In the first eighteen years in my life, I stayed in Hong Kong and studied in Hong Kong. Last year, I made a decision of going to the United States to pursue a better education. After I came to the US, I realize that there are some differences between America and my home country in terms of the education system.
             School seats wise, the United States is less competitive than Hong Kong does. Though Hong Kong is just a tiny little place, it has seven millions of population. However, we do not have enough seats in high schools and universities. Therefore, students have to compete with each other so as to promote to a better education level. This makes studying very stressful. In Hong Kong, there are some famous schools which have good reputation (larger possibility) of going to universities. So, many parents push their children harshly in studying so that they can get into these decent schools. Unlike Hong Kong, students in America usually go to the elementary schools and high schools which are nearest to their homes. Also, there are more schools and more seats provided in America, pursuing education then becomes less competitive and thus every student has the opportunity to go to university if they have the ability.
             Moreover, the United States emphasizes the diversity of knowledge; students are required to get an all-rounded education. No matter what the student strengths are, he or she must study Literature, History, Math, Science, etc. It is compulsory for students to take these general courses, even in colleges. Whereas in Hong Kong, students have to choose which stream they want to go when they promote to grade ten. That means if one chooses to be an Arts student, he or she has to take all Arts subjects, like History, Geography, Literature, etc; and they cannot go back to the Science field. Compared to the US, Hong Kongfs education system rather focuses on the specialization, which, to a certain extent, narrows and limits stude...