It was most definitely NOT easy. I think that the IB Diploma Programme is undoubtedly the hardest thing I have ever done and I might even argue that it is one of the most challenging things I will ever do. There have been so many times throughout these past two years where I have wanted to pull my hair out, shove a fork down my throat, drown myself, etc. rather than do the 10 pounds of IB work I needed to do. I cannot say this for certain quite yet, (because I have not taken my exams and do not know how I will score on them), but I truly believe it was worth it. Looking at it solely from a logical standpoint, there is no way that I could have been valedictorian if I had not done IB.
But more importantly, IB has taught me a lot, about myself, about the world around me, about life - the list goes on. I have learned what I like, what I do not like, what I am good at, what I am absolutely horrendous at, and I owe all of that to the rigorous (where's Baron?) nature of the program. I believe that we learn the most about ourselves based on how we behave during hard times, or stressful situations. Not only that, I have developed so many valuable skills, like writing good quality, lengthy papers in short amounts of time, which I definitely believe will come in handy in college, public speaking, communicating my work to others, analyzing ANYTHING, and so on and so forth.
It was a heck of a ride but I can say wholeheartedly that I'm glad I did IB. Ask me that same question two months ago and I probably would have told you differently, but looking back in retrospect now, I am confident in that statement. I honestly do not believe that anyone will be as prepared for college, and life, as IB students are. I even think college might be easy in comparison (knock on wood!). It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was IB/high school.
I might agree with most of this post, but to be honest, I am still not sure about this whole IB thing. I agree that IB has definitely been the most difficult part of high school and has allowed me to see just how much I am capable of. Your choice in image was great; Randey Chung is inspirational, really. I hope that the stress-fueled bike ride of high school does turn out to be worthwhile moving forward. (Maybe it will help us produce the next Napoleon Dynamite idk)
ReplyDeleteI agree with the pulling hair out and other actions and also the picture you included pretty much sums up my four years. I think IB was a good choice in preparation for college but I also agree that two months ago I would've said completely different things about the program. It has definitely come in waves but I think an overarching aspect of IB that we often forget about is the people we get to have closer relationships with. I'm so glad we had more than one class together this year and am very thankful for your friendship and I owe that in part to IB :)
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