By Jeanne Zheng The Primer is launching a new segment called Personal Perspective where students and STEM professionals will share their experiences with school and work in their respective fields. By doing this, we hope to provide our readers with greater insight into future careers they may be considering and help them learn more about what their peers are doing, academically or otherwise, to achieve their own goals. The graphic below contains images that belong to their respective creators (not to The Primer); others like the images featured in the graphic can be found on the credited accounts, so please go check them out! In addition, the graphic itself was made using tools on Piktochart. Finally, we'd like to thank Tiffanny from Indonesia (@peachesstudy) for letting us use one of her pictures as an example in this article. ![]() For the first article in this series, I interviewed 5 students across the globe in Asia, Australia, Canada and the UK to learn what their academic lives are like and the thoughts they have on their school systems. They were all part of the studygram community on Instagram, a contemporary of the recent studyblr trend on popular blogging platform tumblr. Most frequently, these students post pictures of their neat notes and journals on their accounts; these “studyspo” (a portmanteau of study and inspo, short for inspiration) posts have arguably become something of an art form, often featuring flowing calligraphy, dainty stickers, and typewriter-neat handwriting. Instead of using social media to communicate with friends or share vacation pictures, these studygram owners spend their time discussing their own academic goals and accomplishments with their followers, and encouraging each other to work smarter and harder. When conversing with them over social media, I noticed that many were welcoming, thoughtful people who offered fascinating insight into what school life was like for students in different countries. We asked them these questions:
Vanessa Year 12, Australia @ttstudys is a study account on Instagram. The account is run by Victoria, who (at the time of her interview) was a Year 12 student in Australia, and features self-created journal spreads with neat calligraphy and beautiful designs. She has humanities and arts-oriented interests and enjoys listening to various k-pop groups. 1. What is your favorite subject(s)? What is your favorite class out of all the ones you are taking right now? My favorite subject is probably studio arts, mainly because it is one of the only subjects I’m taking that allows me to express myself. Another reason as to why I like it so much is because it lets me put my ideas onto paper and create something that would be meaningful to me. Learning about artists and their history is also somewhat interesting. 2. What is your favorite STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subject? Why? Since art isn’t part of STEM, my next favorite would probably have to be math. The main reason as to why I like it is because I’m actually good at it and the questions make sense to me, even though I can’t solve the problems all the time. I just like the rules, sequences, and formulas that come with math. I like the structure of it. 3. What do you like about your country’s schooling system? What are some issues you’ve encountered with your country’s schooling system? One thing I love about Australia’s education system is the ability students have to pick and choose the subjects we want to keep and need for our future courses in university. It makes learning so much better as we don’t need to sit through hours of classes that we don’t need or aren’t good at. I don’t think I’ve ever really encountered any problems with my country’s schooling system. Everything about it is pretty good. If I was being very picky though, the amount of subjects that we are allowed to do is somewhat a problem. Since we’re only limited to 5 subjects (technically 4 because English/literature is a must) in year 12 it is sometimes hard to choose which subjects we want to keep. 4. What extracurriculars, if any, do you do? The only extracurricular activities I take part in is a social justice group called BeMore. 5. How much free time do you get? What do you do in that free time? What your hobbies? I technically would have a lot of free time on my hands if I knew how to manage my time well, but since I don’t, free time isn’t something I have a lot of. However, when I do get free time and if I’m feeling inspired, I like to draw and paint my own things. If I have more time, I like to watch shows, movies, and catch up on long videos of my favorite singers. If my time is somewhat limited, I might watch a short YouTube video or go on social media. Jaye Grade 11, Canada @jayestudy is a studygram account run by Jaye, an 11th grader in Canada. The account features self-designed journal spreads, which includes collages of colorful photos, calligraphy, and neat calendars. Jaye has computer science-related interests and enjoys listening to music in her free time; her favorite groups include BTS and Pentagon. 1. What is your favorite subject(s)? What is your favorite class out of all the ones you are taking right now? My favorite subjects have always been math and computer science! I have both of those courses this semester, so they are my favourite. I also have chemistry and I’m really enjoying the class! 2. What is your favorite STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subject? Why? Engineering and math are definitely the ones I love the most. I think it’s the structure of the topic and the problem solving that comes with both that I enjoy. I like creating things from scratch, for example, in computer science. It’s so satisfying and fulfilling to see a bunch of words you’ve written spit out a working program. 3. What do you like about your country’s schooling system? What are some issues you’ve encountered with your country’s schooling system? I really appreciate how much the teachers and staff try to help you. Our guidance department works hard to get everyone’s courses changed to what they want in the beginning of the year and constantly works with students to make their school experience better. Almost every teacher I’ve had, depending on the class, has offered extra help at least two times a week. No matter how busy they are, they take time out of their schedule to help you understand the material. They also try to give people as many chances to go where they want as they can. We have a program in my province that lets you apply for a scholarship grant that helps you pay for post-secondary [college/university]. You can take mixed/college level courses to help build your understanding before taking university level courses if that’s what you’re aiming for. They also put a lot of money towards school resources and trips/experiences for students. To be honest, I’ve never personally experienced something that I thought was an issue with the schooling system. I think our schools here are pretty good. However, education is handled by province in Canada, so things may be wildly different in other parts of the country. 4. What extracurriculars, if any, do you do? I’m part of student council and computer science club in my school! My chemistry teacher has offered to let us come in on certain days to help with labs and get volunteer hours, so I’m definitely planning to go for that as well. I also do taekwondo! 5. How much free time do you get? What do you do in that free time? What your hobbies? This semester, I’ve actually had a lot of free time so far. This is because I have two computer courses where most of the work is done in class and the other two are math/science, so there are little to no assignments, just everyday homework questions. This obviously may change, and will definitely change next semester. Some of my hobbies are drawing, journaling, playing video games occasionally, learning Korean, and watching a lot of Youtube. Joey Grade 10, Hong Kong @artsyjujube is a studygram account is run by Joey, a Grade 10 student in Hong Kong. Her Instagram includes several beautifully arranged images featuring her school notes and personal journal. She also dabbles in art, and occasionally posts some of her drawings on her page as well. 1. What is your favorite subject(s)? What is your favorite class out of all the ones you are talking right now? What is your favorite STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subject? Why? I like maths the most because it always has one accurate answer, unlike Chinese or English. 2. What do you like about your country’s schooling system? What are some issues you’ve encountered with your country’s schooling system? My country’s schooling system is very harsh. Students have to study very hard to get into university in order to earn more in the future. In a way, this is motivational as there is great competition among students; we might be more competitive than students from other countries. However, it still puts a lot of pressure on parents and students. There is an idiom in Chinese, 赢在起跑线, that means winning at the starting line [and embodies that academic culture here]. Parents nowadays send their children to tutorial classes and force their children to attend tons of extracurricular activities. In order to go to university, I joined 7 tutorial classes. Some students in Hong Kong can’t bear the pressure and commit suicide. There are more than 70 students who committed suicide due to academic pressure from 2015 to 2017. 3. What extracurriculars, if any, do you do? I learn badminton, drawing, dancing, and piano. 4. How much free time do you get? What do you do in that free time? What your hobbies? Actually, I don’t have much free time, but when I do, I draw and craft! Tiffanny High School Senior, Indonesia @peachesstudy is a study account on Instagram. The account is run by Tiffanny, a high school senior in Indonesia who currently studying science, and features beautiful journal pages designed and created by her. She likes the group Seventeen and is currently watching the k-drama While You Were Sleeping starring stars Suzy and Lee Jong-suk. 1. What is your favorite subject(s)? What is your favorite class out of all the ones you are taking right now? My favorite subject and class are both biology! 2. What is your favorite STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subject? Why? My favorite part of STEM is science because since I was little I’ve always been interested in it! I spent my childhood reading books about science and I’ve grown to love it. 3. What do you like about your country’s schooling system? What are some issues you’ve encountered with your country’s schooling system? To be honest, I don’t like how my country’s schooling system does not allow us to choose what subjects we take for school. In junior high school, we have to take classes in all subject areas, but in high school, we are divided into three majors: social science, science, and language. However, we have so many compulsory subjects that school is tiring for us. The weird thing is in some schools, the student must choose one subject from the other majors to take. For example, I am a science major but I have to take sociology class. I feel like that is unnecessary. 4. What extracurriculars, if any, do you do? I take cooking classes! 5. How much free time do you get? What do you do in that free time? What your hobbies? Classes start at 7:15am and end at 3:45pm, but I usually get home by 5pm. After that, I have to do homework and other stuff until I get my free time. In that time, I like to fangirl, read novels, and watch Korean dramas. Holly
Year 11, UK @datehwi is a study account on Instagram. The account is run by Holly, a grade 9 student in the UK, and features bright, colorful journal spreads designed and created by her. She is a fan of many k-pop groups, including Wanna One, BTS, Day6, and Red Velvet. 1. What is your favorite subject(s)? What is your favorite class out of all the ones you are taking right now? My favorite subjects are citizenship/politics, religious studies, and art. Out of the classes I take, I love religious studies! 2. What is your favorite STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subject? Why? My favorite out of the four would probably be math; I find being able to reach a correct conclusion really rewarding! 3. What do you like about your country’s schooling system? What are some issues you’ve encountered with your country’s schooling system? I like the fact that my country lets us try out all subjects on offer at the school for two to three years before we actually pick what subjects to study for GCSE [test taken in UK in secondary school for academic qualification in certain subjects]. On the other hand, I really hate the class sizes--the smallest class I have has 25 people and the biggest has 35. 4. What extracurriculars, if any, do you do? I attend debate club and attend revision lessons. 5. How much free time do you get? What do you do in that free time? What your hobbies? I only really have Sundays where I’m able to relax! [In that time,] I love watching TV and journaling!
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