The next Saturday, when I could have been learning something, was spent with some more cleaning and moving. At the end of the day, I sat at the computer to check my e-mail. I had two new e-mails. One was something from Tangle.com or something, so I deleted it. The next was from someone I didn't recognize. I clicked on it, and read "Congratulations! You have been accepted to the program in the UPRA."
You can believe that my mouth was hanging wide open. I was accepted? I was rather shocked. All this time I thought, fifty five people had done better than me on the test. I found that deep down inside I hadn't really thought it was possible.Not trying to say I am better than all those people, but to do worse than fifty five of them. It was hard to accept. Thankfully, in the end, I didn't have to accept it.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Our School, Unfortunately
I used to live in New York. Yeah the city had its share of problems. But we were learning things in school. I always took that for granted. But then my family moved to Puerto Rico, I didn't know the language, so I thought, oh, school is going to be so hard. Boy was I wrong. The work we were doing was work I did the last year in New York! And, the teachers were rarely there. Plus, there was no substitutes. We had a lot of horas libres (free hours). Pretty soon, teachers were saying, Look, she is from alla fuera and she is doing better than all of you guys. Not trying to say I'm so good or anything; anyone could do this work. So why don't they?
I think the lifestyle in Puerto Rico is different. It is a laid back, take-your-time type of place. Drivers stop in the middle of the road to talk to pedestrians, and no one beeps their horn. Teachers come when they want to and give little work when they do. I mean, they have fifty minutes to teach, and they teach for about twenty! And if they decide to give a homework assignment, students will say, Missy (they call all their female teachers "Missy" over here) please don't, thats too much. Hm. Its not like any of the other teachers are giving them work to complain like that.
And what about the Puerto Rican tests, the ones that are like the Citywide tests in New York? My siblings tell me teachers tell them the answers to the questions on the test! Not them themselves, but the other students.
Well. I don't know what to think about that. In fact, I do. And I am sure anyone who experiences such education (or lack thereof) will know that these schools down here are unfortunate. It just seems that no one cares. If you really wanted a good education, you would have to go to a private school. Its sad that that is the only option we have down here in the island of Puerto Rico.
I think the lifestyle in Puerto Rico is different. It is a laid back, take-your-time type of place. Drivers stop in the middle of the road to talk to pedestrians, and no one beeps their horn. Teachers come when they want to and give little work when they do. I mean, they have fifty minutes to teach, and they teach for about twenty! And if they decide to give a homework assignment, students will say, Missy (they call all their female teachers "Missy" over here) please don't, thats too much. Hm. Its not like any of the other teachers are giving them work to complain like that.
And what about the Puerto Rican tests, the ones that are like the Citywide tests in New York? My siblings tell me teachers tell them the answers to the questions on the test! Not them themselves, but the other students.
Well. I don't know what to think about that. In fact, I do. And I am sure anyone who experiences such education (or lack thereof) will know that these schools down here are unfortunate. It just seems that no one cares. If you really wanted a good education, you would have to go to a private school. Its sad that that is the only option we have down here in the island of Puerto Rico.
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