Okay so this week I got report cards andddddddd lets just not talk about it. I didn't do bad but I did not do as good as I wanted to. Most of my grades are really good but then there's math....... math math math math math. Oh well as I said before lets move on. SO lately I've been doing something that has changed my IB life and can very well change yours. If you have not already been doing this then that sucks, if you have, then I guess I'm not as clever as I thought I was for coming up with it. This is what I'd like to call "The Trick," just kidding I honestly have never called it that before I just came up with it like two seconds ago. Anyways this trick has to be the most beneficial thing on the planet. I've realized something, I've realized that you will never have so much homework that you have to pull an all-nighter. We all believe that we start are homework right away, but honestly its hard for us to really get into something until your about four hours in. Your homework for that day should never take more than 6 hours max. So instead of starting your homework right when you get home, GO TO SLEEP, did I say take a nap? Did I? Did I? NOOO I said GO TO SLEEP. I promise you. I'd usually take naps but instead go to sleep, get 6-7 hours of sleep. Then wake up at about 12am-1am depending on how much homework that you have. Then get at it, tear that homework up and go into full blown work-mode!This will somewhat screw up your sleeping schedule, but if you are one of those IB students that get to bed at 1 to 2am anyways you might as well follow my advice. I'll tell you why this will change your life.
1. Since you are the only one awake in your home it will be way quieter, so you won't get all distracted by the noise.
2. No one will be online, there will be no twitter updates, or anything. So once again, no distractions.
3. Since you know you are actually approaching the time when school starts you'll work faster and not procrastinate because you know you have to get it done fast.
4. From this trick you are guaranteed a good amount of sleep, always.

If you want to make your life a little bit easier at least try this out and see if it works for you! Good luck guys! Oh and BTW I got my laptop back :) Never. loose. hope.

Peace. Love. IB.


P.S. This could be extremely bad for your health, but hey its better than never sleeping right?

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't written in like 7 years, but life has been ruff! This week I lost my macbook air, along with everything in it. You're all in IB so you know that loosing your laptop means loosing your life. It was so hard to get through this week knowing that its not with me, I just want to believe that someone will return it, and I won't believe its gone, I just won't.

On the bright side kinda, I am doing pretty well in English! It's the only class that I have not screwed up in yay! Other than that, I haven't been doing the greatest and it is really stressful. Everything is so stressful and report cards are coming out soon, I really don't know what to do.

Although, what I've realized this week is that stressing doesn't do anything but just make matters worse. Don't stress. Just relax. I know it might seem hard to not stress over things, but when you really sit down and think about it, you realize that stressing makes everything more stressful.

Here are a list of typical IB struggles you will/might have to go through. There will be two responses. One response will be something a typical overly stressed IB student would do and another response is what you should do.

1. You have a math test tomorrow and you do not understand anything, on top of that you have a 10 minute English presentation that you have to prepare for. What do you do?
A. Spend hours stressing, and stress even more when you realize you've been studying for math for 4 hours and you still do not understand anything.
B. Take 10 minutes out of your time to breathe. Make a cup of tea, or a nice quick snack for yourself.(I usually go with tea because I literally have no snacks in my house.)Write down exactly what you do not understand about math instead of freaking out about what you do not know. Take a nap, then try and get your English presentation out of the way.

2. You have a soccer game, and its the game of the season. Though you still haven't found time to start your English essay and its due tomorrow! What do you do?
A. Spend your whole day stressing in school thinking about whether you should go to your game or skip the game and start right on your essay.
B. During lunch or a study block, if you have one, try and format your essay. Trust me essays are a lot easier to write once you know the order of what you will say and you know what to day. You won't get a lot done in the first hour of writing your essay anyways, so go to the game. An hour and a half game won't take up that much time!

You see its a lot easier to get by our IB life problems without stressing. Both of these scenarios happened to me last year, and I figured out ways around them! If you can tell me one thing that stressing helps with, then you can stress. Though as of now, I can't think of any. Keep calm guys, we're all going to survive this.

Peace. Love. IB.

OKAY, so this whole weekend I've spent 99% of my time writing essays or at least trying to write essays and the other 1% eating life cereal, but I just cant do it anymore I CANNOT DO IT. I am lost for words, I have writers block, I dont know I just can't put words together anymore. I finished my second draft of my EE, and I spent most of today trying to write my written assignment for English, which is basically worth my whole life, and yours too if you're writing it right now like me. I honestly cant do it though, I have got nothing written down. I've been reading my rough copy from last year and it is actually a joke I must have wrote it on 30 minutes of sleep or something, but I have no idea how to fix it or turn it around, and its scaring me and ughh whatever. I also have my TOK essay due this friday on the same day of my written assignment, and I have zero idea of how I am actually going to survive that, I honestly have no idea. I am saving my TOK essay for last because I know it'll probably be the easiest to write because I can have personal examples, and actually have fun with it lol, but my English essay, I know it won't be easy. EVERYTHING this month is important, everything counts, EVERYTHING, and I am scared, SOOO scared, this year is moving too fast and I honestly do not know what to do. Well this post is supposed to teach you how to write an IB essay so I might as well try to help you, taking advice from me on this might not be the best idea, but hey why not?

Step 1: Have a good understanding of what you're writing about, do not just jump right into it.
Step 2: Plan out the whole essay, this will make everything 147539834282 times easier, I think the reason why I am having such a a hard time with my written assignment is the fact that i did not plan out any of it. I think I'll try that now lol.
Step 3: Find a quiet place to start writing, PUT AWAY ALL DISTRACTIONS, and play some mellow music in the background(I recommend Radiohead's "Ok Computer" album).
Step 4: GET PAST THE INTRO FAST, once you start everything moves so much quicker, GET PAST THAT WALL.
Step 5: Make sure you are following all of the criteria for the essay, and don't just meet it, EXCEED the criteria, We are all aiming for that A.
Step 6: Once you are done your essay first, throw a parade, feed the homeless,film a movie, star in a movie, change the world, cure cancer, start a campaign to provide education to all children in less developed countries THENNNNN reread your paper, get feedback, and change anything that needs to be changed. But here's a tip, try not to focus to hard on making it "Perfect" alright?

ESSAY SEASON IS HERE AND I WISH ALL OF YOU IB KIDS THE BEST OF LUCK.

Peace. Love. IB.

I've been gone for two weeks, and all of you, my two followers, have probably been wondering where I've been and what I've been doing. Or you remembered that this is an IB blog, and I myself am in IB, and I have been over-occupied with IB work. Though honestly, what is new??? When is this not the case. Anyways the last two weeks have been only four day weeks, so it hasn't been that bad, but this week is back to the normal five day week and I honestly do not think that Ia capable of handling it. The last two weeks have not been horrible but they have been fairly tiresome. I'll tell you what went down in each class.

Math SL- We had a test last class. What I hate about math is the fact that I literally understand everything to the point where I can no longer take in any more knowledge, but when I get the test its like BAM nothing makes sense. Or everything still makes sense and I think I did really good and then I get back my test and have a bunch of tiny mistakes that add up to a huge amount and result in me failing YAY :) Math for sure will be the biggest struggle for me this year. Its so weird, before IB, math used to be my favorite class, and now its the class that I have to pray before every test for. I think we're getting the tests back tomorrow and I honestly just feel sick thinking about it so ON TO THE NEXT CLASS.

TOK- Nothing really new in this class as usual it's pretty chill, although we do have to start thinking about TOK essay topic so yeah its getting pretty real. 

Geography HL- So this whole year we haven't got any big case studies and its both wonderful and scary, because every class I'd just be paranoid about getting one but then not having any made my life a hundred times easier. I honestly assumed I was balancing everything so well because I changed over the summer haha, but maybe its because I didn't get any geo case studies. Well I'll see, because last class he gave us one yay!:):):)(sarcasm) It's due in a week, but I promised myself I'd start it early, so here goes. 

French SL- We had two quizzes, I aced one of them but completely bombed the other, and its all because I forgot how to conjugate in the present tense, yes the present tense. I aced a quiz from a topic she just taught us, but I failed a quiz on something I have been learning since 9th grade. Oh well, I will for sure kill the next couple quizzes I'm really hoping for an A in this class!

English HL- English has been really fun this year, we have been deciphering poems, and reading Hamlet. I have become a pro at deciphering Margaret Atwood poems. Throw any of her poems at me and I can easily thoroughly explain what it means to you *flips hair.* Just kidding I am not that great, but I have honestly gotten better at it, I've never been able to analyze literature well, so I'm glad I am improving. Hamlet is also quite interesting, maybe Shakespeare isn't so boring. 

Theater HL- SO MUCH WORK, but now I finally understand everything that I am doing. I am AIMING for a 7 in this class, so I'm going to try my hardest to make sure that everything is done to perfection. Currently I am working on my RI and my IP. If you are just entering the program and are taking Theater HL, I'll give you a little insight on what those two acronyms mean. The RI is a research paper that you write based on the research you found from a specific type of theater. I am doing Kathakali Theater! The IP is an independent project. There's a performance aspect of it, and the write up, right now I am currently working on the performance part. I'm writing my IP based on acting, you can do it on directing, or even tech. For my performance I am doing a monologue from a Neil Simon play!

Chemistry HL- We have a test on Tuesday PRAY FOR ME. I repeat PRAY FOR ME!!! I am so scared. This will be the first time since, the beginning of last year that I actually understand all of the criteria and I can do all of the practice problems and everything, but I am still so scared. This test is everything. If I don't get an A on this test I will honestly just collapse. I have never stressed so much for a test. Tomorrow I am dedicating my whole time after school on studying for that test. It's on oxidation & reduction! The past two weeks have basically been labs, and learning more oxidation&reduction stuff, it has been pretty chill, and it is actually one of my favorite classes! 

Adios amigos! See ya guys when I have swam myself back out of my work load! Hopefully it won't be too long.

Peace. Love. IB. 

Ahhh so I've finished my third week of school, and I can honestly say that things are not going so badly, well as of right now. It actually is possible to get things done. I honestly don't know if last year my classes were harder or if I just wasn't trying at all whatsoever. All I know is that I am not sinking in my homework just yet, and even when I get close to sinking I somehow am able to swim myself back up, up high enough to give myself a break and take a 6 hour nap. Just yesterday my CAS adviser said this blog can count for CAS hours AND it counts for my reflections as well, so that is two problems solved in one can I GET AN AMEN!! Anyways I've realized things have been a lot easier this year because I've learned something really important, and that is prioritizing.

Prioritizing is just as important as time management in my opinion. Once you've learned how to prioritize, you'll find IB to be a lot easier, trust me. Listen up and I'll give you some tips on how to prioritize, I am not saying I'm an expert, but I'm an expert okay. Just kidding, but read through anyways, if it helped someone as disorganized as me, it'll help you.

Okay, well we are all in IB because we all think that we can handle anything, which is possible, but that doesn't mean that we can do all of our homework in one night, because see that is impossible. Here's a tip, when you're starting your homework, start with the homework that is due the next day and that you know for sure will be collected. Do not start with homework that is due in three or four days, and do not tell yourself that you are going to finish the homework that is due the next day and finish the homework that is due the day after that as well. All that will do is give you anxiety. Do not put so much on yourself. Just because you're in IB, does not mean that you do not deserve a break too. You do not need to get everything done early.

I know a lot of us like to do the thing where we finish everything on one day so then the next day we don't have to do any homework, and I am just telling you now, that that is not the smartest route. First of all you'll never have time for that and second of all you'll feel as if everything's piling on top of you, when in reality it is just you piling stuff on top of yourself.

Here is the typical pattern in how I now do my homework, I don't know if it'll work for you, but it has worked really well for me.

1. If you have a project due the next day that involves coloring or just a lot of effort put in, do this first, just to get it out of the way.
2. Then do the homework that you know will be collected/checked(I said this earlier)
3. If you have a test or quiz the next day start studying/doing practice problems etc. If this is a test or quiz that you think you'll need a lot of time to study for maybe make it your first or second priority.
4. Then do the homework that you're teacher assigned but you know they won't collect. It is a way to help you prepare for the next class, for me this is usually geography homework!
5. Then if you have a project or huge assignment with an upcoming due date, then start that. For example Geography reports, or history projects that are due towards the end of the week. I think I've mentioned in another post that you shouldn't do assignments like this all in the night before.
6. Lastly, IF YOU HAVE TIME, I repeat IF YOU HAVE TIME you can start on some assignments due the day after the next, do not put in you're mind that you will do this, it will stress you out. If you don't feel like doing this watch a movie, watch your favorite episode of a show, take a nap, go to sleep early. It is not necessary to get small assignments done ahead of time.

A lot of the time, you might go to sleep without having everything finished. You could walk into school still missing the last 4 questions on an assignment, or you didn't color in one part of a map, or you forgot to think of a real life situation for TOK, or whatever, but it is not the end of the world. It is okay, as long as you finished what is most important. If you finished studying for a math test that is really important for your grade because you're not doing so well in math, but you weren't able to answer the last 4 questions on an English assignment it is OKAY. You will pass your math test with flying colors, and you'll figure out something for English.

As IB students, we always think the world is crashing down around us, but it is not. Focus on what is currently the most important thing for you to do, and you will do great!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Peace. Love. IB.

Hey guys so I have completed my first week of my second year of IB, and all I can say is, it didn't go too badly. I'll try my best to summarize my first week and if you want to skip my whole ramble scroll to the bottom so you can get some tips on time managing!

First Week Of School

Well, the first day of school started off alright. All we did was get our schedules and lockers. I liked my schedule, but I got a bottom locker. Which I was definitely not going to let slide, there's no way in this world that I would be okay with having a bottom locker for another year, not with IB and all of my stuff. Having a top locker makes it a lot easier to keep organized and my goal for this year was to be organized. I won't tell you how, but I now use a top locker, so that problem is solved. My schedule wasn't perfect, but it definitely wasn't bad. My classes are evenly distributed in terms of difficulty so I do not have all of my hard classes on one day and my easy classes on another! I know a lot of you out there have all of your classes on the same day and I truly feel for you! This is how my schedule is!

Day 1
TOK(In the Morning)
IB English HL(For Two Periods)
IB Theatre HL
IB Chemistry HL

Day 2
Spare(So I don't have to be at school until 10am woohoo!!!)
IB Geography HL
IB Math SL
IB French SL

So basically one day I have to be at school at 7am followed by a double block class and the other day I get to come to school at 10am. Sure that might not sound exactly balanced, but I sort of like it that way, one day I wake up super early and the other day I get to sleep in, sounds fair. Although, my school does this weird thing where they rotate around the first three classes every term, for no apparent reason, so I won't be able to sleep in until 9am, every other day, for much longer. I also think I have a good balance of hard and easy classes on both days! I did not want to have both math and geography on the same day, but at least I have a spare on that day, so that could definitely help me in the long run!

This week of school was insanely easy, I don't know if that was because my geography teacher didn't assign a ginormous case study or because I actually started to keep organized and start my homework earlier. I wouldn't say I got a huge amount of homework, but it was defiantly a lot for the first week of school! I started doing this thing where I set a timer for myself to complete every homework assignment, and it seriously works, I recommend you all try it! Unless everyone else has already been doing this and I have just been completely oblivious to this wonderful idea. I will certainly be using this method everyday! I think it works because when I set a timer for myself I get all nervous I won't finish before the timer so it makes me work faster. It's sort of like when you start rushing to finish your homework late at night because you realize 6am is approaching and you have to get ready for school.

So far all of my classes are going really well! I like all the teachers I have, and all the classes I'm in seem pretty interesting already! My locker is super organized and for once I am not a total mess! I hope this whole 'organized' thing won't just last for the first week, because I honestly think that it is helping me a lot.


Time Managing

Hey guys, so as I've said along with every IB teacher, time management is so important. If you have good time management skills you can honestly do anything you want and even set free time for yourself, as long as you're able to manage it. Sometimes it is a good thing to not only have homework on your plate. Having a clean cut schedule with a mixture of clubs, sports, or being apart of organizations is a good thing! Develop a nice routine for yourself, and most importantly give yourself a break! Everyone needs just 30 minutes to relax and listen to music, just zone out for a while and remind yourself why you're doing IB! Here are some tips for time managing!

1. Write in your homework assignments in your planner/agenda and beside each assignment write an estimate of how long it'll take you to complete that assignment.

2. Join clubs, sports, or organizations! Trust me having something to balance everything out with your homework can make everything a lot easier! I mean is a schedule really a schedule if its just filled with various homework assignments?

3. Become used to your routine! Try to follow this routine through the school week and during the weekend try and relax a little, it's not always good to follow the same routine everyday! Give yourself a break once in a while, but still allow yourself to become adjusted to your routine again!

4. Be organized! If your life is a mess, your schedule will become a mess. Trust me, I know from past experiences.

I hope these tips help! Good luck in school and follow for more updates, rants, playlists, and tips!

Peace. Love. IB.

Hey guys! So this is just an update on whats going on in the IB life I live, there's no real advice or anything, but if you're interested in whats going on in my life feel free to read!

Okay, so the teachers strike that has been going on for a couple months now, has finally ended, and we will all be returning to school now, three weeks late. I have been waiting for the strike to end, mainly because if it didn't, I would possibly have to kiss goodbye to my IB Diploma. Although now that it actually is starting, i'm really nervous. Last year was probably the most stressful year of my life, and even thinking about how painful that year was, hurts. I can't blame the year solely on taking IB though, it really was my fault for procrastinating, and hope that I do not make the same mistakes this year. What I need to do this year is come up with a well planned out schedule for myself. As I said before time management is extremely important, so that will be my main focus this year. I signed up for this business program, but i'm still not hundred percent sure I have time for that. I also really want to start a debate club at my school, it can't be that hard, hopefully.

 I think we get our schedules and lockers tomorrow. I pray with all my soul that I get a top locker, having a bottom locker last year really ruined my life, and made me so disorganized I just hope that my homeroom teacher gives me one or I honestly won't know what to do with myself lol. I also would like to have my schedule to be balanced out with both easy and challenging classes on the same day. Last year all of my classes with a lot of homework and studying were on the same day, while my easy classes were on the other day. So one day I'd have a huge amount of homework, and the next day I'd have one worksheet to get done.

My dream schedule would be
Day 1                                                            Day 2
English HL                                                  French SL
Geography HL                                            Chemistry HL
Theatre HL                                                  Math SL                                    
Spare(So I can leave school early)              TOK(In The Morning)

If my schedule is anything like that I will seriously kiss the floor of joy .I'll let you know if it comes close!

This summer I was able to finish most of my extended essay! I have just about the conclusion and abstract left, and I am honestly so proud of myself for not procrastinating! I also got all of my CAS hours and entries done. I might still do some volunteering here or there though! It was honestly a really good summer, but all good things come to an end and now it's finally time to start working!

Senior year, I'm ready for ya.

Peace. Love. IB.

I was a good kid once, I was, promise. I would come home after dance practice, soccer, or track, and I would get started on my homework after a quick snack or a nice lay down, and usually finish by 8 right before all the good shows came on. That has changed though, it all changed when I entered the IB program. IB in a way is actually suppose to make you less of a procrastinator because you have so much work, and it is better to get that all done and out of the way right? Wrong, in most cases, joining the IB will make you more of a procrastinator. Want to know why? It is because you are so overloaded with projects, presentations, and tests to study for that you won't know where to start and everything will be too much, and you'll most likely end up taking a nap or staring at a wall for four hours trying to figure out what to work on first. Yes I know that might seem a little drastic, but I promise you I am not over exaggerating. Although, do not blame IB, blame your time management skills. The amount of work you get is a lot, yes, but it is manageable, and I know a lot of people who can get to sleep before midnight, or even dare I say it 10pm, with all of their work finished. You just need to have good time management skills, and be organized. Make a calendar for yourself, set reminders on your phone, organize your papers, prioritize your work, and I promise you it won't be too hard. It is actually easier when you have other  activities, or hobbies you do, because you'll feel as if you are following an actual schedule, and not just a set of times for when to do different homework assignments. Get projects, and presentations done at least one day before the day it's due, working on a project the day before, is never particularly smart. You will end up staying up super late, and either becoming so tired you won't even know what you're doing, or just give up because you want to sleep. It's always best to get it done ahead of time, so the day before you can just add finishing touches. IB will never be easy, but without procrastination, your life will become so much easier. I got through what I like to call "The Wall Of Procrastination" around March, I recommended that you do not wait that long to fix your ways. Knock that "Wall of Procrastination" down no longer than two months into school! Good luck guys, and stay tuned for more updates!

Peace. Love. IB

Okay guys so I was supposed to be starting school tomorrow, but my teachers are on strike lol. I honestly wanted to keep everyone up to date as school goes on, and even while my teachers are striking I want to make sure that I do that. So I am going to list all the classes I took the first year of IB and tell you exactly what I had to go through for each class, as well as some tips on how to not make the same mistakes I did, and ace the class!

How about we start off with IB Chemistry 11 HL.

IB Chem 11 HL

I am going to tell you two words, and I am telling you this right now, these two words are the most important words in all of IB Chem HL. Richard Thornley. I repeat RICHARD THORNLEY. He is a teacher on YouTube that basically goes over everything that you will be learning in this class. He tells you what the IB is looking for, what they don't really focus on, the tricks they do, and pretty much everything. This guy hands down saved my life. I would have completely failed organic chem if it weren't for him. He explains everything to the peak. The best thing about his videos are the fact that they're not 10 minutes long, in IB you do not have time to be watching a 10 minute long video. When you are learning something from YouTube you usually pause anyways to make sure you understand what is going down, and take notes as well. With Richard Thornley his videos range on average from about 1 minute to 6 minutes, depending on the context. Honestly my goal is to one day meet this teacher and give him a high five and bow down to him, because if it wasn't for him I would be pretty lost in Chem. If I only found out about him during the bonding unit *sigh*, Here are some other tips on how to survive IB Chem HL.

Tip #1. Do your homework. I know a lot of the time teachers do not check and or care about your homework, but in this class its pretty essential to do it. Unless you are a genius I recommend doing practice sets until you are able to perfect what you're learning.

Tip #2. Ask you teacher for help. Do not be scared or intimidated by your teachers, this applies to teachers for all your classes. Honestly I made the mistake of not asking for help a lot, because I didn't want it to seem like I wasn't paying attention in class or for my teacher to think I was literally that stupid. Although I promise you that in the long run its better to understand what you are doing  before your teacher continues on to another section.

Tip #3. Pay attention at all times. I tend to space out a lot, especially when what my teacher is saying doesn't make much sense to me. Whenever I zone back in, I end up even more confused and it is not the best thing. Try to keep focused on what your teacher is saying and writing on the board.

IB English 11 HL

If you are truly into reading and writing, this will probably be not only your favorite class of the year, but one of your favorite classes throughout high school. In my case, this class was the easiest to handle and balance along with my other classes. I am not saying it was easy, you still have to put in a lot of effort in what you do, I am just saying that it was easy to handle, primarily because I enjoyed the class, and everything that we did and learned. If you are not so into English, focus on your strong spots when it comes to English. For me it is presentations. Presentations are everything to me, I have honestly never been that nervous presenting, unless I have no idea what I am doing. I used presentation skills as a way to show to my teacher that I understand the IB curriculum, and have analyzed whatever book, or poem that we went over in class. If you are gifted when it comes to interpreting poems, use that as an advantage, if you are talented at writing, use that. There is always something. Whether it is a project or an essay, if that is your strong spot, take advantage of that. For your first year do that and you'll be fine. Although it may be a little harder in your second year of IB, I haven't started yet, so I can't say much. All I know is that you should become a pro at deciphering novels, poems, etc.

IB French SL

Talking about this class actually makes me want to cry, because I could have easily done so well in it, if I just put in more effort. It wasn't until the third term when I realized, after seeing my grade, that maybe I was not trying my hardest. After I started studying, and practicing I began to ace every test and quiz, it all became so easy for me, and it annoyed me so much, because that could have been me the whole year -__-. If you know how to conjugate verbs, and all of that stuff like imparfait, condtionnel, you'll be okay, but I wouldn't say you'd do great. You cant just fly through french by just memorizing, nope that is not how it works in IB. In all language classes you have to be able to comprehend and write. You have to learn how to include challenging words into the passages you write, and you must be able to understand what the people are saying in the listening activities. This might sound weird but I recommend watching a lot of french movies, maybe finding some french tv shows, and also checking out some french songs. I wasn't able to find good french tv shows, but I did find some movies! Check out "The Intouchables," and "Heartbreaker." Not all french movies are old, those are just the ones your teacher will show you! As for music check out "Stromae" if you haven't already heard of him, he is great honestly! If you continue to listen to him all the time, it'll make understanding french a lot easier.

IB Theatre 11 HL

All I gotta say for this one is be energetic, and get involved. Do not just slack around in class, try as hard as you can to participate, and put in your all. Also do not be scared to take risks when you're acting. At first I was a little scared of doing anything out of my comfort zone, but honestly isn't that what acting is all about? Everyone will do equally as weird stuff as you, so trust me when I say no one will care if you have to scream in a scene or cry. Also make sure you only turn in good quality work. For instance if you are turning in a critique of a play, include every little detail of the play that you caught, and everything you learned from the play and what you personally think could have been done to make that play better. I really regret not putting my all in this class, but I've learned from my mistakes, and I will certainly be doing that this year. Don't make the same mistake I did.

IB Math SL

Before I came into this class, I would say I was good at math, pretty good at math if I say so myself *flips hair*. I walked in this class so arrogant that I honestly didn't even bother listening to my teacher for the first couple of months. This had to be the most idiotic thing that I did this year. Math is so important for me, and I did not work my hardest, I did not really focus too much on this class at all until the end when I realized how stupid I was to do that. Even after every bad test I continued to not focus thinking "Oh it was just a little mistake." As I continued to do poorly on tests it sort of made me become adjusted to doing incompetently, and I just continued to slack off because I  thought it was too late to improve. UGHH biggest regret ever. I completely lost my arrogance and just became humiliated, no one else seemed to be suffering too much, so it just made me feel worse. I went from being the best in my math class to easily one of the worst. DO NOT MAKE THIS MISTAKE. First of all walk into class with confidence not arrogance. You are clearly good at math if you're in IB math, but that doesn't mean you know everything, so listen to your teacher and do your homework. I used to think studying for math was pointless but its not, the last thing that is, is pointless. Study until you can not study any more, study until your heart tells you to stop. So deep right? I also recommenced sitting closer to the teacher and farther away from people you talk to all the time, it might not be fun, but it's the smartest decision in the long run.

TOK 11

I made the mistake of........the amount of times I said "I made the mistake of" in this blog post, might actually be uncountable. I made a lot of mistakes in my first year of IB, okay, which is the reason why I'm writing all of this, to stop you guys from making these same mistakes. Well I'll continue, I made the mistake of sleeping in a lot for TOK. See, in my case, and maybe yours too, your TOK class will be in the morning. I'd say there are not too many "Morning People" in this world so waking up anywhere from 5am to 6am is not going to be the most enjoyable thing to do. I slept in A LOT, sleeping has always been so important to me, and with all the homework I was getting sleeping early was not a strategical solution. So I decided so start taking naps when I'd get home from school that way I wouldn't be too tired waking up, because of the lack of sleep. As for the class, it might be hard to decipher the meaning of knowledge at 7am in the morning, but you'll eventually get the hang of it. Also make sure you work on your presentation skills, as they are a huge part of the class, you won't be receiving too much homework, besides projects, presentations, and the occasional essay here and there. As I said about English, try to be able to analyze what you are learning in class. TOK is all about thinking, you never have a wrong answer, as long as you are able to explain your reasoning.

IB Geography 11 HL

I saved this one for last. I do not even know how to start this. I thought at first it was just my class, but after doing some research I see it happens in almost every class. Be prepared for a lot of work. In IB I'd say its more studying than homework, but that does not apply to this class. This class is filled with case study, after case study, after case study, and it really just never ends. The good part about it though is that when you're studying for a test you won't have to study too much as long as you pay attention in class and make sure all of your case studies are done to perfection. When it comes to case studies, do not put it off. If you hold off a case study until the last minute, there is no way you are getting an A, let alone a high B regardless of how well you think you did on it. This has to be done gradually over time or don't expect a high grade. So take the time out of your homework schedule to work on your case study every day that week, and try to get a decent portion of it done daily. There's also the fact that there is a 0% chance that you'll sleep when you haven't started a case study until the day before. This class, despite the fact that it took away my soul, in my opinion has to be the class where you really learn so much, and become aware of how valuable IB really is. I don't think I could say I've ever learned as much as I did in this class. Every topic you learn about is quite interesting, and you will actually stay focused on what you are talking about in class. So the tests will not be as drastic. Keep in mind that the tests are all written, so learn how to explain every answer with examples, and other backup information to receive full points.


I hope this helps guys! I'll try and tell you all, what other classes that I didn't take will be like, according to what other students tell me. Stay tuned for more updates.

Peace. Love. IB.

GUYS I just want to start off by saying my first year of IB actually changed my life. I learned more in that year than I did in all my previous years of school combined. I was actually challenged, but in the process I was scarred both mentally and physically. Okay, maybe not physically, but every time I was assigned another geography case study due the same day as a math test, Id feel as if I was being stabbed in the gut. SO you know what, yes both mentally AND physically scarred. It was a year filled with plenty of firsts. I will start by naming these "Firsts" and if you experienced them too after your first year comment below adding other "Firsts" that you experienced. If you are entering IB this year, here are some of the things you're going to deal with. Or at least try to.

1. It was my first time pulling two all-nighters in a row, that's right 48 consecutive hours of no sleep.
2. It was my first time faking sick so I could stay home and get my homework done, if that isn't sad tell me what is.
3. It was my first time sleeping in the library or basically anywhere during lunch.
4. It was my first time not getting the best grades on tests, I was a try hard to the extreme before IB.
5. It was my first time procrastinating, I'll talk more about the subject of procrastination in another post, it definitely needs to be further analyzed.
6. It was my first time bringing my laptop with me to school, way more than often, to get work done.
7. It was my first time having to set 2am alarms to wake up and start my homework after naps
8. Lastly it was my first time having to work hard in every class, because every class involves a lot of time put into it.

The first year of IB is the year you literally learn everything, but the most important thing you come out with is how important sleep is. You will never value sleep more until you're up for the second day in a row at 4am and all you're thinking is "the things I would do just to close my eyes for 10 minutes." Or you're in your second class of the day and the only thoughts running through your mind are "I cannot freaking wait until I get home and I can take a nap."

NEVER say "whatever sleep is for the weak," OKAY BECAUSE SLEEP IS NOT FOR THE WEAK, IT IS THE ONLY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE THAT WILL TRULY KEEP YOU GOING THROUGH THIS YEAR. Keep in mind that you won't really be able to process a lot when you are lacking sleep. I remember in a lot of math classes I would walk out not even remembering what just happened, and I suffered the consequences. Always make sure you get a good amount of sleep, especially since in IB you're learning something new everyday.

Stay Positive, and Stay Tuned for more updates :)

Peace, Love, IB.

If you are on this blog you are either

1.In the IB program currently and about to enter another painful year

2.About to enter IB for the first time, and are extremely curious or

3.You literally just got here for no reason, you have no idea what 'IB' even is and you probably just misspelled 'I'm'

Something I learned after becoming apart of the IB community, was the whole aspect of being a companion  to almost anyone. It was astounding, yet delightful to know that I could rely on someone to turn  something in for me, if I knew I was going to be late. Or for someone to trust that Id get any missed assignment for them if they couldn't make it to class. Just the fact that all of us in the program could relate to one thing. IB. The source for our misery, and our joy. What I want this blog to focus on is just that. I want to bond with not only the other IB students in my class, but the other IB students of the world. I want to relate with you, cry with you, and of course survive with you. If you want to make IB more enjoyable follow this blog, for homework playlists, tips, tricks, and emotional rants. Let’s struggle together.

Stay tuned for more failure and disappointment to come.

Peace. Love. IB.