Gabe Segovia (12) moved from Mexico to the United States about a year and a half ago. He has visited the U.S. for vacations, like Florida and Washington D.C. but he fully moved to the U.S. on Dec. 12, 2023. He used to live in Santiago de Queretaro. After moving to the U.S., Segovia has noticed lots of differences from Mexico.
“There’s so many differences. There’s way more activities to do here, but there’s more freedom in schools in Mexico,” Segovia said.
“[In Mexico], you can sleep in class, you can leave whenever, you can order food, there is a college across the high school you can visit. You can’t choose your classes. The only thing you can change is the order of your classes.”
High school is a bit different in Mexico. Students only have people of the same grade in their classes. Additionally, high school in Mexico is three years instead of four. Six elementary, three in middle, and three in high school. Kindergarten is optional.
Gabe’s favorite thing about Liberty is theatre. Gabe has always wanted to try acting, and now, he has performed in a play and musical.
“I always liked theatre and acting. I love watching movies. I always wanted to try it out but I couldn’t in Mexico,” Segovia said. “When I first saw ‘Twelfth Night’ during my junior year, I was impressed. It was very cool and I joined the theatre in my senior year. When I first joined, I didn’t know anything about it, but I love theatre and acting and I don’t regret joining. The people are very nice, especially the teacher Mrs. Gehrke.”
Segovia was not able to take any theatre classes in Mexico because his school didn’t have a theatre program.
“There was no theatre, no clubs, no bands, but we had sports,” Segovia said. “Soccer, basketball and volleyball were the biggest. We don’t have football or track. Art and photography were the main extracurricular classes there.”
Segovia says that physical education classes are optional and not required, and that the credits system does not exist.
“They don’t have ACT or big exams like that. It’s mainly grades,” he said. “They give you the classes, and you get the grades, and you can get into colleges. They have a lot of private schools in Mexico. Public schools are not the best in Mexico. Liberty is like a private school in Mexico.”
According to Segovia, public schools in Mexico are not the safest.
“You don’t want to go to public school. I was fortunate enough to live in a good place. We never had problems in my school. Life is very different. School is easier in Mexico, but there’s more opportunities here in the U.S.”
Segovia has made a lot of friends at Liberty who have nothing but good things to say about him, like his theatre buddy Josh Deters (12).
“I think he’s a really good guy, very talented. He’s a good work ethic, and he’s very humble,” Deters said.
Deters enjoys working with Segovia during theatre.
“Especially since it’s his first year in theatre, I’m very impressed with how quickly he picked up on theatre stuff, like just how quickly he made friends with everybody and progressed as an actor,” Deters said. “It would take people like all of high school to accomplish what he’s accomplished in a year. He’s just a great guy in general.”
Another major difference from Mexico compared to the U.S. are houses and neighborhoods. Homes are very different in Mexico compared to the U.S.
“The suburbs don’t exist in Mexico. I’d say the main difference is it’s safer here. People go on walks, bike, basically stuff we see in the movies,” Segovia said. “There’s a lot more things to do here; there’s theme parks, baseball games, we don’t have that in Mexico.”
A big thing in Mexico are the malls. In Mexico, malls are very popular, and lot’s of people go to the mall everyday.
“I would say that most malls are bigger and prettier in Mexico,” Segovia said. “There’s more stores, restaurants, and more diverse shopping places to find clothes.”
“Outside of school life is somewhat similar, not that close. The kids in school are very nice here and in Mexico. Mexico is a cool place to visit, not the best place to live in my opinion.”