Boston Transit: Escape from Banking in the Czech Republic

Freire finds this concept impending as it corresponds to students’ passivity. He is of the mind that education should be based on problem-solving and a more democratic relationship between teachers and students.

Universities in the Czech Republic are, in my opinion, prototypes of banking concept institutions. In addition, the education they provide is way too theoretical to prepare the students for their future jobs. That is why I decided to escape from banking education and plunged into the maelstrom of liberal stars and stripes.

After arriving to “the Hub” (as the capital of Massachusetts is sometimes called) I was matriculated at Boston University and on September 4 I became the part of everyday cycle of lectures and discussions. Even though I still haven’t enjoyed American atmosphere enough, there is only one month to go to the end of the semester. How does it feel to be studying at Martin Luther King’s alma mater?

I’m majoring in biomedical engineering at the College of Engineering at Boston University. In the USA engineering is considered one of the most demanding programs and, compared to other majors, requires harder courseload. In the first semester I have to take General Chemistry, Calculus, Introduction to Programming, Writing Seminar and Engineering Seminar. When the school began, Chemistry immediately became my favorite subject – compared to my high school curriculum there was less quantitative memorizing while the subject focused on qualitative analysis. American system lays stress on teachers being schematic and illustrative and the knowledge is very practical and ready for a real life use. During the first couple of weeks we learnt how to use mass spectrometry to reveal traces of doping in athlete’s urine, how to isolate a substance causing seeds to germinate from smoke water, or how to treat age-related macular degeneration using photodynamic therapy. From old socialistic laboratories of my high school I moved to modern environment where, instead of basic filtration, we experimentally determined the wavelength of photons.

The same interestingness and usefulness applies to Mathematics and Programing: for the homework I can get physics problems requiring integral use, computer games to create or software to design. Next to Engineering Seminar, which is designated for freshmen advising, the last part of my course requirements is Writing. Complains about engineers’ poor writing skills swiftly increase in numbers. However, Boston University is devoted to produce graduates being able to express themselves clearly and coherently. Therefore, even as an engineering student I am obliged to enroll in three semesters full of critical reading, academic writing and research papers.

Studying at Boston University brings me redemption from definitions and mechanical memorizing, escape from overly theoretic subjects but, most importantly, rescue from being Freire’s bank account. Problem-solving method is crucial to understanding and in the field of engineering it is true twice as much.