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Hi everyone and welcome to Ecom Monthly Intro to American Culture.
I'm Heather.
And I'm Marcellus.
Well, everyone, it's October and you know what that means...
Halloween!
Woohoo! Hallowe~en!
Marcellus, how do you celebrate Halloween?
Well, it depends. Usually, I celebrate Halloween by going to Halloween parties, dressing up in some kind of funny costume,
and usually, eating Halloween candies and cakes and foods.
Sounds good. I think I'm about the same, yeah.
On the tree, we have some jack-o-lanterns.
That's right.
Are you a big fan of those?
Yes, I really like jack-o-lanterns.
I like them because the shape is really interesting
and it just makes me feel like a kid again when I see a jack-o-lantern, you know.
I love jack-o-lanterns, but I was never any good at carving the faces.
Oh my god, me neither.
Yeah, I think I was scared of the knife maybe, I don't know.
But, oh, how about costumes? What kind of Halloween costumes are you used to wearing?
Well, when I was a kid, the Halloween costume that I remember the most is being a pirate.
And then once, when I was in high school, I worked at a supermarket and I went to work dressed as a hard rocker.
And that was kind of a funny one, because I wore a blond wig and got make-up from the drama department in my high school
and changed my skin color and I was Bon Jovi for a day.
Your skin color?!
That's right.
Wow, that's a creative costume, I must say.
Yeah, it was really funny.
I think my best costume was Cleopatra.
Really?
Yeah, my mother made like a black wig and it was all jeweled with necklaces and I was, like, so sparkly and I felt so beatiful.
I'm sure you were a lovely Cleopatra.
All right, well, is everyone ready?
Yep, let's begin!
Let's begin!
All right, welcome back.
We are in the month of October and this month's cultural topic is: education, and specifically, the cost involved in education.
Now, related to this, we have three key words.
The first key word is: scholarship.
The second is actually two small key words, in-state and out-of-state.
And the third key word is: student loan.
All right, Marcellus, why don't you tell us a bit about that first key word, which was scholarships?
Scholarships. In America, it's common for many students to receive a scholarship to help pay for the cost of education.
Scholarships are money that we receive for education that we do not have to pay back.
Scholarships can be given from the government or private organizations.
And there are many reasons why people receive a scholarship.
A lot of people receive scholarships for academic achievement.
If you study really hard, get really good grades, there are many organizations that will give you money to continue your studies.
Another reason for receiving a scholarship is because of economic status.
If your family unfortunately doesn't make a lot of money, then there's also government scholarships available
and private organizations that will pay you money to go to school.
And then, finally, scholarships based on ethnic status.
In order to create a more balanced academic environment,
a lot of organizations will give money to minorities, people of color, American Indians, even immigrants to help them be able to study.
Yeah, but you forgot one: athletics.
Athletics, oh yes. I was actually bad at that, that's why I forgot.
We like to give money to those students who excel in a sport,
That's right.
so that our school can have better athletes and we can win our games and stuff.
That's right.
Yeah. Those are big scholarships.
And then second key word...
All right, second was: in-state or out-of-state.
And this is talking about where you live, okay?
So, if you go to a private school, generally that's just going to be very expensive.
No discounts or anything with that, unless you get a scholarship.
But, if you go to a public school, and usually this is talking about college or university,
That's right.
if you go to a public school, and you live in that State for usually more than a year,
you can qualify for in-state status, and that means the tuition, the payment, is going to be much lower.
But, if you live out of the State or in another country, you'll be an out-of-state student
and your tuition and payments will be about three times higher.
Yeah, so usually in-state college costs about $10,000 for one year,
and an out-of-state student has to pay about thirty or fourty thousand dollars a year.
CRAZY!
Yes.
So, you're really hoping to get a scholarship in that case.
That's right. Now, we're talking about, up until now, costs for university and costs for college.
Just as a side note, the cost of education for elementary school, if you go to a public school, is free for everyone.
Of course, private school requires that you pay.
For high school, if you go to private high school like I did,
then scholarships are available based on academics, based on sports ability or based on minority status.
And that leads me to the next topic, which is: How do you pay for education if you can't get a scholarship
and if you want to go to an out-of-state school or even an in-state school and want to cut down the cost.
Well, there's a system in America that allows us to do that, which is called student loans. (dramatic sounds)
The reason why I make that sound is because student loans give us a huge amount of money
to help us cover the cost of education and then after we graduate,
we pay every month a percentage of our income or a set amount, so that we cover the cost of those student loans.
And, on average, I think it takes about 10 year or so.
Oh gosh, I don't know.
If you become a doctor, you have about, I don't know, more than $100,000 of loans.
That's right.
So, education in America is expensive, but there are many ways to cover the cost and I hope this was insightful for you.
Yeah, that's all for today.
That's right. Take care.
See you next time!
All right, we hope you enjoyed today's cultural topic and seasonal topic.
The fall is here and the temperature may be going up and down and doing some crazy things,
so take care of your health and keep on studying.
And we'll see you next time.
Bye bye!
Good-bye!