After roughly two months of studying in Florence, I’ve mostly adjusted to cultural differences. I no longer run errands with wet hair, I always say ciao when I walk into a store and I’m somehow able to eat dinner as late as 8pm. But some differences, such as in my education, are still taking a second to get used to. Especially after recently finishing midterms, I’ve come to realize that the teaching styles and even grading systems are far different than back home.
To preface this, mine is not an exchange program. It is one for American university students in Florence. This means that I am not getting the full European educational experience, but what few changes I have noticed between the U.S. and Florence have already stuck out to me.
Perhaps my largest gripe with the schooling system here is the weight placed on exams. Even in my math courses back home, a single test was never more than 15-20% of your final grade. Here, some are up to 30%. Additionally, the use of tests is far more common in my humanities classes, where I would usually assume papers would make up most of my grade (not that this is something I’m complaining about!). Unfortunately, though, this leads to a sinking feeling that even if one assignment or exam receives a bad grade, it may be impossible to come back from.
In a similar vein, some teachers refuse to give 100% on an assignment. Perhaps it is my personal need for perfection, but when I first received a 93%, the exact equivalent of an A, I was tempted to ask what I had done so wrong that I lost seven points. I soon learned, however, that for this professor, a 93 was great and a 94 was just about perfect, despite my worries. Alongside the few assignments that make up your grade though, this eliminates the critical concept of “buffer room”. This buffer room allows you to pad your grade by participating in class or doing well on the homework, so that a single bad grade can’t sink your grade. Here, though, you don’t get that. If you screw up, you’re screwed.
On the flip side, one thing I have really enjoyed thus far is how hands-on the learning is. Being able to view in person the objects and buildings you are studying is massive. Trying to remember the specifics of a painting? Pay it a visit! Can’t remember who was buried in that one church? Go and see for yourself! The sheer magnitude and history in Florence is genuinely astounding and, for a history major like myself, makes all the difference in your studies. Your lectures are no longer about faraway lands in time periods from long ago, but about your neighborhood. It’s far more digestible and, arguably, far more interesting.
When I first applied to study abroad, I knew that I wanted to experience history head-on. While some changes have been taking some getting used to, the overall ability to study history and food and the Italian language in their birthplaces far outweighs any complaints I may have about getting a few points off on an assignment. Living and learning in Florence is amazing.
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