Predetermined study norms? Ha!

I knew the University of Pécs would be different because obviously it was an actual university of 20,000 students dwarfing my itty bitty Wyoming community college which has less than 2,000. I also considered the unfamiliar teaching methods unique to Europe. However, this first semester taught me that the only thing similar to school back home is that there are teachers and there are students. 

*Keep in mind that these descriptions are only from my perspective as a BA Social Work student. My roommate Sara is studying for her BA in Psychology and there are many dissimilarities. For example; I have not been required to get a single textbook while she must get one for nearly every class. 

The most significant difference between school here and back home has to be the extreme curricular informality. There are two types of classes: lectures and seminars. Lectures often require midterms and will always have final exams (with up to 3 retake opportunities... Yes, you can retake your finals until you get a 5) while in seminars the professor decides whether or not to have a final at all. Whether lecture or seminar the teachers might have a syllabus, but they might not. If they do have one there is a strong chance that it will not be followed. I had no clue of the class objectives at the beginning of the semester and actually still don't for some of my classes (semester is over). If you are lucky you find out on the first day of class how many exams, papers and projects will take place but it's more likely that you know the week before something may be due and just a couple weeks before an exam. This is especially unsettling because there is only one lecture per class per week. That means each semester you meet a total of 9 or 10 times which results in most classes having a strict 3 absence maximum.

If you come to Pécs try your best to start off on the right foot with your classmates because you are stuck with them! Back home it was normal to have just a few classes in common with students of the same major because you have the freedom to move around your schedule a bit to your liking. Here, however, every student sharing your major will be in all of your classes because there is only one class schedule per major which you all must stick to. Every. Single. Semester. It's good to be a nice person in general but please take extra care to not be a jerk to your classmates in Hungary because it will make for a rough couple of years. I have attached a photo of the BA in Social Work schedule for all 3 years. 1st year (me) is green, 2nd year is red, and 3rd year is that maroon-y purple color.

Maybe you can tell by this schedule that each class is an hour and a half long and I only have classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Unless I take electives which fall on Thursday and Friday I am only required to go to Uni 3 days out of the week which is super nice. This is specific to Social Work but I have seen similar schedules among the other majors and it is universally uncommon that classes are held on Fridays.

Another significant difference is that printing in Hungary is not free so don't expect to be able to print off readings for your classes in the dorm or even in your class building. You must go to a printing shop (these are also the only places where I have found notecards.

I am not showing these differences to make the University of Pécs seem worse or better than schools back home by any means but simply to give you an idea of how the world differs from one country to another. This study abroad experience creates a unique environment in which I must adjust and therefore grow in ways I've never expected.