Bright Path(ALTのエッセイ)

The American High School Experience

投稿日時: 2019/12/02 m1

     A few weeks ago, Jake shared his experience in Sixth Form, so I’ve decided to share my high school experience!

     In America, we have primary school (grades kindergarten-6) and secondary school (grades 7-12). High school is four years long and is mostly required. In Texas, students are required to be schooled until they are 18 (unless they graduate early), which is usually when they will graduate high school. I graduated high school early at 17 and I was able to some college coursework at the same time I was in high school. American high school usually runs late August to late May. We get almost two full months off for summer break, about a month off in December and two weeks off in the spring for spring break. 

     The high school I attended had about 2,500 students in attendance. We had 7 class periods a day and, due to so many students, we divided lunch into 3 periods.While many students bring their lunch to school, we also had a large cafeteria that served many different types of food every day. We were required to stay on campus for lunch, unless it was testing time. Our school rules were pretty strict and attendance was required.

 

     I got to pick my course work from hundreds of different courses. Our school offered classes on topics ranging from fashion design, automotive repair, business management, etc. alongside with required subjects, like math and sciences. When I wasn’t doing my required coursework, I attended classes on dance, theatre, and world literature. Our school had many after school clubs ranging from skateboard club to anime club to soccer club, but club activities were not required. I belonged to the drama club. We would do performances for elementary schools.

 

     Throughout the school year, we would have two dances. The most famous American high school dance is prom. My highschool’s tradition was to attend it in your final year. Students invite each other to it early in the school year. On prom night, we dress up semi-formally, have dinner at a nice restaurant, and attend prom at the school. Everyone dances until late at night. (Below is one of my pre-prom snapshots.)


It’s pretty different from Japan.

-Tiffany