I started school at the age of 4. I'm 16 and I'm Syrian. I was born in Egypt.

 I went to an American in Egypt from the age of 4 to 13. American schools are one of the best educational schools in Egypt.

Basically all the schools in Egypt start from 7am to 2pm, and 5 days a week.

I didn't find the studying hard because I started from level 1. At my American school the subjects were : English, Arabic, religion, history and geography, arts, music, sports, physics, chemistry, biology, French or German, and technology.

 It is known in Egypt that American schools are easier and have better educational system than the most schools. My studies were fine and I was having a good time. The class contained 20-25 students.

 

When I turned 13 we were forced to leave Egypt due to the revolution that happened in Syria, because Egyptian citizens didn't like Syrians that much. So we had no choice except than going back to Syria. At this time Syria was still safe to live in.

 I attended 1 year of school in Syria. The education there was bad, they don't care about students rights or needs, they don't explain clear enough for you to get the right information. The class had so many students almost 35 persons. After my first year at school things got worse. More troubles happened, bombs were exploded and people died. We had to leave quickly because at anytime you can die by a bomb explosion. So we tried going back to Egypt but we were not allowed to enter…

So we had no chance except going to Turley, because back then Turkey allowed Syrians to enter the country without visa due to the crisis that happened in Syria. So after arriving to Turkey I attended school to complete my 10th grade. The educational system was exactly like Syria.

After a year my father applied for the French visa. They said we can get the visa after 3 months, but no. We took it after a year and 2 months. At this time I didn’t go to school so I lost 2 years… So when the visa arrived we went to France in March 2016. We started working on our papers and I attended school in June 2016. The academy put me in 9th grade when I should go to 11th. I attended schools for 2 weeks in le Collège Les Pyramides then we got the summer vacation. I had to attend the 9th grade again because I came late so I lost 3 years.

At this school year 2016/2017 I should be in 12th grade, but I'm in 9th grade. The language is very hard on me, because I'm new to the country; I'm older than my classmates with 3 years. I'm not comfortable at my school, because I'm very old for everyone else. I almost sit by myself most of the school days. I don't understand anyone and the teachers. I lost 3 years for something that wasn't my fault. But for the educational system in France it's better than Egypt and Syria and Turkey. They are caring, they are always helping you and the learning is good. I would feel a lot better if I was at high school at least  I'll find people of my age.