Children of light, children of darkness

Anonymous The group today went and took a trip at the University of Athens, and we discovered some interesting things about how the higher education system works in Athens. For one thing the place is a safe asylum; they can protest and do anything they want within reason and the police cannot touch them for demonstrating there. Due to this the building and facilities are extremely run down compared to how you would think a university would look. Graffiti, like in most places of the city, is prevalent everywhere around the campus. These graffiti tags are more like art work rather than political slander, although there is some of the as well. Dr. Finitsis told us the getting into the school is not like how it is in the US; the school is quite hard to get into and you have to pass a national exam to gain entrance. Unless you go to the few private schools around Greece you cannot buy your way into the school no matter what kind of money you have. With the fact you can't but yourself a ticket you do not have to pay for schooling in Greece. The government pays for all of the education besides books. Students sometimes feel that they can take it of leave it because they themselves are not paying and wasting money if they do not attend class or do poorly. Many of the students then get jobs on the side, or should I say school on the side, and these students often do poorly, drop out, or end up being a long term college student. So the question that I was asking some people on the way back from our visit was this. Who is more privileged? Us who are in the great country of America living mostly as we please and having to pay for school. Or, Greeks, who might not have as many freedoms or opportunities in life but can go to school for free and then have many of the same opportunities we as Americans do. Who has it harder, who has it easier. Who is living in the light, who is living in the darkness.