We are familiar with the word school as a place where we learn. School is a community that provides education and allows us to socialize with other students. There are schools located all over the world. The school I go to is probably different than the School in Ghana.

How we get to school?
All schools in the district require you to live there in order to attend. We live in a community that is wealthier than others. Either my dad or my mom will drive my sister and me to school. It takes around ten minutes to arrive at school. Houses in our district are all located near a school. There are a total of four elementary schools, one middle school / junior high, and one high school.

I researched some things about schools in Ghana and found few facts about how you make your way to school. I know there are farms everywhere that people live on. Some of them are close and far from schools. I found out that children have to wake up very early in order to catch a train and then get off and still have to walk a few miles to eventually reach their school. It’s weird to think about that we all go to school but all have completely different ways of getting there.

What is an average day at school like?
An average day for me is pretty busy. Every day I wake up at seven a.m. and get ready for school. I like to start my day off by listening to music in my bathroom. If I have time, I will eat breakfast but I usually don’t because I’m so rushed to get to school. Once I get to school I walk to my first period class, Social Studies. Then I continue my day by going to lunch and my other classes. That includes math, science, language arts, Spanish, and speech. I get let out of school at two- twenty three P.M. for my off campus P.E. My mom picks me up and drives me straight to cheer practice. I cheer a total of fifteen hours a week. After cheer, I will get home about seven or eight thirty depending on how much cheer I have that day. I just made the high school freshmen cheer squad for next year so I also have those practices. When I get home, I eat dinner with my family of nine and then start my homework. I get most of my homework done at school in my advisory period, which is like a study hall. After my homework is completed, I shower and get ready for bed. I’m in bed at ten thirty and fall asleep around eleven. This is what an average day is like for me.

Before I researched this topic, my answer was different than expected. I found out that we do similar types of things but not exactly the same way. Every day, I’m guessing you go to school, just like I do. Then, you might have time to play a game or hang out with friends, just like I do. I bet your homework follows somewhere between school and after school activities. We both do chores or jobs to help out our parents and learn how to become more independent. Finally, you finish your day by having dinner and getting some sleep.

What sacrifices do we make to go to school?
My family is very fortunate; we don’t have to make any sacrifices to go to school except for one. My dad has to commute for his work and flies to Midland, Texas every week, Tuesday through Thursday. He started his company in Midland, Texas eighteen years ago. My family used to live there but we moved to Dallas, Texas two years ago. He hasn’t moved his work to Dallas yet but eventually will.

I watched a video clip from Ghana that was interviewing a student at a school. He was talking about some sacrifices he makes in order to come to school. He said that his family could not afford to send both him and his sister to school at the same time. He told us that he let his sister go and he got a job to help his father pay his tuition. Eventually, they had enough money and he graduated from that school at the age of twenty. After hearing that story it made me think how different and similar our lives are.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and I can’t wait to hear back from you!!! I loved learning about your country and all the fascinating things about it!

Sincerely,
Clara B.