The United States' Unrealized Freedom: What I Learned in Peru

Christine Chady
Sophomore - The University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Co
E-mail Chad5586@Unco.edu

When I walked into Colegio Parroquial de San Antonio in Ayacucho, Peru, I had no idea of the great differences I would encounter between this school and my high school in Broomfield, Colorado. At the first sight of my new classmates, I knew that this school was managed differently than I expected. Before school started, students stood in the gym from shortest to tallest; girls in one line, and boys in another. Everyone wore his or her brown and cream-colored uniform and talked with friends until the bell signaled the start of the day. Not only were the students, school building, and schedules quite different in Ayacucho, the policy on rules was also more rigid. I soon learned that students in the United States, including me, had taken privileges and freedoms for granted such as deciding what to wear, which classes to choose, and even being allowed to attend classes when we arrived late.

I wore uniforms when I attended private schools in the United States, so this was not new to me in Ayacucho; what was new were other rules about clothing and behavior. One day during Literature class, the professor told me that I needed to have my hair up, and I understood her but pretended not to because she embarrassed me in front of my classmates. To avoid a similar embarrassing situation in the future, I talked with my friends about what is expected of students in Peru. I discovered that boys could not wear jewelry, had to be clean-shaven, and had to have short hair. Girls could wear only one pair of earrings, one necklace, and one ring. There could be no visible tattoos, clothes had to be clean and ironed, and everyone had to wear brown dress shoes. If the rules were not followed, the administration would send the student home. These regulations seemed strange because many students in the U.S. wear tennis shoes, wrinkled jeans, and excessive jewelry to school. If the rules in Ayacucho were applied to the Broomfield student body, almost everyone would be asked to go home--including me.

Some similar restrictions regarding dress codes are found in U.S. schools, but I had not encountered a policy denying students the chance to attend class if they were late until I went to Peru. I learned about this striking difference when twenty of my classmates and I arrived late to our Economics class because we had been working in the computer lab and did not hear the bell ring that signals a new class period. When we arrived at our Economics classroom, the professor refused to let us enter. Unlike the U.S., there was no place to go while waiting for the next class; students ate lunch at home, so there was no cafeteria, and although there were two gyms, the principal and other administrators routinely toured the grounds to make sure no one was missing class. However, one of the gyms seemed to be our only option. My classmates and I could not do homework while we waited because our belongings were in the classroom, so we talked. As the principal walked through the school, he noticed us sitting in the gym bleachers and asked why we were not in class; we explained the situation. He was angry with us for being late and told us not to let it happen again or he would call our parents.

Not only were students denied attendance if they arrived late to class, there were similar rules about arriving late to school. If the entrance to the building was locked, which happened five minutes after the start of classes, no more students were allowed to enter. However, if students arrived in the five-minute span between classes starting and the door being locked, they were not allowed to attend their first class. Instead, they had to stand in the gym and wait, since classes lasted an hour and a half. These students were only allowed admittance to their next class if the professor gave them his permission; if not, they were to go home. Fortunately, I never arrived late, but I frequently saw my classmates standing in the gym waiting impatiently for the opportunity to sit down.

Besides the rigid rules regarding dress codes and tardiness, students in Peru are not given the opportunity to decide what courses to study. I did not think about how fortunate I was to arrange my schedule in the U.S. until I could not do it in Peru. In the U.S., I chose what classes to take from a list of required categories and decided if I wanted to take an advanced level or not. There are many levels to choose from as well as many opportunities to take classes at local colleges. Conversely, in Ayacucho no student had the opportunity to choose classes of a higher or lower level. Everyone in a salón (classroom) studied the same subjects. During the semester I attended school, we studied world literature, grammar and vocabulary, world history, math, economics, computing, English, physical education, religion, and physics. While in Ayacucho, I missed the freedom of choosing whether I wanted a challenging or easy class, struggling through physics (which I had not studied before) and being bored in math and English at the same time.

Without the experience of attending school in Peru, I would not have realized the freedom I have to make decisions in the U.S. Before I lived in Ayacucho, I would complain about the strict rules in high school. However, after I returned to Broomfield from my stay in Peru, I found choosing my classes to be a privilege instead of a chore. I enjoyed making my own decision to put my hair up or leave it down without the possibility of being sent home. I consider the experience of studying at a school in Peru to be enriching because I have learned to appreciate the freedom I have in the United States.

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