Park: Better than we Think

October 28, 2008

Megan Pastorious
Staff Writer

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone say ¨Park Sucks¨ or ¨We have the lowest test scores¨. And there have been times when I have thought the same. That was before I came to Mexico.
I’m currently living in Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico and I am attending a private school called La Cema. Students pay a monthly fee to attend, and they have to wear uniforms. Every single wall in every part of the school is pea green and there are no posters, none. It’s kind of like a prison. The cafeteria is outside and so are the hallways. There are four levels in the school and the hallways are like connected balconies on an ugly apartment building. Inside the classrooms there are tiny desks, but not enough to seat every student, so get there early or find a spot on the floor. Also there are two big windows that don’t close. So if it rains, you get wet. There’s no air conditioning, only fans that don’t work. So school is lots of fun when it’s raining and 100 degrees F outside.
When lunch time comes around there is no nice cafeteria with a good meal for you to buy for only $2. You think cafeteria food is gross? In La Cema there are only two food stands that you can buy from. One is a stand of a man (that picks his nose in public) selling cups of corn, and scooping it without gloves on; and the other is a man selling hotdogs and sandwiches, also without gloves or refrigeration for the meat. The smart students bring food from home.
Have to use the bathroom? Well guess what? You only get one piece of toilet paper because the school can’t afford to buy enough! There is no way to steal more either, because there is a woman inside the bathroom handing out the little sheets.
Need help? Don’t understand? Don’t worry! Neither do the teachers. All the teachers do is read out of the book (which you have to buy yourself). You’re lucky to get that much. Some days the teachers don’t even come at all. Can you imagine how low their standardized test scores would be?
Need a ride to school? Better get up an hour early to stand on the street corner with your five pesos to wait for the city bus because school buses don’t exist. I have spent over $70 USD in the last two months on the city buses, and that is only getting home after school. Some kids have to take the bus to school as well.
So really guys, our school doesn’t suck. We have a very nice building with heating and now air conditioning, windows that close, we don’t have to pay for our books, there are no boogers in the cafeteria food, we can have all the TP we want, there’s color on the walls, no one has to sit on the floor, the teachers show up and are well educated, we can take the school bus for free, and we don’t have to pay a monthly fee to attend. We have it pretty good. Honestly, any school in the United States, including PARK is a quality school giving a quality education. No doubts.
GO PARK WOLFPACK!

Filed Under Viewpoints
Tagged: Exchange, Mexico, Park, Program, Sucks  

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