I am anything but a devoted fan of the NBA, particularly when European time zones would make following basketball an exercise in sleep deprivation. However, March Madness has still seized me in the form of relentless midterm essays. So, a little bit of sleep deprivation either way. The biggest struggle is not necessarily the assignments themselves, so much as adjusting to the major differences between the Irish and U.S. school systems. At the very surface, there are vocabulary differences. Classes are known as modules, professors are lecturers (and you address them by first name!), grades are called marks, et cetera. All of this is without even getting into the differences in the grading scale—it is extremely unlikely that any work short of groundbreaking, graduate‐level research will get much more than a 70. Reviewing GEO’s conversion scales are a must so that heartbroken Huskies who receive a 65 in Ireland can remind themselves that they are literally not a failure, because that works out to an A-.
In addition to assigning different numerical scores, assignments are structured different from the “continuous assessment” model used in the United States. Rather than frequently quizzing students or even assigning regular homework, assessment here is typically determined based on one or two assignments for the entire semester. This seems to parallel the exam structure that Irish students experience through their secondary school Leaving Certification. As much as the SAT and ACT may weigh on US high school students, the stress they generate pales in comparison to other national exams, based on friends’ anecdotal evidence. Whether the gāokāo in China or the baccalauréat in France. In any case, I am not complaining.
These heavily‐weighted midterm and final assignments require a great deal of independence from students. The first day of any class in the United States, the syllabus usually includes a detailed schedule for any reading that is required for the class, perhaps with a suggested (but ultimately optional) texts. Whereas here in Ireland most of my classes simply provide an overwhelming general bibliography without requirements of what is necessary to prepare for exams and essays. At most, a lecturer occasionally heartily encourages that we check out a particular article or book.
All of these factors I could adjust to, if not for certain differences in the school system which make these larger, vaguer assignments more difficult than I am used to. First of all, the campus library! This is not a slight against the Boole library, which is generally beautiful.
Being used to Snell, it never occurred to me that the main campus library would…close. Not only that, but campus itself closes earlier, with the gates literally shut by 9 PM. This parallels a general trend in the country where everything from pubs to the post office have shorter hours than at home. Given that I live about a 1.8 mile walk from campus, I do not look forward to physically trekking to the library early to the make the most of this schedule. It remains necessary, less because libraries are my ideal study spot, but due to the unfortunate fact that far fewer materials seem to be available online for many subjects.
On the other hand, none of my lecturers have expected that I purchase textbooks, sometimes explicitly discouraging us with reminders that multiple copies of our texts have been requested by the library. Perhaps this explains some of the astounding reported sightings of lines out the library’s doors as exam week started, starting as early as 9 am! Getting a seat is competitive generally, but has been reasonable during the rest of the semester.
However, once on campus and in possession of a seat, credit must be given to the quality of the facilities. There is seating (of varying degrees of comfiness) and numerous outlets on all four upper floors of the library. It is always my preference to grab a spot by the huge windows, occasionally people-watching and checking out whatever is going on down on the Main Quad. There is always something! Moreover, I am tickled every time I get to use to the automatic book-return machine or take advantage of the forty Chromebooks available for four-hour, in-building rentals. With public art on display and a really impressive collection of “green” initiatives, there’s a lot to appreciate about the leabharlann.
However, I have fewer warm feelings about the paper submission process. The first time I had to find a tiny office off the main campus, weighed down with a digital submission report, two hard copies of my paper, and a lot of confusion, the process struck me as, forgive me, barbaric. Once I arrived, standing among a dozen others also trying to submit their papers, the next step was filling out additional paperwork on whatever flat surface came to hand, before getting a stamped receipt from our slightly impatient department secretary.
After that first hectic experience, the process did not exactly become more familiar, because it varied by department. Though in all cases, a physical submission was necessary. I mentioned that I live two miles from campus, correct? Compounded by the fact that a printer allowance is not automatically supplied, I briefly felt grateful for the American higher education system which usually allows me to submit an assignment to Turnitin at 11:59 PM and be done with it. There is a partial explanation for this very process in that an external examiner receives one of the hard copies in order to verify the grades determined by the lecturer. However, since some of my lecturers confessed to exasperation at not being able to rely on digital submissions there are still probably areas where this process could be streamlined.
All in all, I am writing off this as another point of cultural exchange. Commiserating about my confusion with fellow international students is kind of fun too. Midterm madness was a taste in learning about the Irish education system itself, an interesting addition to my actual lectures. Moreover, I would rather learn these idiosyncracies in March, as opposed to during May final exams.
