Unlike the common individual, the events that I have experienced throughout my life have shaped and influenced my understanding of schools differently than others. Although my philosophy may be similar, the schooling that I went through was completely opposite. .
Unlike most of the people that are attending the University of Wisconsin La-Crosse, I was not born in Wisconsin or Minnesota. I was a Navy brat; meaning both of my parents were in the service. My younger brother and I were born in San Diego, California and were raised there for about eight years. The schooling in San Diego I would say is pretty similar to the schooling here in Wisconsin. The only difference was the fact that I was in a naval daycare, but after I turned five I started attending the local elementary school. The real shocker that came to my brother and I was when my dad transferred stations from San Diego to Yokosuka, Japan. .
Living in Japan was a huge difference, not only in living style but schooling style as well. Here in the United States most students usually go to school Monday through Friday from eight o'clock to three o'clock with a three month summer vacation thrown in there. Schooling in Japan was a big shock for me because what I learned to be normal was not going to be the same anymore. School went Monday through Saturday seven o'clock to one o'clock with no summer vacation. When my family first arrived to Japan we had to adjust to the culture of the people. We were not living on a naval base anymore, which meant that we were blended in with the locals. .
Since my family was not living on the naval base my brother and I could not attend the American school, which meant we had to attend the local Japanese school. Since neither of us could speak Japanese the service gave each of us our own personal translators to help us with our schooling. This was completely different for both of us. At least for me, I felt dependent on my translator because without her I would not have had any clue of what was going on in my classes.