First, I would like to begin with an update from yesterday. After a good night’s rest and much sunnier weather, Buenos Aires had become the lively, colorful city I was expecting. Because we landed on a Sunday, many of the stores were closed and people were spending the day with family. However, today the streets are filled with locals and travelers alike.
Today we were able to visit the Austral University, the first private university, in Pilar. Founded just 40 years ago, the university had since grown to currently enroll 4,000 undergraduate students and 2,000 graduate students spread over three campuses. While private schools in the United States may be this small as well, the University of Pittsburgh has roughly 19,000 undergraduate students enrolled. Comparatively, the University of Buenos Aires has 400,000. One of the biggest differences between the education system in Argentina and in America is that while both have public and private universities, in Argentina public universities are completely free and no entrance exam is required.
Besides Austral being private and far smaller than Pitt, the campus itself was much more different than Pitt’s campus. Located off the highway, it was in a field that is slowly growing to add more university buildings. After a year of being in the city, the thought of walking through grass and trees to get to class was refreshing and very welcome. Another interesting thing we witnessed was a graduation/ final exam of the medical students. Students entered a room one at a time for what appeared to be an oral exam and when they emerged with good news, they were swarmed by families with congratulatory posters, cameras, handmade graduation caps and plenty of hugs. Pitt graduation ceremonies are far more formal, and students know they are graduating far in advance and it does not usually come down to one last exam.
The biggest and most noticeable difference to me between the universities was that there were no dormitories. After spending the year living in a building with over 600 students from my graduating class, it is hard to imagine attending Pitt without living, eating, and spending every waking moment with other students. Other than that, however, there seemed to be many similarities. Students sat outside on the lawn soaking up one of the last warmer days before winter while eating lunch. Groups of friends walked down the hallway laughing and chatting. Doctors sat in the cafeteria while on break from the University Hospital. All in all it really showed us all that there is a common universality among us all. Until tomorrow, adios!