May 20 2008 / My American Education
by Fion Teo, Malaysia 07-08
hosted in Los Altos, CA
“When will I go to school?”
“Where is my school?”
These questions filled my mind for the first 2 weeks of my stay. Throughout the first 2 weeks, I went to help my host mom’s special education class. While worrying about going to school, I learned about this group of special kids. They are so cute and fun to spend time with. They have different disabilities but they work hard in a different education system to prepare themselves for the challenging world. I like the syllabus prepared especially for them. I tried to visit them during my holidays. They are so adorable.
Soon I was walking around the grounds of Notre Dame High School. It is a Catholic girls school! I could not imagine myself going to a private Catholic girls school before this. I am lucky that my parents do not mind that I go to a Catholic school. They want me to have a whole different experience. The experience of being in a Catholic school is memorable. There are many things that make Notre Dame different—The classes are smaller and teachers are easily accessible. This helps me a lot in my transition. Notre Dame is a close-knit and friendly community. The Ambassador Club members helped me in blending into the community during my first days. Teachers cared a lot about me too. They are always available for me whenever I face problems.
In Notre Dame, we go to Advisory instead of homeroom. We say prayers and have a special event, the Aquacades. It is an evening when we cheer for everyone who does routines on deck or in the pool. Don’t worry; we do have Prom and dances. In fact, I went to the Father-Daughter Dance with my host dad! I have a whole choice of different and interesting subjects to choose from. The Admissions office is patient and understanding by giving me ‘trial and error’ schedule to see what classes fit me best. At the end of my first week in Notre Dame, I went to a number of different classes! I like the way my ‘trial and error’ schedule works as I get to decide what works best for me. I do wish to be here for another semester so that I can take different classes!
Basically, I take different subjects from what I have back at home. All of them are fun although it is difficult to get used to them at first. I start my day with a zero period String Orchestra class. It is the best way to start a day with music. I had so much fun with the group of students in String Orchestra. We had a wonderful Spring Concert, “Rhapsody”.
In United States History, I learned history from a different perspective. I got to learn about the civil rights movement, cold war, and the Great Depression, which I had not heard of in my previous history classes. It was fun when I read about the Presidents. US History brings me closer to my host country. For Honors Pre-Calculus class, I often had different terms and formulas for the mathematical terms taught to me here. It has been interesting to share it with my Mathematics teacher.
I like it when we get the chance to pet baby sharks, bugs, see live birds and hike the San Bruno Mountain for my Honors Biology class. It is an interesting way of learning as we get to see the real creatures and touch them. This way, we are able to learn more and remember them easily. One of the most interesting classes I had is Bio-ethics. This class will help me a lot in my future. We talk about ethics dilemmas in the health care field as well as medical aspects of human beings. This is one of the Religion classes I take. I like this class as we are able to look at different perspectives and discuss them.
Another Religion class I take is Women in Relationship. I think this class is made possible as it is carried out in an all girls’ school. This class helps young women in preparing them for their life. I learned to dance here! It is good to keep me fit. We had a dance showcase last Wednesday, fully run by students of Notre Dame. The profits of this dance show went to the needy in Guatemala. I had so much fun in my World Literature class; it was a nice class to end the day.
One of the best days I had in Notre Dame was the Academic Award Celebration on 18 May. I had not dreamed of being on the list of awards since I am taking new subjects and it has been a challenging semester for me. The Excellence Award for Tri-School String Orchestra I received a couple of days ago means a lot to me. I think this award is not just for me but also for everyone around me who has been supporting me all this while. I would like to dedicate this award to my host family, the DeLoach/Warren family; AFS Bay Area, especially the volunteers who helped to fund my education in Notre Dame; my liaison, Bay Area YES Cluster Leader and also the NDB community. This is the first musical award I’ve ever received since I started to strike the strings 8 years ago.
As the school semester is coming to an end, I am really reluctant to leave the Notre Dame grounds. I will certainly miss everyone in the NDB community for the education they brought to my life. St. Jullie Billiart, the Foundress of Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur said that “teach your students whatever is necessary to equip them for life.” Notre Dame High School, Belmont honored her words by preparing me for life.
