so yesterday, after Marie Sullivan (Eggertsen) left granada, i had a final for the courses that im taking. i studied at café flores near my school for a couple hours and then walked to school to take the test. as usual, most people in my class were late and when the sub showed up to administer the test, she was quite surprised by the shortage of persons in the room. eventually the rest of the class showed up and we all sat down, test infront of us, ready to prove all that we had learned this month. and how.
and (as the title may hint toward) it was the best test i’ve ever taken. and the most interesting test atmosphere that i could have ever imagined. at first everything was normal, or at least what we would consider normal in the states. and i never even thought that things would be different in a testing atmosphere. i guess i just assumed that quietly, privatly working on a test was a universal way of showing what you have learned… but i was wrong. in the states people cheat and look at other people’s answers, but not only is it completely hushed, but you can get in serious trouble at a university (or high school i guess) for cheating. you can get kicked out of school… and, well, then your life would be ruined. also in america, people who study and try hard dont want to share their answers with people that dont try so hard by covering their answers. but in europe they just dont do it like that.
shortly after the test was started, the teacher left the room and shut the door and it was like someone flipped a switch. everyone started talking and laughing and asking everyone else for answers to the test. but it wasnt as if we were cheating… it was like we were all working together to get the best grade possible. i guess it was because the entire month we had been working together, helping each other in one way or another and bouncing answers off each other to get it right, that once the test came around we needed to help each other and collaborate to do well. its like when you are told to study in the same environment or under the same conditions in which you learned the material, we had to use each other’s knowledge and expertise to get the answers. it was magnificent… plus it kind of blew my mind how naturally and quickly we all reverted to helping each other the second that we were not being watched.
after the test i was talking to this kid, anders from germany, about what had happened. he was surprised that in the states we dont do things like that. he said that in croacia (where he attended high school) and everywhere in europe that he has studied, this is how it is done. he had an interesting take on the situation: if you could take a test on your own and do decently well… and in the end get a decent job and make decent money OR take a test with the help of your peers, get a better grade, get a better job, and make better money; which would you choose? i guess i’d choose the latter.
oh europe… you never cease to amaze me.
and as it turns out, i did really well on the test (even the parts that i did all on my own).
