Today I'm going to talk about my courses, because I think it's really important to know some tips about Canadian school, that I couldn't really imagine before I came here.
This is the bus I take
You have to know before anything that Canadian school is usually extremely different from France. In Nicole's school, students have to choose 4 courses, that they will have every day during a period of 1 hour and 20 minutes, in the same order during a semester of 5 months, then they can choose 4 different courses and do it again. Having the same schedule everyday can easily get boring, so they have to choose carefully.
Now I'm going to talk about my own experience:
Firstly, I went to the guidance office a week before the school started, and I chose my courses right away. Nicole and her family didn't know any of the courses I was able to choose; firstly because I'm a French exchange student, my English wasn't really good when I first came here, and then because Nicole is in grade 10 and I'm in grade 11. The guidance told me that I should only choose in grade 10 courses, but lots of them weren't really interesting to me.
I knew from the association that I had to take an English class, and Nicole wanted to be with me during this period, but it was complicated for the time table. I was finally allowed to also choose with the grade 11's courses, and I was really glad because I've always wanted to take a psychology course, and there weren't any psychology courses in grade 10, but there was in grade 11.
The counselor wasn't sure that I'd understand this course, because some of the terms used in it are particularly hard. I just decided that it would help me even more to improve my level.
Since then the social sciences course is my favorite: I learn a lot, it's interesting and not even so hard.
I had to choose two other courses after that, and I was really lost. Then I thought that I was eating really unhealthy since I came there, and decided to take a sport class, even if I'm not the biggest sports person ever. One good thing with Canadian schools is that the diversification of the courses is good, so I found a fitness class that looked very fun.
My last course is marketing, because I want to work in the luxury business when I grow up, and I think that the knowledge and understanding of English terms in that are some really important parts in this domain.
This last choice wasn't the best I could make: this period is the most boring, I don't learn a lot because no one of my classmates thinks it's interesting, so the general feeling is kind of weird, and I could have chosen an other course, such as cooking or drama instead of marketing.
I think that the choice of the periods can be really different for each person, regarding to the personality of each student, so my experience here means that if something is your passion, like social sciences for me, you should do it during your exchange, even if people think it is going to be too hard for you. If you try hard, it'll be worth it!
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