Blog #3: Lauren Sarmiento

       For my last blog, I chose to write about a meeting we had with the English majors at the University of Panama. The meeting was arranged by their professor, so that the students had an opportunity to practice their English with us. At the same time, we were able to learn about their lives, their school, and their aspirations. 

       The lives of these Panamanian students are relatively similar to the lives of students in the United States. They attend school 5 days per week and take on a class load of about 5 classes per semester. These particular students have 5 classes in English and 2 classes in Spanish, totaling a class load of 7 classes. They attend college from 1pm-5pm every day, and some are double majoring and have a total of 12 classes this semester! To say the least, they were very surprised that this summer we are only taking 2 classes. Some similarities include the average time it takes to get their degree and certain requirements for specialization. On average, it takes the Panamanian students 4 years to obtain a degree, and then approximately 2 additional years if they wish to specialize in something, such as specializing in a specific field of nursing. 
       At the same time, I was very surprised at the differences between the University of Panama and the University of South Florida, as well as other colleges in the United States. Firstly, there is no on-campus housing available for students here, and some students commute over an hour every day to get their education. Secondly, the average cost per semester is $27.50! Another student told me that it costs her about $2 per day to attend all of her classes. This price seriously shocked me, and the Panamanian students were just as shocked when I told them my approximate expenses per semester! One girl stated that she wanted to become a nurse, but nursing school was $50 per semester, and stated this was too expensive for her family to afford. 
       On another note, these students have a wide variety of aspirations about what they wish to do as a career. Some want to become teachers; others want to be translators or flight attendants, while quite a few men wish to become lawyers. While many of these students have never had the opportunity to visit the United States, they really want to travel there one day and say they hope to speak English as well as we do by the end of their four years at the University. 
       Overall, this experience was very rewarding, and I was reminded how blessed I am to have had the opportunity to travel to Panama to work and speak among the natives here. I will never forget these experiences and I wish the absolute best to each and every student at the Universidad de Panama.

Written by: Lauren Sarmiento