Adjusting to school was one thing I needed to learn right away when I arrived to Canada. There was no trial and error there. I was a very hardworking student in Nepal. I thought I would naturally do well in Canada as well, but it did not turn out so. The curriculum was totally different. In fact the teaching styles were completely different as well. In Nepal the entire focus of a course would be on the final examination. It was worth 100% of our grade. When I came here, I realized that different tasks each contributed to the final marks. At that point of time, it was relieving to know that my entire course was not based on the final examination. It would have been difficult to do well as a newcomer to Canada. This distribution of marks gave me enough time to improve until the final examination.
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SLC exam is like final exam before you go to college.
Your entire marks is based on this one exam.
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Another thing I had to learn to adjust was the semester system. In Nepal, I usually had to take 10 to 15 subjects a year and those subjects were taught all year long. But in Canada, 4 subjects were taught each semester. The idea of having only 8 classes a year made me less stressed. Therefore, I had a smooth transition into the semester system. I found myself having more time to do and focus on the subjects. During my first semester here, I realized the stress- free environment that is created for students. I saw that the classroom expectation and duties were completely different. Students were allowed to eat and drink in class, leave for washroom break whenever they want and can interact freely during lectures. For me this was just surprising and school appeared more as a relaxed learning environment.
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| My school uniform for 10 years in Nepal. |
In Canada, there were no school uniforms. I was so used to wearing same type of clothes to school everyday for 10 years. Thus switching from that system to Canadian system was a drastic switch. At first, I found it very intimidating to keep up with latest fashion trend going on in schools. I realized that a sense of uniformity maintained by schools in Nepal did not really exist here. Rather, school encouraged uniqueness and personal choice of attire. There was little to no dress codes enforced.
