#4 - Generalizing both the US and Australian education systems to complain about housing (3/2/11)

I suspect a common theme in this blog will be my observations on how Australia both appears similar to, and differs from, the US. On the surface, Australia is remarkably American. In fact, by appearance, Australia is just a more sunburnt version of America, albeit one with a strange inclination to put beetroot and fried egg on its burgers. However, there are obviously differences, and one pertinent to my life is the disparate form of higher education. In the US, college is often referred to as the best 4 years of a person’s life. While that is a blatant stereotype, it does seem to hold true that college is fun for most people. Students enjoy their lives, and often have no desire to progress (digress?) into the real world. In Australia, college is a way to get a high-paying job and not an excuse to party. Admirable? Perhaps. Fun? Not really. While there are certainly many reasons for this, I’d argue the main one is the format of the classes. In the US, classes typically require a student write at least two essays or reports, complete at least one but often two midterms, pass a final, all while turning in small homework assignments. Although it can be a lot of work, no one assignment or test is worth more than roughly 35% of the total grade. This allows for some error and decreases the stress on any assignment. In Australia, classes give almost no weekly homework. In all four of my classes, I have one essay, one report, and a final. The final is worth at least 50% of my grade, if not more. There is no opportunity to learn how the teacher grades nor learn by completing small projects. Instead there is really only one chance to pass or fail the class. Because of this, students spend a great deal of time studying notes and powerpoint slides. They do little else, except get pissed on the weekends. While most of them enjoy what they do, the social aspect of college is greatly reduced. Unlike most major universities in the US, there is no student neighborhood and because of that, no student nightlife. There are no cheap apartments catered to student budgets. Instead, students are interspersed throughout the city, commuting every morning by car or bus. The idea of a house party seems foreign. Of course, at orientations, they don’t tell you anything about this. I was told housing would be easy to find and most students live together. Wrong!

            Karen and I arrived in Australia on the 28^th of January. We weren’t told we didn’t receive on-campus accommodation until the 25^th (good system right?). Thus we arrived in Townsville without a place to stay. Assuming there would be a student neighborhood, we weren’t concerned. Unfortunately, we then spent the next week scouring newspapers and realty websites looking for a place close to campus. We must have called 20 different people, but almost all of them were full. Nearly every place we found was miles from campus and/or way overpriced. In addition, apparently Townsville has never had study abroad students because every house required a lease to be signed for at least 6 months if not a year. We’re only in Townsville for a bit over 4 months, so signing a long-term lease was not an option. Needless to say, this was rather frustrating. We were only able to find a place because a realtor called us about a newly opened room. People moved out of it after Cyclone Yasi (can you blame them?) and we moved in two days later. It’s about a 40-minute walk from campus, and that’s close by student standards. And all because classes place too much emphasis on finals. Perhaps that’s a gross generalization, but the Aussies could learn a thing from the US about making college fun, in addition to productive.