The Mycenaean

Being a foreign exchange student in the U.S. for over 8 months now, I feel like I have fully experienced school here, and it is very distinct from what I’m used to. Hence, today I will be going over the biggest similarities and differences between Leesville Road High School, and back home – Lithuania.

What’s similar?

First, I’ll go over the similarities. I’ll start with the fact that, both in Lithuania and here, schools have 12 grades. One small difference – Lithuanian middle schools start with fifth grade. Also, we have homerooms, too. I think that’s about it. Besides obvious similar things like cafeterias, classrooms looking fairly alike, smartboards, etc., the rest is different.

Academic differences

First of all, we have different classes every day of the week, and our schedule does not change throughout the year, compared to the same schedule every day for a semester here. In my opinion, focusing on four things for a semester is a little more efficient, but does get a bit boring. 

On the other hand, in Lithuania it can get a little confusing learning many different things at the same time. A regular schedule consists of Math, Lithuanian, English, French/German/Russian (Some schools have Spanish, too), History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Economics, IT, Arts, Theology/Ethics, PE, Woodwork/Sewing.

The number of classes and their lengths are also different. One period is 45 minutes long, but we might have from 5 to 8 periods each day, depending on the student’s schedule. Even though we have shorter periods and more of them, our break times are still longer:

After 1st –  10 min

After 2nd – 15 min

After 3rd –  20 min

After 4th –  30 min

After 5th –  15 min

After 6th –  10 min

After 7th –  10 min

Also, school starts at 8am, instead of 7:25am, so classes end between 1pm and 4pm.

Furthermore, students in Lithuania don’t get much choice in what classes they want to take until the junior year (exceptions are second language classes and Ethics/Theology). And then when we do get a choice, we have to take specific classes to graduate, too.

Another difference is the exam system. Here, the senior year is considered easier because exams are mostly taken in the junior year. In contrast, back home, we take our final exams both in our junior and senior years. This is a new concept, as only a few years back we used to take all of our final exams at the end of senior year.

Finally, we have exams our sophomore year, as well. I wouldn’t say they are too hard, and they only consist of Lithuanian language and Math. But, if a student fails them, they face three options: either try and retake the exam, go to a trade/career school, or finish their education there, as you cannot continue with high school without passing the exam. I know, this sounds pretty strict and maybe unfair, but I’ll assure you, the exams are not that hard and the bar for passing is quite low: 35%.

After-school activities

This difference was probably the most shocking for me. Back home, we don’t have many school sports teams – only volleyball and a couple more at most – that are not really advertised at school. Though, that does not mean we don’t do sports during our teenage years. Students can always join sports clubs outside of school. In addition, at least in my school, we only have around eight clubs, whereas here, there’s a club for almost every niche and person. So for most, school life in Lithuania ends as soon as the last bell of the day rings.

School sports events, such as the football games, will be one of the things I’ll miss the most. Everyone there is friendly, happy, hyped, and the school spirit is unmatched. The school spirit doesn’t end with FNL. Merch, Pep-rallies, and just the attention to school social life evoke the spirit and make the school feel much more alive. In my opinion, this is one of the things that we lack back home.

Don’t get me wrong — we do have some school events like movie nights, graduation parties, special days. We celebrate some holidays at school with events like the Christmas Carnival, during which every homeroom class prepares a performance based on a certain theme given that year. We also sometimes have dances for Halloween and Valentine’s day, which in recent years have become less popular. But overall, our school spirit back home doesn’t even compare to the one here.

Restrictions

First, I’ll talk about a restriction that we have in Lithuania – uniforms. We have to wear a school uniform every day, which can either be a polo shirt, a sweatshirt, or a jacket. It’s not fun at all, but over time students have gotten used to wearing it. Though, I have to mention that a lot of schools do not have uniforms. For example, the first time I was introduced to a school uniform was when I started going to my former high school.

Besides that, I feel like we are pretty free at school, apart from self-evident rules like being respectful to teachers and other students, no smoking, vaping, doing drugs, etc., no fighting… You get it.

Privileges

I think it’s clear that schools in the U.S. are pretty strict about their students’ movement to, from, and around the schools, but I wouldn’t say the same about Lithuania. We don’t use bathroom, hall, or tardy passes. If a student needs to use the restroom, all they have to do is inform the teacher, without needing to check out and check back in. In addition, there are rarely any administrators or appointed teachers physically surveying the halls during class time and in between them.

Furthermore, a lot of the time when a teacher cannot come to school, instead of getting a substitute teacher, we get what is called a “window”, or simply a release period, during which we can sleep in, leave the school grounds, do school work, etc.

Overall, I’d say school systems in Wake County and in Lithuania have a bunch of differences, ranging from academics to social life. Both have their pros and cons, and I could not point to the better system of the two. They’re not better, not worse, just different.