Back to school around the world

"Our main aim is not just to entertain, it's also to educate." She recently performed in "The Scourge," a play about HIV and AIDS. "[Acting] gives me a feeling of accomplishment, that I have done something."

For fun, she likes to go with friends to watch movies at one of Nairobi's downtown cinemas. The most recent one she saw was "The Mummy Returns."

Her course load of eight subjects is her main source of pressure (all final-year students take English, math, and Kiswahili, the national language, one technical course, and four electives). "Without pressure," she says, "there would be no determination."

- Mike Crawley

Guadalajara, Mexico

Jonathan Fonseca Camarena arrived for his first day of school yesterday just before 2 in the afternoon - in time to see the last stragglers from the first shift heading home. More than 1,000 students attend his big public high school, or preparatoria, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Another 1,000-plus arrive at 2 p.m. and stay till 8 at night.

That schedule suits Jonathan fine. "I like the afternoon shift. Then I can hang with my friends at night, and do my homework in the morning before school."

On a typical day, he'll have between 2-1/2 and 3 hours of homework. Still, he will find time after school to visit with friends and play guitar, before returning to the condominium where he lives with his parents and two older brothers. "I have to be home by 10 p.m. on school nights, and 1 a.m. on weekends. My parents are OK. They aren't too strict."

The preparatoria, or prepa, which he and many of his 15-year-old friends are starting this year, is about a kilometer from their homes, and they walk there together. Unlike in primaria and secondaria - the equivalents of US elementary and middle school - students in prepa aren't required to wear uniforms. "I like finally being able to wear normal clothes," Jonathan says.

But he is required to take Spanish, math, art, geography, chemistry, physics, and history during the week - and his electives, computers and music, on Saturday. Chemistry was rough last year, "because there are so many chemical elements to memorize and tons of details to learn." But history made up for it: "My [former] history teacher is my favorite," Jonathan says, "He loves history, and shared that love and enthusiasm with us."

When it comes to his future, Jonathan is less certain. After prepa, some students go on to university or technical school. "During the last year of prepa," he explains, "we'll be given a list of all the possible technical professions. I'll choose one then, and go to a technical college to train for my career." He doesn't know what it will be - but the uncertainty is exciting: "There are so many possibilities! Every day I hear about more professions."

- Laurie M. Scott

Chesterfield, Mo.

As the new academic year dawns, high school is the sun around which Eric Ewing's life orbits. But there are plenty of other spheres of influence for this teen: work, sports, and his passion - computers.

"I love computers. If all the time I spend on my computer counted as homework, I'm sure I could have a 4.9 [grade-point average]," he says over the whistles and squeaking shoes of the girls' varsity volleyball team, which he manages.

Born and raised in Chesterfield, an affluent suburb west of St. Louis, Eric has just started 10th grade - his second year at Parkway Central High School. "I've gotten a little more mature [since last year]," he says. "But there's still a long way to go.... It seems like a pretty drastic change going from a freshmen to a sophomore."

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