A long way from home
Barr comes from South Africa to continue education
BY LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Monday, September 29, 2008 10:41 AM PDT
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| Sharon Barr, a student at Treasure Valley Community College, became active in student government and is serving this school year as president. |
ONTARIO — Sharon Barr, a student at Treasure Valley Community College, is a long way from home, coming to Ontario from the southern tip of Africa to continue her education and notes the contrasts between U.S. schools and those in South Africa.
She has made herself at home, however, and is playing a major role on campus as president of the student government.
Born and raised in South Africa, Barr, 21, lived near Durban on the Indian Ocean, she said.
“I lived 20 to 30 miles from ocean,” she said.
One of the major contrasts between the South Africa and the United States is the school system.
Her father, who was born in nearby Zambia, is a plumber, and her mother, whose family lived in South Africa for several generations, runs a sign-making business out of their home.
“My high school had about 1,000 students,” Barr said. “I went to an all-girl high school.”
Primary schools in South Africa are co-educational, she explained, but in high schools, grades eight through 12, boys and girls separated.
“I think it makes a better learning environment,” she said.
There are four separate terms with breaks in between, she said.
In grades eight and nine, students attend school in eight-day cycles, taking classes in all subject areas for those two years. During ninth grade, students choose and will be assigned the course of their study and classes they will be taking their last three years of school, Barr said.
Barr decided to attend TVCC while visiting an uncle, a truck driver, and family who had emigrated from South Africa. After living in California, her extended family found their way to Payette.
“All the colleges are four years in South Africa,” Barr said, regardless of whether the school is large or small.
TVCC is a great school, she said, and she enjoys the opportunity to not only work with students, but also faculty and administration as president of the associated student government.
“Our school does a lot of things for being a little school,” Barr said, referring to the types of programs and entertainment that have come to campus. Before being president, Barr was an academic senator and student vice president. She describes the leadership program at TVCC as one of the best, which has not only help her grow as a leader, but also as a person.
Barr is currently a sophomore, majoring in elementary education, and is now considering what four-year college she will attend. She said she is still not sure whether she will stay in the United States or return to her country. For now she is busy being a student, student president and working part-time.
