I think the best advice I could give an incoming student is to learn how to persevere. When I started my freshman year, there was an overwhelming workload, and I was intimidated by the expectations my teachers and parents had for me. Freshman year was pretty difficult because I was starting both the demanding IB program and high school life. The only way to get through it is to keep working and trying your best; however, this program is not the best fit for everyone. My incoming freshmen class had about 110 students, and it dropped to 50. The reason people drop out is the work load and expectations, not because they are stupid. Every student is qualified intellectually, but not everyone can handle the stress; that is okay. One’s well-being and mental health should always come first. I do think that new students should learn to be more open with their parents and teachers about their stress, so that it does not build up.
While this may not be a pressing issue for incoming freshmen yet, choosing between Math Studies and Calculus is an important decision. Each student has different strengths and weaknesses, so not everyone is fit for the Calculus route; that is not necessarily a bad thing. Based on my own experiences and the experiences of friends taking Math Studies, Calculus is a more work intensive class; however, the college credit for the AP Calculus test could prove very useful. Additionally, there are some concepts only learned in Calculus that have actually helped me in other classes. Calculus is a very important skill, but it does take more work. I also believe that AP Calculus is much harder than IB Pre-Calculus. The topics require more studying. Even the format of AP questions takes some getting used to. Many people struggled with the AP quizzes this year due to the time constraint of twenty minutes per quiz; however, through practice one should be able to complete the quizzes with improved accuracy.
While academics is the most important part of the IB program, incoming freshmen should not be afraid to try out extracurricular activities as well. Since I have been undergoing the college application process, I have realized that there are some opportunities that I should have taken advantage of before. IB students should find some time for at least two extracurricular activities. It provides leadership opportunities that colleges are looking for. While IB students need to focus on academics and at least two extracurricular activities or clubs, they should also make sure to leave some free time. The best way to relieve the stress of the program is to use the free time you do have to get some extra sleep or find something relaxing to do. While IB is a major commitment, it can be manageable, and the program will definitely benefit you in the future.
Grace Winny
Dear incoming freshman,
Welcome to the IB program! Currently I am in my senior year of IB, so it’s weird to think about how I was 4 years ago as a freshman. I was probably just as excited, nervous, and scared as you might be now. I promise that getting through this program will be worth it, though it will not be easy. I hope my advice helps make your high school experience at least a little bit easier.
The first piece of advice I would give you is to learn to how to prioritize. There will be times when it feels like it is impossible to do everything in time. It’s important to learn how to determine which classes require more of your attention and effort. For me, many of my AP and IB classes, especially AP and IB Biology, have required most of my time because they cover a lot more material than other classes. Thus, I put more time into studying the material to maintain my grade in the class. Another class I need to put more time and effort into is math (more specifically, calculus). The only way to improve in math is to practice—so make sure to always do your math homework, however tedious it may be.
Another piece of advice I would give you is to not be afraid to ask for help. The teachers at IB are more than willing to help you if you are struggling with a certain topic. If not, you can ask fellow classmates for help if they understand the concept enough, which leads me to my next piece of advice: make as many friends in IB as you can. Most of the students that attend IB are like-minded, making it easy to become friends with others. Plus, it’s always helpful to know that you’re all in the same boat and struggling through the program together.
Even when times are tough, I promise you will get through it. You got this!
Christine Thomas
I feel like a mermaid that’s been continuously metamorphosing. Attending has been the most life changing decision I have ever made. When I was admitted, I felt ecstatic that I met the same caliber as some of the smartest people I’ve ever met. I went because of my pride and because my parents pushed me to challenge myself just as my two older siblings had. Unfortunately for me, I never paid attention to the struggles that my brother and older sister went through, so I never had an idea of what this program would offer and take away. Luckily for you, this essay is available, and I will explain the benefits and drawbacks that I have experienced. Starting from ninth grade, I think I enjoyed this grade a great deal – considering the change in environment. During the summer, I was excited to do homework and be at school. The courses were very rigorous, which makes sense because the teachers were instilling a structure within the students that would help as the student progresses. Honestly, this year was when I had the most intrinsic motivation. Also, you will quickly know the teachers that you want to get closer with. They are all nice and unbothered mostly as long as the freshman, in question, is not annoying. Anyway, I strongly suggest joining some clubs and sports but do not stretch yourself thin because the mind and body is fragile.
Moving on to tenth grade, this year was the most relaxed year. The teachers that you get are amazing. Hopefully, no one retires and you get to meet everyone. The homework load was not less than what was given in the ninth grade, but you are accustomed to the work. I had a social life. In ninth grade, I did not go places often because I did not have my driver’s license and did not feel the need to preserve that aspect of my life. In tenth grade, I missed focusing on other facets of my life, besides school. This year was a great year for me, but that did not last long because eleventh grade broke me. That may be a tad bit dramatic, but I was not prepared. Unlike most of my peers, I am not creative or good at test taking. At this point, my motivation was high but diminished linearly. I found that keeping myself on a strict schedule helped a lot. During junior year, you need to be in some club or sports. Junior year is the most important year. This is year is when you have to come up with ideas for your internal assessment papers, essays, orals, etc. On top of that stress (you will inevitably feel stress), you have to start thinking about how your volunteer opportunities, work experience, grades, etc. will impact your collegiate future. When you come back to 11th grade, you will see half of your class vanish like dust because you are transitioning from Pre-IB to IB. This is a scary moment, and yes, strangely enough that is normal. You also have to worry about ACT and SAT testing. All in all, a strict schedule (for after school) will create a structured environment where you will not get behind and force yourself to do the work.
For me, senior year started taking a toll on me mentally. Most people have felt their mental state shift towards instability, but I was hit with a truck during senior year. My solution is to find an activity that you enjoy doing by yourself. This lets you spend time with yourself with something you would willingly take time to do. The first semester is “go time”. If you need to stock up on redbull then please do. You have to turn in everything – one after another – and it is very daunting, tiring, and stressful. Despite this, IB kids will persevere and be on top. Most people I know applied to colleges during the early admissions period, so I highly suggest doing this also so you can get the applications out of the way. Also, most of the stress with feel life-threatening but you’ll survive. I don’t know if I sound like a decent student but I have made it this far. Honestly, you’ll cry, laugh, be sad, and make great memories. The bad may seem to outweigh the good, but everyone is struggling with you. Talk to people and do not start drama. The outcome is not worth the added struggle to your already tough life. If you want a challenge, stay in the program. You will always have a connection with the people you struggle always, I promise.
Ifeoma Iheanyi
As a senior that has been in IB for a while now, the most important advice I can give new students is to not procrastinate. If the assignments are completed early, you will have less stress about the assignment and that usually leads to better work and a higher grade in the class. Plus, if you work on assignments early and are ahead of schedule you can afford a day to relax or if you are sick, rather than still having to work even when you are stressed out with other classes or sick because you procrastinated. Try to complete assignments early over holidays and breaks so you have the rest of the break to relax, instead of having anxiety over the break about the assignments and having to do them the night before school starts again. Also, if you complete your assignments early people tend to think of you as smarter and more organized.
Some possible pitfalls can be avoided in IB with the creation of a schedule. Over the 4 years I have learned that I tend to work better under a schedule because that eliminates procrastination. If I didn’t have a schedule, I would want to play videogames or sleep after I got home, but with a schedule I focus on school work to a certain time on my schedule, then relax for the rest of the night. Being on schedule also has helped me stay awake during the school day, with going to sleep and waking up at the same time training my body to be rested and ready for the next day. Also having a schedule can keep you organized on school work on which assignments to do first and have them complete on time.
Throughout the year, all of your classes will be difficult at sometimes, so there is no true one class that is the hardest that you should devote most of your time to and ignore the rest. With that said, I recommend placing the class that you struggle with the most or have the lowest grade in as your most important class to devote studying to, but make sure not to ignore other classes, because ignoring classes will become a problem in the future. With our easy access to the internet, learning about a topic that you didn’t understand in class is possible so make sure to understand what you are learning in class and make sure to study.
Alex Meeks
Dear IB student,
A couple months into my senior year I feel like I can say I have experienced both the full circle benefits and academic struggles of the program. As an underclassman, I would always hear of Seniors (or juniors) who would drop out and I’d think “why would they drop out after going through most of the program?” Well, senior year really is the culmination of many papers and deadlines. Right now it seems like two years of required research and work crammed into one. So, yeah, now I have begun to sympathize with those who dropped out so late. Ha imagine!
However, during the college application process I have also seen the benefits of the program. You simply will have more benefits than your typical high school student. 1). We have an amazing counselor, Mrs. Marsh, who has made the college application process (and financial aid process) so much smoother. This is something my friends at other schools communicate they do not have even in the slightest bit. 2). Scholarships are more attainable because of the IB program. To be honest, the program is an investment a typical high school student doesn’t make. You make money/save money when coming to IB. Regardless of test scores it still makes a big impact on the opportunities you will be presented for attending college. 3). You will (hopefully) have a plethora of service, research, academic achievement, and IB connected extracurriculars by early Junior year. Your resume will look golden to not only colleges but employers. Why not kill two birds with one, well, one very large stone?
So yeah, you were probably told all this by your parents or teachers but hey, it’s kinda really true. Overall, you will learn to advocate for your grades and your experiences outside of school. If your grade in a class is bothering you, go in and speak with your teacher before, after, or during school. Go over that last quiz or homework assignment with your teacher. Build relationships with Mrs. Craven, Mrs. Marsh, and teachers you will have for multiple years. Don’t forget to build relationships with your classmates regardless of the blended method. Say “hi” to them in between bells. I’m sure you all have group chats made for class already, but don’t be afraid to have silly conversations in them, too! Yeah, networking is really valuable during and after school. It’s wise to not slack in those areas.
….Anyways, I need to go to sleep. Bye now! 🙂
Isabella Saires, C/O ’21
Hello! Welcome to IB!
We are glad that you are here and willing to try. I am not going to lie; the International Baccalaureate Program is difficult. There are times where you will see your old classmates from different schools not having as much to do, but that is fine. You will be okay.
I know it can be scary, especially since you are starting a brand-new high school. I think one of the most important things is to make friends. The people around you will be the ones that keep you grounded and will push you to be better both in this program and as a person. The grades get small and you will most likely know everyone else. Be kind to them. They are going to be your rock when things get hard.
It is also important to make sure you do not fall behind in your work in any class. Plan ahead for the week using a planner or agenda. If there seem to be a lot of things happening on the same day, try to finish some of it ahead of time. Figure out which classes have work that takes longer and what you may need to spend more time on. And while it is important to complete all your assignments and study, make sure you take care of yourself. Make sure you get enough sleep every night, drink a lot of water, and don’t forget to eat. It is critical that you stay healthy; I feel that your mental health is what sets you up to be prepared for you academics.
Please don’t worry and trust in your own ability and skills. I believe in you. Your family, classmates, and teachers believe in you too. You will be great!
Sincerely,
Hannah Thomas 🙂
There are so many things a freshman should know before starting their IB journey. One that I guarantee every single IB student will say is do not procrastinate, but I do not feel like there is a need to discuss this because no matter how much you are told not to procrastinate, you still will. I cannot blame you though, I did it, my friends did it, and almost everyone in my grade did it despite being given multiple warnings on the danger of it. The only way you will learn not to procrastinate is to suffer the consequences and change how you do your work accordingly. I soon realized after procrastinating that I could not do it for 4 years, so I changed my habits, but many people I knew did not, and continued their procrastinating habits until senior years, drastically diminishing how much they enjoyed their IB experience.
Another way to maximize your enjoyment in the IB experience is to make friends. For some people, this will be extremely easy because they are natural social butterflies. Some people (like myself) will have a much harder time making friends in a new environment where you know very few possibly no people. It will be hard to make friends for the first semester due to how new everything is and how intimidating it can be, it was for me trust me. However, once you adjust to the new atmosphere, new friendships will start to arise naturally. Having friends can make homework assignments when you do not know how to do something, be good reminders for due dates, and generally make school much less stressful. The bonds you build with these friends will be very deep because no one else quite understands what it’s like being in IB but you and your fellow peers, and these will be some of the closest friends you have ever had.
Now to discuss advice and tips for specific classes. The science classes will probably take up most of your study time due to how much memorization there is, and those will probably be your hardest classes throughout your IB experience. The essays in English can be daunting and it may take a while for you to understand how to write an essay (it took me until junior year to be able to write a good essay). You will need to talk to your English teachers to get criticism and advice so you can be a better essay writer. I felt like the Mathematics classes were the easiest and took the least amount of study time, but that could just be due to me being a math person. History is not necessarily memorizing a million specific things, but more about knowing general trends throughout history, overall, not too bad. I hope this advice and what-not was helpful and can help you get through IB!
Cole Miller
Dear future IB students,
I wanted to give you some advice to make the journey to graduation a little smoother. I know it is really cliché to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway. Do not procrastinate! The sooner you learn this, the better. You never know when a teacher will spring up a last-minute assignment and you will end up having to stay up later than you could have. This brings me to my next point. Sleep! Sleep is so important; you don’t even know. I am one of those students that went to sleep at 9:30, every night. You can do this as well. You should do this, especially because you have to wake up early. It helps improve focus and concentration that is very important when having a Calculus class first thing in the morning. You have to pay attention, and not falling asleep helps you grasp concepts easier without having to restudy everything at home. Class time is also another opportunity to ask questions and make sure you solidify your understanding. Weekends are a great way to recharge and get ahead on things for the rest of the week. I would recommend not waiting till Sunday night to start homework. I usually start my homework on Saturday morning, so that I have the rest of the weekend to relax and do what I enjoy. The main point is that I make time for breaks and time for myself to prevent high levels of stress and irritability. Overall, my advice to you guys is to make sure to plan as much as you can, so it is easier to handle last minute stuff that always finds a way to come up.
Sasha Abraham
IB is rough. Homework, tests, and projects go beyond your typical high school assignments and leave you feeling braindead or at the very least exhausted in every way, shape, and form; however, I do not regret it. Looking back, I know that freshman year is one of the hardest years – you will be thrown from a lazy river in which you are floating in first to a thunder-dome in which you are but average. At this point, it is sink or swim. You need to acclimate early on and get your life together. If you cannot acclimate, I sincerely recommend dropping out. You will simply grow to hate the program and yourself if you remain in an environment where you sink. If you want to make far both in and out of the program, do not be arrogant. Your intellect will do you no good if you are simply an average student with a cocky personality. You need to define yourself in character, not in grades.
Honestly, what matters most is who you are. Kindness and honesty will get you farther in life than deceit and hate will. Your classmates and teachers will be your support and friends; however, you can only make those bonds if you are kind. They make this program bearable, but it will be bearable only if you are. As such, the greatest mistake you can make is being arrogant. Accidents may happen, be they a sudden notification or a sentence that is too similar to what others have said. Your reputation precedes you. If you are a kind, honest person, explaining that those mistakes will save you; however, if you are arrogant and dishonest, you will be accused of plagiarism and cheating. Another way to think of it is that if you get good grades but lack a good character, your teachers may be able to write a good recommendation letter for you as a student but not as a person – you will be nothing more than grades and a name.
Health and study are also crucial to your time in IB. Health precedes study and is often ignored. If you are not done with homework but are tired, go to sleep. Pulling an all-nighter and then going to school will only make things worse – you will not understand a single thing and then end up with assignments you do not know how to do. Try to stretch every now and then and get some exercise in because not doing so may result in you being unable to climb up stairs. Study/schoolwork, oh boy. Try new study methods if what you do does not work and try to attribute more time studying in classes that give you a hard time. Also, you will hear “do not procrastinate” from everyone around you, and all those people are all hypocrites. We all say it, but we all end up doing something last minute. Doing an assignment early, however, is much better. It lets you relax a bit in having it finished earlier while also giving you enough time to ask questions before it is due. Working early can also save you – if you start your work early and realize it is something that takes a long time, congrats! You have made your work for the next day easier! A final word of warning: in junior and senior year, you will have to deal with grave tasks: IA’s. IA’s and all IB assignments take priority. You cannot graduate without having these assignments competed. If you cannot complete other homework because of IB work, take the loss. A B is better than no degree.
Personal sappy bit:
Looking back, I regret nothing. I have made true friends and genuine connections. I have felt immense joy and immense pain with this bunch, and I am sorry that our ways must part so soon. This program may be hard, but it brings in some of the best people I know and will ever know. I really would not have been able to make it without them. I would never have met such a diverse group in any other school, and I would never have been able to form bonds with them had I not felt sorrow and had to grow up. Despite all the times I have disliked how much work I must do for a diploma, I kept coming back because I loved these people. They make the program worth it, and that is why I feel IB is worth it.
Lucas Vivas
To incoming freshman, I would advise the same thing basically everyone else says: don’t procrastinate and do all your work. However, I am certain that just saying “don’t procrastinate” does little to nothing to convince freshman, so this essay will cover all the bad things that happen when you do what I just said not to. Firstly, I am the antithesis of a good student, so anything that I did should not be recreated. Secondly, while I did not fail from these bad habits, they did make my school-life exponentially less enjoyable. Just keep in mind while reading this essay to not do what I did.
I have severely procrastinated on nearly every assignment in IB and I can officially say that it was not worth it. The most egregious example of procrastination I have experienced occurred this semester. For the entire 3rd quarter, I had done a grand total of four history assignments. As a result, I had six or seven history assignments along with my IA, history test, and notes due all on the same day. I waited until two nights before to even start any of these assignments. That was a horrible idea. I pulled two all-nighters in a row and missed our chapter test because I had not slept. I also did not complete all the assignments due, so I got additional marks off because it was late. Additionally, I got even further behind as now I had to make up the work I missed in addition to the test I had to makeup before the end of the quarter. In retrospect, my decision to wait until almost the night before to start three weeks of work was unbelievably dumb. If I had had been a normal person and anticipated that waiting so long would result in a dumpster fire I would have never decided to pull what I pulled.
I also procrastinated on my EE which resulted in me not turning in the rough draft on time. By not turning my EE in on time, I not only lost points, but I also lost the pressure an approaching due date supplied. Because I lost that due date pressure, I, consequently, procrastinated even more. I ended up prioritizing other classes over the overdue work. I ended up in a situation almost identical to the one above and affected the quality of my work. Basically do not do anything I did cause it was awful.
Parker Jain
IB isn’t as bad as people make it. You just need to know how to manage your time well and not procrastinate. The course itself is not difficult, it’s just a lot of work. There are many assignments to do, but if you do them all, you’re bound to understand what you’re learning more and do better. If things get difficult, just communicate with the teachers — most are very understanding and they all will do their best to help you understand something you don’t comprehend.
In 9th grade, you will have either Ms. Rossi or Mrs. Harb for English. Both of these teachers are understanding, and they will both do their best to aid you. To pass English, make sure to read the assigned novels. If you plan to just use sparknotes or cliffnotes, you will not succeed. In biology, you should ensure to do all the assignments. Try to ask questions when you don’t understand something and make sure not to cram study the night before a test. For Spanish, try to repeatedly practice what you learn. Without practice, you won’t learn much. Lastly, for math, make sure to do all the work yourself. Do not cheat on the assignments, it will hurt you a lot in the end. Also make sure to ask questions for things you do not understand. You will either have Mr. Reber or Mr. Nakamura in math, and those two will always do their best to help you.
9th grade is not as bad as people make it seem. It is only seen in a negative light because people are not used to being made to use their full potential- many do not like trying. If you are lazy, change your ways or this program is not meant for you. It may seem difficult at first, but this program will pay off in the end. You will make great bonds with your teachers and everlasting friendships with your peers. Try your best and don’t procrastinate — you will do great.
Nabiha Iqbal
IB is an amazing program for you to be in, but it can be a difficult one to get through. If I can offer any advice, it would be to stay on top of all your assignments. And I know you probably hear that from every single person that tells you anything about IB, but it’s so true. At the time of me writing this, I am no longer an IB student, and that is because of my procrastination issues. I had spent three and a half years in this program, only to have to leave during the last semester of my senior year because I put off the important stuff in this program. The teachers here all collaborate together to make sure deadlines don’t fall on top of each other to the best of their abilities, so it would be in your best interest stick to deadlines and do what you need to get done, at the time they are due, or else they will start to pile up and you might find yourself in a similar situation to mine. And after having lived through that scenario, it is not something I would ever wish upon any of you.
Another piece of advice I would like to share with you would be to never, EVER hesitate to ask your teachers for help. One of the good things about being in a program with such a small population is that the teachers have a more personal connection with you and are willing to help you through anything you need help with, as long as you ask them. There are some teachers that may seem less approachable than others, but that does not mean they don’t care. I have never felt more cared about by my teachers in any other school but this one. They will work with you no matter what your situation is.
The last thing I will say to you is to make sure you make time for yourself outside of school. This program can be very taxing on your mental health if you don’t learn to prioritize. School is very important and it’s important not to fall behind, but if you don’t make time to relax or to do something fun outside of school, you will burnout very quickly, especially in your junior and senior year. I remember in freshman year when Mrs. Kennon gave us the semester review sheet and the last question said “Go do something relaxing. Have a cup of tea or take a bath” and everyone just thought it was a funny little joke, but she was being serious because she also knows that sometimes you just need an hour or two for yourself.
Damon Ayres
Hey freshmen!
First of all, congrats for getting into IB, get ready for a roller-coaster! These years will be tough and may even seem impossible sometimes, but you have to push through. Test your limits and push your boundaries because until you do, you will never be able to comprehend your true potential. You are much tougher and smarter than you think, you just have to believe in yourself. If you push through and give yourself everything you’ve got when life seems impossible, you will grow immensely.
Now moving on to your classes and teachers. You will eventually figure out which class or classes are your strengths and which are your weaknesses. While you should focus on your strengths, it is necessary to work on improving your weakness. The two years of Pre-IB will help you figure out which subjects you want to study in depth in IB and further into college. It is essential to know your teachers. Each teacher has their own requirements and pet peeves, you have to understand and follow them. You will see that some teachers are more lenient than other, but don’t take advantage of that. You still need to take them and their class seriously. For the teachers that are stricter, you have no choice but to follow them. In the end, the rigor of the classes and teacher will prepare you to be more organized and self-disciplined. Furthermore, communication is key. Your teachers are understanding (to a point), all you have to do is communicate. Tell them what you are going through and what you need help on. Having said that, don’t make excuses. They are much started and can tell right away. They are here to help you succeed, not make you fail. They are your best assets. Remember that.
Don’t procrastinate. I know that I can’t be the first one to tell you that, but it is so so important. No one is perfect. I am not perfect. I have procrastinated before, but I try to prevent doing so; however, it happens. I understand that it is so easy to finish the easier assignment and leave the harder assignment to the very last moment. All the teachers know students procrastinate and they can tell based on your work. You will not be fooling anyone but yourself. No matter how much you convince yourself that procrastinating won’t affect the quality of your work, I promise you that you will produce much better work if you don’t wait until the last moment to do the assignment. Nevertheless, you are human and it will happen. Don’t get stuck on your mistakes, learn from them and move on. This journey is hard, but it is worth it. You will succeed and come through the other end stronger. You can do this! Good luck!
Kruti Bosmia
My experience in IB has been a little different than the average IB student. I am not a shut in and I don’t think about school before anything else. I like to hang out with my friends and spend time outside and play sports. I like going to parties and doing fun things outside of school. Your average IB student is far more studious than the average high school student, sometimes without ever realizing it. It is very possible to be in IB and still have a normal high school experience and have fun. If you intend to go to IB, one thing I would encourage you to do is stick with it. You would not have been let into IB if you couldn’t handle it. Dropping out of IB is not going to help you accomplish anything. It may take the stress of homework off you for a week or two, but then you will stress about getting into a good college without an IB diploma and making sure you succeed in your future without the resources IB supplies.
Everyone takes IB at their own pace. As an incoming student you need to find that pace and find what you are comfortable with. Everyone always asks for advice and words of wisdom, but the truth is you must figure it out for yourself. I can’t tell you how to get through IB, but I can tell you things that will make your life a little easier. Make sure you know what you like to do outside of IB. Have something to do that is fun and is not stressful. I enjoy spending time with my friends so that is what I do almost every weekend unless I’m working. As far as succeeding in school, that is up to you. If you are naturally talented and have always been a “gifted” student you will probably struggle the most, but not until junior year. People who know how to work hard are always going to work hard and they will succeed. People like me who have always been naturally good at schoolwork are putting themselves at a disadvantage. I know how to work hard, but when it comes to schoolwork, I feel like it should always be easy. It won’t always be easy, and you need to prepare yourself for that reality. Make sure you have a good network of friends who can help you with studying and homework. If you don’t have any friends, make some, because most IB kids feel like they don’t have many friends. If you need help on something hard and none of your classmates can help you, ask an upperclassman or a teacher. About 80% of the students in my grade would be happy to help an underclassman with anything. Don’t just struggle with your problems alone.
As far your classes go, there are some you need to study for more than others. Don’t slack off in any of your classes, but make sure you focus on the hardest subjects first. When you get home, do your chemistry homework and your calculus homework before you do something easy like history. If you save the complicated homework till the end, you’ll be too tired to do it. I prioritize my homework based on what I am good at and do the hardest stuff first. It seems to me that math and science are the classes that you need to study the most for. It is your job to know what you are good at and focus on what you need to improve. It is very easy to focus on one subject and neglect the others. I did that this year and it is very hard to crawl out once you dig your hole. Just know that your teachers are good teachers and most of them will work with you to help your grades. One thing I strongly suggest is that if you have calculus, you should take every single grade recovery quiz possible. In calculus and pre-calculus, you get the chance to earn back half of your points that you missed on the test for every single test. You should take the quiz every time if you get anything less than an A.
Judd Parker
Hello incoming BHS/IB freshman,
I am currently a junior taking AP Calculus AB in the IB program. I think some of these tips will greatly help you during your time in the rigorous IB program, especially because you are new to the experience. I would advise going into the school with an open mind, because the experience may not be what you expect; rather than the workload or other factors, the transition itself from middle school is generally the period of time when you want to stay at your best. If you develop beneficial habits and routines for getting work done and rewarding yourself with whatever you enjoy the most, you will excel in the program and enjoy it completely.
However, it is understandable that this will not be the case for a majority of students—I most certainly was not one to instantly fall into a routine. Initially experimenting with whatever type of schedule works best for you is the other very effective way to develop a positive mindset to plow through some of the less pleasant workloads that you will encounter in freshman year. One of the biggest pitfalls I would advise you to avoid is procrastination; even though I may sound like a broken record, putting off your work is more destructive than the short-term joy it brings you. It reinforces bad habits, the quality of your work will decrease, and you will lose the most valuable commodity in IB: sleep. This asset is more valuable than the excuses used to procrastinate work, which my peers and I have learned from experience.
Specifically, I remember that the classes I had to study most for were biology and AP environmental science. They taught me very valuable lessons, and for me these lessons were about study habits rather than the science material itself. These courses had very detailed material requiring focused studying that can’t possibly be done last-minute without effort. I consistently studied using the notes given in class, which were very helpful (so I would advise staying awake in those classes). For English class, I would recommend getting very efficient at annotating because this task will comprise most of the homework in freshman year. Although there aren’t many other specific tips that I can recall, I would always advise you to reach out to your teachers whenever you need help because they are humans too, and they are more receptive to feedback and questions than you might think. I would advise reaching out to your friends as well, but do not become dependent on them because you will become lazy and this habit can turn into collusion very quickly.
Another part of IB, just like any other school, is the extracurriculars. I know most students just join them in hopes of colleges eating up these experiences; in reality, unless you aren’t interested in the club, I wouldn’t participate in it. A membership in ten clubs is worth nothing compared to excelling in two or three. I realized this first-hand in freshman year when I was in way too many clubs for me to handle and I was not getting much done in any of them. Instead, join the clubs that you are most interested in, and excel in them by trying out leadership roles or creating new and interesting projects.
The last aspect of the IB experience is the expectations and outlook on the program based on some horror stories or comments you may have heard. I know how those stories generally go, and you should ignore them unless they motivate you to be a better student. If you stay consistent and don’t let small worries distract you, you will be very successful in the IB program, which in my experience is worth more than just the IB diploma. You will make great friends, learn more than you ever wanted to know, and be an overall more motivated person after joining IB. Although e-learners may not experience the high school that you have been looking forward to all of middle school, try to make the best of the few short years in this exciting program. My freshman and sophomore years flew by very fast and I’m glad I enjoyed them. Don’t worry and enjoy the IB program because it is just high school, after all.
Om Patel
Dear Freshman,
So, you have found yourself in IB. I would like to congratulate you on entering high school. As you know, the IB Program is considerably different from the typical high school experience, so here are some things that you should keep in mind as a freshman. First of all, find other activities to do besides school. Whether it be sports, videogames, competitive Beyblade, or other extracurriculars, these activities can help you meet new people and ease the stress of school. Secondly, meet your classmates; you will be mostly likely be spending 4 years (if not more) with them, so you might as well get the awkward introduction over with. Your classmates can help you with schoolwork or extracurricular activities, and classes are much more enjoyable when you are not surrounded by a bunch of strangers. Finally, try not to provoke the teachers. The teachers of the program have higher expectations for the students than other teachers, so avoid seeing how far you can push the teachers. Classes will be more pleasant if you are not at odd with the teacher.
As part of the growing pains of IB, you will inevitably encounter some pitfalls, but I will ever so graciously pass on my advice. The greatest challenge in the program is definitely the homework. There is a much greater workload than there was in middle school. To help mitigate the marathon of homework, you should do work as soon as you can. While that seems to be easy on paper, few find themselves actually heeding this advice. You can set aside a certain block of time after school for homework so that you do not do too little. In the unthinkable case that you do find yourself procrastinating, it would be in your best interest to avoid complaining about the “unfair” or “unreasonable” amount of homework to the teacher(s). Rather, you should check if the amount of work and the amount of time given for said work are commensurate, and if they are not, you should POLITELY bring the problem to the attention of the teacher in question. It is foolhardy to agitate the person who decides how much homework you get. Another issue you may encounter is the competitive nature of the program. While some competition is good to foster growth, excessive pride and bragging about one’s accomplishments will get exceedingly annoying. Those who flaunt their superiority frequently find themselves being struck down for their hubris, so it is wise to focus on your own personal growth.
The main objective of school is to acquire knowledge, and to that end you will need to study. Personally, I have found that the most important class to practice and study is English. By English, I am more specifically referring to writing because in IB you will find yourself writing numerous essays and research papers. Understand the conventions of writing will create a good foundation for your success in high school. Other than English, I believe that you should dedicate the most time to whichever subject(s) that you take interest in because you may be able to pursue a higher level of that course later in your education.
Good luck,
Ethan Zulueta
Dear Freshmen,
Welcome to the IB program. I hope it turns out to be everything you want it to be, but you should know a few things before walking in. This program allows students to reap the benefits of their intelligence and preparedness, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your life will be easy. Even the best of the best struggle at some point, so if you do find yourself at a low, don’t worry. Everyone goes through them, even if they don’t want to admit it. Just remember to always persevere and never procrastinate.
Here’s a scenario almost every IB freshman went through in that first year. You may think “oh that’s not going to happen to me” and only realize when it’s too late, but then you’ll have learned from the experience. A lot of us come in from middle school used to always being the best of the best. We would always get straight A’s, not have to study and pass tests, and have at most 30 minutes of homework. Here’s your warning. That will all change. You’ll start the program and you might be thinking, this is going to be easy. Just like us you aren’t going to be used to actually being challenged by school, but then that first big test will pop up. Like us, you’re going to think “well maybe I’ll just look at the notes a day before or right before class.” I’m telling you right now that won’t work, but the lesson won’t be learned until one actually does it and they receive a wakeup call when they take a look at their grades. You’re going to feel pretty dumb, I’m not going to lie, everyone did when that happened. Even if you don’t hear anyone talk about, it’s happened. People just don’t like discussing their failures. But what you have to take from this is, yeah you are really smart, but this is a program meant to challenge your smarts. It’s not meant for you to be able to breeze right through and never experience any hiccups. Because IB challenges you, you’ll grow as both a student and a person.
Now you may be wondering: IB can challenges me, I get it, but how can I overcome or escape some of those challenges? Well first things first, one of the biggest challenges to IB students that can be avoided with some simple planning is procrastination. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL LAST MINUTE TO START AN ASSIGNMENT. Especially with block days, people may think “oh I still have like two more days to do this assignment. No point in starting it now.” Let me just say, that is one of the worst mentalities you can have if you want to avoid stress. What happens when one thinks like that is they end up with a large pile of assignments all due on the same days with their stress level through the roof since they have no clue how they are going to get it all done. If you do those smaller assignments like bookwork and worksheets the day the teacher assigns them, you’ll be a much happier person at the end of the week once you realize you only have a few larger assignments that you can start working on and a bit of studying to do. One of the best ways to stop yourself from procrastinating on large assignments is breaking them up and setting due dates for yourself. This way you’ll feel more motivation throughout the completion of the assignment because you know you are getting significant work done; otherwise, starting some larger assignments might seem daunting because you feel like the work will never end. Just remember, this program will be a lot harder than you think it is, but at the same time you will gain so much more than you thought was possible.
Daniela Estevez
Hello upcoming IB Freshmen.
Congratulations on graduating middle school amongst a worldwide pandemic. You did a good job getting here; however, your work is not done. Freshman year was interesting; it felt like one of the hardest times I have been through at the time, but now I look back thinking how easy I had it. The weight of expectations and failure hit you for the first time in your life and you feel miserable at the time, but before you know it you would have already grown stronger and more resilient. In freshmen year, you will probably do bad on a couple tests or assignments and feel horrible; all your peers got good grades so, why couldn’t you? I felt a pressure, which told me that I had to get better grades than everyone and idolize those who got better grades than me, but when you grow past that stage it all looks so silly.
At IB the hardest thing is never the workload (some might disagree), the hardest struggle is balancing your life with the workload. How can I play a sport and get a good grade? How can I make a lot of friends or be in a relationship if I have so much work? How do I work on my license or get a job if I have so much stress? These are all questions I frequently asked myself. The answer to all these problems is compromise. You have to order your priorities and decides which part of your life you want to focus more on. A lot of IB kids compromise by giving up all their sleep, but that is not the only way to do things. It may seem like there are not enough hours in a day to get everything that you want to be done, but you just have to look into yourself and find what do you really want to do in your high school life and take proper measures to do it. For example, I wanted to play tennis, but practice and conditioning lasts so long that by the time I got home I was dead tired and didn’t want to do any work. My solution was just to grit my teeth and finish my work no matter what and go immediately to bed to rest. I wanted to keep playing tennis and wanted to keep my grades up, so I chose to sacrifice short-term relief for that sake.
IB really teaches you the meaning of what it is like to be a balanced student and human being. A lot of people get to college and struggle with that balance, but IB forces you to get used to it at an early age. Don’t just focus on academics, don’t just focus on friends or relationships, don’t just focus on yourself, you have to focus on everything at once. Saying that is a lot harder than doing it and it is a lifelong struggle that all people have to do, but at least I’m telling you right now rather than you learning it the hard way later.
Some tips I have to ease the stresses that may (will) come your way in IB is to find a hobby you can do when you have free time, so you can forget about everything else. Play a sport, play video games, or even start a podcast, do anything that makes you happy and allow yourself to indulge yourself sometimes amid the chaos. Speaking of that, check out my podcast, the peepeepoopoo cast, on Spotify
☺︎.
Job Dacalos
IB is not your previous school. That may sound like an obvious statement, but this advice is essential to surviving IB. You may have done very well in your previous school, maybe even gotten straight A’s. Many people move to IB without having struggled in middle school, but that changes. Expectations at IB are much higher, and you cannot rely on any natural intelligence from this point forward. You must be prepared to spend several hours each day on your work and be able to go through a school day with 2 hours of sleep because you need to finish a project.
IB life can be stressful, and even sometimes depressing and anxiety-inducing, so it can be beneficial to accrue some allies to confide. These confidants will be your greatest strength for the next four years, as your anchor back to reality. In my case, whenever I feel like life has me down, and things don’t feel worth it anymore, I call up my friends to talk a bit. Of course, there are times when work is more important than your sanity, but if you’re lucky, these instances will be few and far between. Additionally, make sure that you have good friends, and do not surround yourself with the wrong kinds of people. IB has been home to drug dealers, abusers, and people who are generally not very nice, bad influences. You should probably also make sure that you are not one of these people.
I may not be the first person to urge you to work on time management when entering IB/BHS, but that is only due to its importance. As I have stated, there is much homework to be had here. One of the biggest points of stress for me was not having any time to do the things that I used to enjoy in life. This was because I was not accustomed to sitting down for long periods of time and just doing work; I was too used to taking long and frequent breaks. In terms of time, it was as if doing work was a break from slacking off. For me, that changed over time, and it has to for you as well. If you are already proficient at getting large amounts of work done in a timely matter, good job. Bye. If not, you have some time to learn. Freshman year is the easiest, so use the first semester to try and get homework done on the day it’s assigned, not the day its due, and right after school ends. Also, try keeping a schedule, and marking down what days certain assignments are due. C days (periods 1-7 all in the same day) don’t exist anymore right now, but they might at some point in your time here, so keep that in mind.
Zyad Elmasri
Congratulations on getting accepted into the IB program! The next four years are not going to be easy, and there will be days where you will feel overwhelmed due to extracurriculars, sleepless nights, and the workload; however, there are ways through which you can lessen the stress.
A piece of advice that you probably have heard repeatedly is to not procrastinate. Because we had to submit assignments on Schoology, I have turned in essays within a minute of the due date many times, which caused great amounts of stress. I also had a habit of doing things the day before they are due, even if they are assigned weeks before; likewise, this exacerbated the stress that I already had. Convince yourself to not procrastinate as it is not worth it.
To make your experience at IB more enjoyable, I recommend doing a few extracurriculars that you like. Not only is it beneficial for your college application, but also it gives you something to look forward to for motivation. This also goes for dual enrollment and FLVS AP classes. Only take classes that you enjoy and avoid taking too many, or you will be overwhelmed.
There will be times when you will want to give up, but always push through and once it is over, you will be back on track. It is worth mentioning that as this is your first year, the workload may be a bit tough, but you will soon get used to it. Good luck and have fun!
Tzak Lau
IB is one of the toughest programs to go through. Transitioning from being in middle school to high school is already tough, but now being in IB there is a high standard for each individual coming in. Walking into freshman year was out of my comfort zone because in middle school the work was easy and no one really was expected to exceed unlike IB does. Each year will provide its own set of difficulties but none of these difficulties are going to be something that a person can’t overcome. One of the worst mistakes to make joining IB would be to expect it to be easy and the same as middle school; However, this program isn’t made to make someone stress and be overwhelmed, there is just more organization of school that is needed.
At first it’s strange to have summer work, and for myself I spread the work out throughout the summer to get this done. Even though the work got done in the end, more stress would build up as I waited to do the work. Procrastination in IB will make you stressed. There is block scheduling at Bartow high school meaning that work will be assigned on one day and be due the next class which is in two days. It’s very easy to say that since you have an extra day you can do the work tomorrow, but that also comes with taking in consideration that you will get work the next day. The best thing to do is to have the mentality of doing things the day that they are assigned, this will help relieve stress and be ahead in school. The teachers at the school are very helpful, they want you to succeed so they do anything they can. Late work is something that most of them do not accept. There are some teachers who have late passes or accept things late but its more work for you and for the teachers when assignments are not done on time. Stress will come with IB just naturally just like normal high school; just because this is a little more work doesn’t mean it is stressful, many times I will have stayed up late doing work that I procrastinated for the last-minute thinking I had time when in reality I didn’t. That makes a person very stressed and tired, but again these things are very avoidable and IB will be easier than some people put it out to be.
Another part of IB that most people worry about is social lives. I hear people assuming that because they are in IB, social life will be gone. Well that’s not necessarily the case, there just are priorities. Many of my friends in IB have jobs and I have plenty of time to hang out with friends and do sports as long as homework and assignments are done. There will be times where you won’t be able to go somewhere because there is work you have to do but this goes along with non-procrastination. As long as work is done, high school in IB will feel just like it would in regular Bartow. Studying is a habit that is very crucial for the success in IB, mostly in classes that are unnatural to you. For me these classes are Spanish, calculus and AP bio. The farther along in the program the more the classes that are most important to study change. For me in freshman year APES, English and History were my main study classes that I needed extra study for. In sophomore year it was the same except instead of APES I took statistics. Every class is necessary to study for on a daily basis; However, there will be classes that need a bit more to make sure you get an A on any test. IB is not going to be as tough as long as you don’t procrastinate and know that you have the work ethic. I’m not saying it will be an easy program, but it doesn’t need to be as hard as you first assume it will be.
Athyna Ricci
Dear Freshman,
The IB life is a difficult one, but if you stick it out and learn what to do, you can absolutely succeed. I know that I have my own fair share of difficulties, whether it be social life or schoolwork, but I have always made it work. In regard to social life, make friends with everyone in your classes on the first day or the first week at least. Its ok if you do not, but if you do then everyone should like you based on what their friends have said about you or what they experienced themselves. Also, do not be afraid to approach people, I was and I sit with three people at lunch now so that hasn’t worked out well for me. If you are shy then create a “character” that you can play at school. If you pretend it isn’t you, even though it is, then you might feel more comfortable.
Schoolwork can weigh you down a lot. If you organize your time and your life around your homework it will make things a little easier, and if you organize your homework according to when you receive it, it will be much easier to do in a timely fashion. If you do all the assignment you get the day you receive them, then they will already be out of the way and you can focus on other things. Handling a social life and homework as well as extracurriculars is difficult but necessary to succeed now, and in the future.
IB may seem difficult and it is difficult, but if you just schedule a little bit and plan things out, it will become easier. IB is a very good program and if you study the classes that you are worst in, make new friends, and enjoy extracurriculars, it will be most enjoyable. I wish you the best of luck and all the brain power I can to help you through the difficult times, and your friends will be there to support you and pick you up if you are down and you will do the same for them. In this way IB can be more bearable and will be a very fun experience for you.
I wish you the best of luck,
Ashlyn Schober
With my experience at IB, I believe that finding a balance between work and leisure to be extremely important. While the work may seem extremely daunting at first, you will get used to it. Now I know saying “you’ll get used to it” isn’t very reassuring, but it’s true. By developing a schedule that works for you and balancing the amount of work and leisure, it becomes doable. Of course, as I’m sure you’ve heard it by now, putting off all your assignments and procrastinating until the very last day is a bad idea. Sometimes it can seem very overwhelming, but by taking things one at a time you can get it done. Try your best to space bigger assignments out, if you have time. If you get 3 weeks to read and annotate a book, use all 3 weeks.
Having a schedule and spacing things out allows for you to be doing about the same amount of work each day, which can help reduce the amount of days with seemingly overwhelming amounts of work. Eventually, you’ll get so good at spacing things out on your own schedule, sometimes you’ll feel like you could be doing more, and I say go for it. I find a schedule to be essential, but it is also important not to become married to it. Some days will just have more work than others, and that’s okay. Some days will have less work than others, and if you feel like you need a break, take it, but if you feel like you can do more, then don’t let your schedule stop you. That’s something I have trouble with sometimes, if there’s work I can do, but I don’t have to do, it can be hard to convince myself to do it.
I believe that trying your best to alleviate stress and to feel better overall is as equally important to making good grades, just avoid using it as an excuse to be lazy. It’s all about putting in enough work beforehand so that when you need a break, you can take one. My strategy is to work hard and make good grades in the first quarter, so that I have some wiggle room in the second quarter. The end of the second quarter is easily the most stressful time of the school year, so with a row of high As and Bs from the first quarter, you can afford to make some mistakes in the second since what matters most (to me, anyway) are the semester averages for each class. I know it’s always better to complete and score well on every assignment, but sometimes it’s not possible. Say you get a strong start in a class, getting an A on a 100 or 200 point assignment among other decent grades in a class, and now you have this 10 point worksheet due next class that’s boring, tedious, and much less valuable to you than the essay you also have to write or the tests you also have to study for in other classes. By getting a strong start, you have the ability to just say “nah” to that stupid worksheet and thus have one less thing to worry about. I personally don’t find that much satisfaction in getting good grades, but man, the work I put in pays off when I can ignore that one assignment that I just don’t want to do. Just to be clear though, only do this if you are 100% sure that you and your grade can handle having a 0 in the gradebook, AND if missing this assignment will not affect your ability to do well on other assignments, like skipping a test review – don’t do that.
Ryan Andrusko
First of all, congratulations on making it into IB! I know by now you have probably been through this and heard a lot of things like, “it’s a super hard program” and “I hope you still have time to see your friends” and of course it can be intimidating, but don’t worry too much about it as long as you stay focused and stay on top of things you will have plenty of free time and sill do wonderful in school! As always, nobody is perfect so there will be stressful situations throughout the year and hard times but it’s more important than just the work.
The first thing I find really important is focusing on yourself. It’s important to realize everyone has their own goals and things they want to achieve, and you should focus on what you want. Some people want nothing less than an A, but in other cases, people may strive for a B, but no matter the case you should never compare yourself to someone else and think you aren’t good enough or aren’t smart enough. Similarly, it’s really important to take classes that you’re interested in. And I mean very, very, very, veryyy important. Taking classes you’re interested in plays a major role in how you can perform in a class. This applies to dual enrollment too, also, please don’t play the GPA game, it’s not worth it. Don’t take dual enrollment, or any classes for that matter, that you’re not at least somewhat interested in because you’ll most likely end up overwhelming yourself and doing worse in more than one class.
Regarding the actual schoolwork, the first thing I want to say is to stay away from spark notes, cliff notes, and things like that, please don’t look these things up actually do the work yourself. I understand that it’s like 2136098% easier the other way but trust me, you’ll fail your tests and, it’s definitely not worth it because, in the end, it’s the tests that matter. And then of course the thing you hear from literally everyone, “don’t procrastinate”. I know everyone says it but, in all seriousness, it’s really important. Obviously, we all procrastinate from time to time (okay maybe a lot) but if you plan it right you can have a lot of free time. Also, I definitely recommend reading the textbook and taking notes/reviewing your class notes every day.
But more than anything, you have to remember to not give up. There are days when everything is super easy and going perfectly and then there are days where you feel like everything is going downhill and you’re on the verge of a breakdown, but through it all don’t give up. The friends you make in IB are amazing and help you through the program, despite people saying IB kids have no social life, you’ll find it to be completely wrong (I mean being honest IB kids know how to party). And on the idea of parties, stay involved, attend things like the IB social or homecoming and join clubs or sports that you’re interested in it’ll actually make the program really amazing and a lot more fun. Okay, that’s basically all I have to say, good luck freshmen, don’t forget to have fun!
Sanjana Ande
Dear freshman,
Oh boy. You’re in for a ride. Hopefully, you’ve gotten some advice from other people about IB and how to survive it, and if not, you should. IB at Bartow is a real test of endurance and perseverance, but it’s also a test of your diligence as well. But there is a trick that makes this all much less stressful (I’m not going to tell you that it makes IB easier, because that you will still have to do the same physical amount of work). There won’t be ad banners stating, “IB SCHOOLS HATE HIM! DEFEAT THE IB WITH ONE SIMPLE TRICK!” The trick, as lousy as it sounds, is time management.
I’m sure that you have heard potential horror stories about IB where people stay up all night finishing homework. But if you ask those same people what they spent their time during the day, you will get a range of answers, almost guaranteed to not be “doing homework”. I say almost guaranteed, because some people do not understand that doing 5 minutes of homework and binging anime for 55 minutes does not count as 1 hour of doing homework, and also because some people may actually need an entire night to finish their homework, depending on how many days or weeks of homework they have accumulated. But if you have 1 day’s worth of homework to do every day, you will be able to sleep fine and have plenty of time to spare.
As for classes, I can’t recommend which specific classes to watch out for, as every IB experience is unique. Just make sure to take every class seriously, and don’t take every class. Write down everything that you have to do so that you do not forget, and check that list frequently. I could compile a list of other useful advice here, but someone else is bound to say it. And besides, these words will probably be read but not appreciated. Advice usually seems obvious until you fail to heed it. You are bound to make mistakes, even with the advice of years and years of students. So instead, I suggest that when you fail, and you will fail eventually, you should pick yourself back up, learn, and continue on. Keep going and do your best.
Sachin Sivakumar
Dear Freshmen,
You might be a little overwhelmed coming into the program, and for good reason. It’ll take some time to get used to the workload, teachers, and even classmates if you come from a middle school that not many other people come from. During my freshman year, I was honestly suffering a lot because of the work and I just was not able to balance my life. Some of that still holds true to this day, but I am definitely a lot more balanced than I was back then. Looking back, I think that I could have easily managed my time a lot better. Instead of spending 1 hour on an STNT or a simple vocabulary assignment, I could have easily spent 15 minutes and received the same grade. Whenever you’re doing homework, try not to add in extra things that might be useless and won’t contribute to your knowledge of the topic, because that’s just going to waste time. I know it seems obvious, but I did that a lot and I think many other people did that too.
Also, I know it seems pretty generic, but allocate time for other things. Don’t sit in your room doing homework or studying the entire day because it just is not worth it. One of my friends has basically learned the entire IB physics curriculum by himself and he still has time for other things. Try to be a part of a couple of clubs and maybe even a sport, but most importantly, keep in touch with your social life. Make sure everything keeps balanced so you don’t value schoolwork over everything else or vice versa. Whenever you stress out about something school related too much, think about whether or not it’s going to matter in a couple of years. If not, stop stressing about it, spend no more than an hour on it and move on.
So, to summarize everything I’ve said so far, just don’t stress about school too much and make sure you’re constantly asking yourself if you really are enjoying what you’re doing. It’s good to focus on the end goal and have a drive to get to it, but make sure you also think about your journey because high school is going to fly by (at least, it has for us since a lot of it has been corona infected). Do what is best for you and do what you’re going to be happy with, don’t just follow what your friends are doing, and make sure you grow overall as a person.
Good luck!
Niriham Shah
To the curious incoming IB student,
Starting off as a freshman, it’s going to be fairly harsh – that’s the complete truth – since you will be tackling the challenges of both entering a high school and facing the rigor involved in the IB program. Not only will you find the coursework to be challenging, but you will need to find some method of organization outside of school (such as your home) so you can maintain your sanity. Personally, reflecting on my past freshman and sophomore years, I have found some behaviors that would have significantly helped me back then.
The first and most important behavior is to learn to time manage and be a little care-free here and there. It’s easier said than done, and even I am still inconsistent with my timing and stress levels; however, if you nail this, a significant amount of the load at IB will be lifted off your shoulders. Another tip is to not be “toxically” competitive – meaning you should have a little competitive nature within you to help improve your academic skills, but not to the point where you feel your accomplishments are microscopic compared to those of others. Always remember that you are on your own path in life and measuring yourself against others too much will get you nowhere – so beware to limit your competitiveness. Lastly, find out who your true/personal friends are – there are bound to be egotistical classmates who cannot stand your success or progress. Therefore, find who these people are, and get them out of your personal life immediately.
Regarding coursework, freshman year is the hardest out of the first two years due to the new environment; however, I have noticed that academic life gets considerably better in sophomore year. Some of the courses I had to prioritize in 9th and 10th grade include Algebra 2, Biology, APES, Pre-Calculus, and AP Statistics (these will obviously vary depending on your strong suits). Currently, in 11th grade, the courses I prioritize (in regard to the time allotted, depth of understanding, etc.) are AP Calculus, IB Spanish 4, AP Chemistry, and IB Physics.
I hope this information is of some use to you, and good luck on your journey.
Shreyans Gajjar
Hello incoming IB students. I am David Clements, a junior at IB. The main aspects of life at IB that I would emphasize are sleep, time management, and prioritization.
Sleep is an essential component of performing at your best level. Last year, going to bed at 1:30 or 2 am every night and waking up at 5:30 caused me to be exhausted in school and take long naps when I returned home. If I had a club or extracurricular activity after school, which was often, I would have to skip my nap and power through the homework when I got home, which proved to be a bigger challenge every time it happened. When you get sufficient sleep, you feel more ready to learn and take on the challenges of the day.
Time management and prioritization go hand in hand when talking about the struggles of IB. With the program being so rigorous, your school work must be your main priority. You cannot put all fun activities before school work and expect good grades. Many times throughout the year, homework will require you to put aside fun activities and sit down to work for a few hours. You need to manage your time so that you have enough for work, sleep, and leisure.
With prioritization, the same thing can be said. You should put school work before fun, because once you finish your work, you can have as much fun as you want. The opposite cannot be said because of due dates and such. In order to fare well at IB, remember to sleep, manage your time wisely, and have lots of fun, because it goes by quicker than you’d think.
David Clements
Freshman year for me was challenging yet doable for me. Some advice I have for incoming freshman would be to properly manage your time and not procrastinate. You probably heard this statement many times, but it really is easier said than done. Make plans, get rid of any distractions, and get the work done. Studying is also very important. You may have not studied much for tests and quizzes in middle school, but I guarantee you will need to study at IB. Similar to the homework, make plans and do no procrastinate on studying. Most teachers will inform you of any quizzes and tests well in advance for you to prepare.
Some examples of common assignments for IB students include general worksheets and readings, annotations, science worksheets, lab write-ups, and math textbook problems. When it comes to annotations, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST DAY! I guarantee that you will not sleep that night if you do wait. From my experience with Ms. Rossi in freshman year, she assigns small page ranges to keep you away from doing the entire book in one day, but this advice will especially help during sophomore and junior year. For labs, pay extreme attention to every detail because Ms. Kennon will move pretty fast and it is your job to make sure you are getting all the information you need for a good lab paper. Math textbook problems are pretty self-explanatory, but it is useful to know that math homework usually increases in size as you progress through the first two quarters of the year.
The most important part of IB is that you are preparing yourself for college. Many people say that IB has helped them get better at getting work done so college seems easier to them. Also, since it is a rigorous program you are surrounded by other intelligent students that will motivate you to work harder toward your goals. Colleges see great value in the program, and it can be seen with our high admissions rates. You will encounter many challenges, and you should talk to teachers and administration to help guide you; for example, if you are not doing well in a course talk to the teacher for tutoring or additional resources. With all that said, IB is not for everyone. If you find yourself constantly stressed with few hours of sleep and failing grades, I would be honest and reconsider attending the program.
Satvik Gunjala
Introduction
You’ve probably heard that the International Baccalaureate Program (IB) at Bartow is difficult. That statement is entirely true; compared to other high schools, you will be receiving more work in every subject from some of the best teachers in the county. From my experience, I think that this increased workload in every subject is to make sure I’m exposed to as much material as possible in each subject and to improve my critical thinking skills. Despite the merits however, it is still a difficult program that will leave you with extremely late nights if you put no care into the management of your time. Furthermore, regardless of you being in the IB program or not, there are some activities that you are obligated to do as a high school student. The goal of this essay to share my personal experiences on the how to effectively study, how to make the most of your high school life, and how to set yourself up for college. I believe following these tips will make life at IB much easier.
Making the most out of your High School Life
High school is a time where you should be going out of your comfort zone to try new things that will benefit you in the future. This could include meeting new people, going to new events with friends, trying new sports, and trying new clubs.
On the very first day of high school, you need to make sure to introduce yourself to everyone you meet, especially if they are in the same class. This is very important because it ensures you have a friend group to confide in. It also ensures that you are not awkwardly trying to figure out the people you get paired up in senior year with after four years of sharing classes with them. Having plenty of friends also ensures plenty of opportunities, such as going to new events or simply even improving your public speaking skills. Never be afraid to speak up because there’s nothing stopping you.
In high school, you should try to take up a sport or go to the gym. Something to make sure you are physically active. I was not the most athletic person, yet starting tennis was one of the most fun things I have ever decided to do. Regardless of having IB or not, you have the time to do that sport or to do that activity if you effectively manage your time. I surprised myself with all the time I still had after I minimized my time spent procrastinating and maximized my time spent studying. Even after adding four to five hours of physical activity to my plate of things to do, I still finished my work and went to bed at the same exact time. This meant that a lot of my time was being wasted by needless things such as hours of binging shows or scrolling through social media.
Don’t forget to be kind. If you are kind and respecting of others, you will create many great friendships. I have the most respect for people who are kind and respecting and these relationships are the highlights of my high school life.
It’s a hassle to ask your parents to drive you or to ask your friends to drive you to places. That’s why you should try to take your permit test and get your permit as soon as you can around the age of 15. This involves taking a very easy drug and alcohol course and taking an easy road signs test. After that, it’s just a matter of practicing your driving until you can get your license.
Effective Studying
I know students who can manage their time effectively and finish their work while doing everything they want in a night while still getting more than eight hours of sleep. I also know students who fail to manage their time effectively and fail to apply good study habits and get less than eight hours of sleep. For the most part of high school up to junior year, I had been a part of the latter group. I’d find myself staying up till 2 A.M. doing nothing in particular and then feeling extremely tired the next school day while still failing to do what I want in a day. I wanted to blame it on the program, but I found that placing the blame on the program itself did nothing more than give me a false sense of security as I made it seem as if I had no control over my situation. So, what was the fix to this problem? It was for me to eliminate distractions, apply good study habits, and actively work towards a decent sleep schedule.
One study observing college students found that, on average, students could only stay focused for six minutes before looking at some device. You may not think people check their phone every six minutes, but surprisingly a lot of people do. In an hour you set aside for studying or doing homework, if you’re checking your phone and being captured by the videos or text messages on it, you end up wasting over half the time not even doing the work. By minimizing the distraction and focusing solely on getting the work done first, I noticed that I could cut down my work time in half. In fact, as I will discuss later on, I became surprised with how many more productive things I could do with my new found time.
The application of good study habits from the moment you are learning the topic for the first time. You must actively pay attention in class, take notes, and be sure to ask questions. How well you learn something is deeply based in how many times you are exposed to it and how focused you are during those exposures. You may not fully understand the topic at first, but by being focused you are setting a good foundation for learning that topic. Don’t be afraid to ask questions because you are only inconveniencing yourself by missing out on understanding the topic.
This is important: the most effective way to approach studying a topic is to learn it to explain it well to someone. Every time you study, you should be trying your hardest to build an intuition of it in your mind and not simply memorizing the words. Having a concept in your head is much easier to understand and memorize than having a meaningless bundle of words. Every time you finish studying, you should feel like you could be able to teach it clearly to someone. If you can’t, you are not done studying.
There is an obvious but often overlooked secret to effectively studying what you learned in class, which is to space out your study time over several days. Studying three times for one hour over three days each is vastly more effective than studying for three hours at once. By spacing out your studying, you allow your brain to integrate that new information into your long-term memory through sleep.
The Importance of a Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep is one of the most important things in high school. It is not only important academically, but it is important for your well-being. By getting a good night’s sleep, you ensure that you are consolidating what you learned yesterday in the long-term memory. By getting a good night’s sleep, you also ensure your ability to be attentive in class the next day. As a result, you will not have to spend more hours trying to learn again what you were taught while you were sleepy, and you will have to spend less time studying to fully understand the topic. If you play sports, sleep is also important for developing your muscles, building muscle memory, and having a quick reaction time. The reaction time of one who is sleep deprived can be as bad as one who is drunk. You will have late nights regardless, but it should not be every night. I know plenty of people who can get a good nights sleep daily while in the IB program, you can do it too.
Preparing for College
I have learned that extracurriculars are important when applying for college. Find a club or activity that interests you, and make sure to invest great effort into it. It is not about how many extracurriculars you do, it is the quality of the few you do that matters. Maintaining decent grades and a good relationship with your teachers should go without saying. Polk State College also offers dual enrollment courses if you are interested in the subjects, note that some can be extremely easy or extremely hard.
Standardized Testing
For college admissions, you should be taking either the SAT or ACT. I have personally taken the SAT, so I will be discussing that test specifically. The SAT tests your ability to take the SAT. To clarify, the SAT only tests one on a set curriculum and the tests always have the same rules. I practiced for the SAT by taking practice tests every 1-2 weeks and then learning the material I missed on those practice tests during the week. By the time I had a SAT score I was satisfied with, I had taken nearly 20 practice tests. Math wise, you should have learned everything from your math courses. It’s just a matter of dusting the cobwebs off those old topics from algebra. Reading was more difficult in my opinion, but practicing is enough to get a hold of it.
You are also required to take the PSAT test in sophomore and junior year. The test is useful for applying for the national merit scholarship, which could get you free instate tuition at certain Florida colleges.
Selecting Elective Courses
In IB, you are given one or two elective courses to choose from. I chose to take Anatomy with AP Environmental Science in freshman year, and AP Statistics and AP Computer Science in sophomore year. I highly recommend all of these classes. AP Environmental Science is a great gateway into AP courses as a whole, which help you skip having to take those introductory level classes in college. Anatomy is very useful if you are going into the medical field. AP Statistics is invaluable for math beyond freshman year, standardized testing, and in research papers you will have to write. Computer science was fun to learn. If you are an overachiever, be very careful in loading your schedule with AP courses. Too many courses will impact your well-being and your ability study for each course well.
Be careful about what you say
Every time you speak or send a text message be extremely careful about what you communicate. Certain topics that offend others should be left unsaid for their benefit and your benefit. There have been many instances of administrator involvement over something that seems insignificant to one but every offensive to the other. Be careful, for you don’t want to do something that ruins your experience in high school. Treat others with kindness and respect and you will create respectable relationships.
Conclusion
These were some of the things I found helpful in my high school career. I believe that by effectively managing your time you can sleep much earlier and open up time for new activities that are of benefit to you. Be able to take these learning experiences and study habits into college because if you can, you will be well prepared in college. Make the most out of high school with your friends because it only happens once and can define the rest of your life.
Sun Latt
To a Student,
Will you have a social life here at IB? Short Answer: Yes.
“But there’s so much homework how will I do anything…” Hush. “Discipline equals freedom.” You have no more than 3 hours of homework, sit down and do your homework in that time and you have plenty of time left for whatever you think you will be doing. No there are rarely any parties. You’re a freshman, you won’t even have a social life if you went to a normal school anyway. Hint: If you want to get into the good parties make friends with the Bartow Kids.
How do I fit in here? Short Answer: Be socially conscious.
Someone says something and you have the ability to completely destroy them with a remark. Don’t make it. Make a remark when you know both of you will laugh about it, or if you do make it, smooth it over with them and APOLOGIZE later on.
Also, do not ask stupid questions. Yes, they exist. Sit there and think about your question and what an answer could be, then ask the teacher to comment on your supposed solution.
One of the main pitfalls within IB is becoming ostracized from the main social group. There will be about 120 kids that will gradually decrease to 60 as people drop. Out of these 60, one or two major social groups will form. Either be a part of one of these or hold them in neutral standing. Peer interaction/the rest of your high school life will be easier if you follow that guideline.
Which class is going to be the hardest? Short Answer: Bio/English
Kennon is a teacher that helps to thin the herd in IB. You signed up for this, therefore whatever she gives you is within reason. Life isn’t always perfect, and Kennon will teach you this with the amount of work that she assigns you.
Rossi is a teacher that also helps to thin the herd in IB. Significantly. Rossi went through a program similar to IB and understands the issues within IB, including the major issue of resource dedication. Many students will drop, why dedicate precious resources to students who are not going to finish the program? Hence, Rossi and Kennon are going to drill you hard so that they can allocate those important teaching resources into those who have demonstrated a strong work ethic so they can succeed when the program becomes more difficult.
Are the tests hard? Short Answer: Study
Even the most brilliant kids I know put some time into studying. After you finish a massive Rossi assignment, sit down with your bio notes and just look them over, making sure you understand the concepts. You don’t have to wrote memorize study leading up to the test as a majority of the studying will be done the few days before the test, but this small amount of time dedicated before will benefit you significantly. You will pass the tests. A C is a passing grade. Do not think otherwise of it.
Overall
You are going to be challenged, it may be in freshmen year, it may not be until the end of senior year. You may be able to memorize things put before you and not have to study, but your work ethic will be challenged. That is something that will get you through IB with a money-back guarantee. If you really care about something, you will work for it and you will work hard.
Bo Purtell