Features
May 6, 2014
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Advice from Beyond: What CA Alums Say by Teresa Dai’14
International Column: Thailand by Bink Sitawarin’14 As many of you probably know already, Thailand is the “land of smiles,” famous for its beaches, temples, cuisines, exotic culture and arts, its extremely hot and humid climate, and the amazingly long names of Thai people (mine is relatively short). But, here, I would like to introduce you to some aspects of Thailand you may not know much about. There are 14 million Thai students studying in Thailand from kindergarten to the Ph.D. level, both in public and in private schools. I used to be one of those students before coming to the States. I experienced a “unique” educational system based partly on the Eastern system, with hardly any resemblances to that of the Western world. Education in Thailand from its root to the fruit is constantly being judged in comparison to the educational systems of other Asian nations or Western countries. Most Thai people, if not all of them, consider our educational system as one of the biggest failures of our country. Instead of moving forward, we keep stepping backward, they say. As a student, I agree that there are errors and room for improvement in the Thai educational system. However, I do not agree with people who regard it as a national failure . Although I have been in the U.S. for less than a year, I can easily spot major differences in Eastern and Western education. While I think that there are differences, one is not necessarily better than the other. And I say this because that is actually what I see, not because I wish to stay in the middle between two extreme arguments. But for now I will
point out one flaw in a Thai education: the quality of teachers in public schools. Public schools in Thailand are not much different from those in the U.S.: up to fifty students stay in the same class for almost the whole day, with teachers coming in and out for each period. But teachers are not wellpaid in Thailand; therefore, not that many students choose education as their major in college. People who become teachers are those who have low GPAs and test scores; these people study education because they cannot apply to other, “better” schools. There are good teachers, who love and are dedicated to teaching, but the number of such teachers is going down the tube. In my personal experience, I have studied with teachers who do not have a clear understanding of the subjects they teach, who never grade students’ work, or who have poor teaching and communication skills in general. No wonder well-to-do families send their kids to tutors, who teach extra classes after school. Tutoring has become a huge, rapidly growing, and trendy business in Thailand; looking around, one can easily spot tutoring centers in all major cities, especially in Bangkok. Because of tutoring’s higher pay, teachers who are good at teaching are leaking from public system to teach in these tutoring centers. So how do we solve this problem? Why not raise teachers’ salary? We do have the money. But we also have political conflict and corruption, which keeps pulling us backward. So, from my point of view, these problems with education will not be solved - at least not in the near future.
Privacy ...continued from page 1 mechanism, Nieves said that if a cyberbullying case arises, the school is equipped to collect forensic evidence. “There are laws in place that mandate schools to follow protocols and do their due diligence to protect students,” Nieves said. Assistant Head of School and Academic Dean John Drew said that cyberbullying cases are rare and that such problems “generally arise because someone doesn’t realize that what they’re posting is public.” Anonymous postings and comments are forbidden by CA’s AUP. In the event that an illegitimate user accesses a person’s CAConnect account, Concord Academy is able to trace the location and eventually the specific device through data logs from administrative tools. Only if someone voices a concern that his or her account has been compromised does the school investigate. By typing in the name of a CA student or faculty member on the administrator account, an IT staffer gets a
list of times and IP addresses that indicate the time and device with which a person opened specific applications. On the other hand, CA provides every student and faculty member an Evernote account, into which the school has zero visibility. Evernote users can encrypt their data for further privacy, as well. While some information is less susceptible to monitoring, Nieves advised that students use discretion online. “I’m a big fan of people always being careful and assuming that whatever they’re writing in a digital format will be read by somebody else. There’s no such thing as privacy,” Nieves said. Another IT Services member yelled from across the hallway, “I heard that!” When I asked Nieves if he would like me to send him a draft of this article prior to publication, he jokingly responded—rest assured, CA would not read someone’s email without their knowing— “There’s no need. I’m sure I’ll be able to find it in your email.”
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1. How’s college life? What are you most involved in? Jack Anderson (College of the Holy Cross): College life is awesome; there is so much freedom… [although] you have to manage your time really well. I am involved in a bunch of things at Holy Cross: I played goalie on the club soccer team, am a member of an all-guys a cappella group, The Sound of St. James, and [volunteer] at an after school program at a local elementary school for kids. Yong Murray (Columbia University): I’m really enjoying college! The classes here are challenging but enjoyable, and I feel that CA prepared me well for the level of difficulty. I do a lot of music here – I’m currently in three chamber music groups, one of which performed in Carnegie Hall [a few] weeks ago. Liz Gootkind (Williams College): College life is really fun actually. For [someone who was] a day student at CA, college seems like the idealized version of boarding... There is a lot more freedom to do what you want, but there is also a much smaller support system if you mess up. That sounds bad, but I guess a lot of times you have to find your own support systems... I would also say that the stereotype of finding your own space immediately is completely wrong. You’re going to mess up a lot, and you’re going to have to learn how to fix it yourself, but in a way that’s very exciting. Gaurav Verma (Johns Hopkins University): I saw [JHU] as a well-balanced school, with strong academics in addition to a thriving athletic program and lots of extracurricular activities. I have been involved in Student Government as a freshman class senator, as well as with the Newsletter, our student newspaper. CA prepared me well for college, but it is different. At Hopkins there is no real hand-holding, and doing well is dependent on studying for exams on your own. There are resources available, but you have to take initiative. 2. Why did you choose this college, and has it met your expectations so far? Amos Damroth (Sarah Lawrence College): I guess the official reasons I chose SLC were … the strength of the writing and film programs as well as the proximity to New York, but to be honest it just felt right. When I was visiting it felt like the only college that I looked at that wasn’t trying to market itself as an institution and more of a community of artists and academics.
friends are Computer Science majors, some of whom have founded a pretty successful business of their own, or worked full time in National Geographic or Dropbox.) That’s what makes things more competitive. Trying totally new things can get a whole lot harder. At the end of the day, I didn’t really explore much into the “humanities side” [despite my expectations]. It seems I’m still discovering more and more of [Stanford]. “There’s more to do than can ever be done.” 3.What do you miss the most about CA? Adetola Sylvan (Brown University): Something I miss about CA is how close the whole community is. It was nice to be able to walk into the Stu-Fac and know everyone. But I appreciate being able to constantly meet new people here, and you can’t really have both situations. Charlotte Weiner (Yale University): I really miss the teachers who I was able to get close with at CA. Although I’ve been able to get to know my professors through my Directed Studies sections this semester, it’s just not the same as at CA, where so many of the teachers care so deeply about us, not just academically, but as whole people. Getting to really know teachers at CA, and feeling like I could go to them to talk… not just about class but life in general, not necessarily when I had a problem but I just wanted to talk, was pretty amazing. CA is just filled with these adults who will drop what they’re doing to help [students] and want to help us grow and succeed, and that’s incredibly special. Creighton Foulkes (Bates College): I probably miss the great people of entrepreneurship club, and the champions of the men’s squash team and tennis team the most as well as a lot of the great teachers I had. (Also please wish Tariq a happy birthday because I miss CA squash.) 4. Do you have any advice for seniors? Alyssa Taylor (Middlebury College): I would say that there isn’t just one perfect college out there. College campuses have so many different classes and opportunities that a diverse range of people can all find a niche at the same school. In terms of leaving CA, don’t get too caught up in thinking about next year. Freshmen year of college year will come (and go) faster than you think. Just appreciate your friends and the CA community in these last few weeks. Hannah Oettgen (Wellesley College): I loved the last few weeks of senior year so definitely to try to enjoy it and not worry about graduation and everything.
Sarah Eberth (Case Western Reserve University): I chose Case because it offers both dance and engineering opportunities and I wanted a medium sized school. It has met my expectations, except one disappointment, the teachers, but a large part of that is due to how amazing the teachers at CA are and how close we get to them… [At] college it’s not the same mainly because most of my classes are large lectures.
Regina Coyle (Barnard College): The only thing I can really suggest for students heading off to college is that if you’re going to the same school (or school in the same area) as someone else from CA, really try and keep that connection— even if you weren’t that close in high school. It’s nice to have an ally the first couple of weeks of college— and you never know, you could become really good friends!
George Supaniratisai (Stanford University): Most people might think [Stanford] fits those people who consider [themselves] “techy” but also kind of interested in the humanities side or some business and social science. (I thought so, that’s why I picked Stanford.) When I first came to Stanford, it [felt] like [they had] chosen a bunch of people… with some kind of talent. (My
Tyler Rost (University of North Carolina at Wilmington): When looking for a college, look for a school you can see yourself at for 4 years. Don’t look with the assumption that you can just transfer out if things go bad. Also, don’t worry. You’ll find the right school for you. I didn’t get into my first choice and I’m happy as ever at the W. It all works out.