Yes, we do appreciate your hard work and dedication

Everyone who knows me and is not a secondary school teacher is well aware that I have a soft spot in my heart reserved for the educators in my life. Though I complain an awful lot about the IB and everything that relates to it, and though I’m not exactly quick to show signs of adulation towards teachers, I do hold a lot of respect and to some extent even admiration for them. Just don’t run off and tell them I wrote that. I think it will be the death of me somehow (I can already feel some of my fellow IBers poised to throw harmful projectiles at me).

Expect sappiness to follow.

I know, I know…you are probably thinking, “Oh dear, have they finally brainwashed her? Has she gone mad? Does she need to see a doctor? Has she been fully programmed?”

No, I remain critical of some aspects of IB. That is entirely besides the point. My main intention for this post is to express my appreciation for teachers, especially those who I felt have made a significant impact on my learning and ultimately, my choices in this life.

You see, most of my IB teachers did not at the outset of their post-university careers decide to become teachers. They instead pursued other fields, in engineering, diplomacy, law, healthcare, scientific research, etc. They spent some time in these fields, some becoming very successful in their careers. Then at some point, they realise, perhaps through the difficulties of their work or through some other epiphany, that their current career was not the most satisfying–something, in other words, was missing. They then turned to teaching, and in working in education found that they had reached a post in life wherein they were both challenged and satisfied.

As for those who from the outset wanted to be educators, they, too found something equally challenging and satisfying and remained in the education field.

So I attempt here to speak for some of my peers who may not show their appreciation for teachers (or really want to do so) in the hope that they continue to strive for excellence in their students. After all, it is not only the students who require some source of stimulation in learning; from what I’ve seen these past four years, teaching can be as much a challenge of motivation for teachers as learning can be (and has been) for the students. They have all been so remarkably patient with our misgivings as students/learners.

Having said that, I am far from a teacher’s pet. I am sure many of my teachers disapprove of some of the things I do (frequently late homework, if they’re even complete to begin with, questioning them to the point of annoyance, not always paying attention because I am such a spaz, just not living up to my potential in general which is really my own fault, etc.).

It is so difficult to work through the means of something, and to not see the ends until (perhaps) years after your role in a student’s life has ended. It is difficult to overcome minor rigours and rise above them in such a way so as to keep oneself constantly motivated to guide otherwise (and admittedly, coming from me) immature/whiny/sometimes lazy (read: growing) students.

With that said, if you are a teacher, IB or not, I hope you have not lost all faith in us students. We may turn away and stomp our feet in disagreement at your words, but deep in our hearts we do hold respect for you and what you try to accomplish for us.

An Opportunity to Vilify/Extol IB

*maniacal laughter ensues*

Guess who volunteered to tell naive middle schoolers about their fate in IB for an Open House sort of thing?

*maniacal laughter continues*

Now I shall spread the word of the maleficent relationship that exists between an IB Student and the IB! Ahahahaha. Haha. Ha.

Such an advantageous moment in time for me to warn these poor souls of the peril that awaits them!

…I haven’t gone mad. I swear that I am completely sane right now. As always.

An excerpt

The following is an excerpt from my upcoming memoir (tentative title: Of Sleepless Nights
and Barrels of Coffee: the harrowing experiences of an IB Diploma Candidate) about my life as an IB Student.

Before my eyes I confronted a vast blankness in which I envisaged my future to lie: it was empty and barren, completely white; in its whiteness, one which signified the absence, not the presence, of purity, there lay the shadows of my thoughts which had been rendered asunder by the ticking of clocks. The ticking, though rhythmic, were not at all consoling to my sensibilities and seemed to be quickening, my own pulse rate increasing as their sounds grew more voluminous. Vexed as I was by the rigours that were in store for me, I slunk into my chair and fell into a trance, one of absolute despair.

I sat in complete silence before the empty Word document that otherwise only bore the words “COMMENTARY” and my own name, the walls of my prison seeming to encompass me further and further as time haunted my thoughts. I endeavoured no escape since it seemed a futile attempt at freedom from a prison with walls most intangible. “Significance! Theme! CONFINEMENT!”, shrieked my mind thence amidst the clamour of the external tempest. The tempest outside awakened the storm within; the wind howled, and with it howled my soul; the clouds threw their tears at the window pane, and with them, my own rain fell from my already dampened eyes.

Oh yes, I am so pathetic. My melodramatics are attempts to become the Jane Eyre of IB.

Why am I up at 2:58?

Because I am an IB Student and as such am conditioned to admittedly abnormal sleep cycles.

I have just finished all my university supplements. Very exciting stuff, really. There is nothing more enjoyable than exploiting one’s IB experiences to convey the sense that one has become an intellectual through IB. Nothing could be further from the truth. I like to think that I was an intellectual even before IB came into my life (which is to say that I was an intellectual at 13, which in turn is to suggest that I am in denial of my naivete and generally ignorance at that age). I’m such a snob.

So the question some may be asking is “Will IB really prepare me for University life?”

I cannot answer that just yet as I must graduate from IB first before I will experience post-IB life. But of all the people who I’ve spoken to who were IB grads, they do not deny that their IB experiences helped them (ultimately) when they became university students. I suppose our experiences as IBers varies depending on our individual temperaments and the way our schools have interpreted the programme, but generally it seems that IB grads do not regret having gone through the IB. There is even a medical student who graduated from IB who claims IB prepared him for the rigours of medical school (which everyone who is familiar with medical training will know to be as depriving of sleep as IB).

I’ll find a way to question that viewpoint later on, but I can’t really make my assessment on the subject until I experience university life myself.

I envision my life after IB to be either 1) a fast-track to therapy, 2) a risk increaser for heart problems, 3) awesome/successful/whatever, or 4) some middle ground situation which I cannot imagine right now (which would probably be a combination of 1 and 3).

I do joke about therapy a lot (not to offend anyone who happens to be in therapy, of course), but in actuality my experiences in this programme have somehow made me more emotionally resilient. OR perhaps I really am in denial.

Well, we shall see.

In other news, I have observed something about most of the IBers I’m surrounded by…

Dear 2009,

It seems you are here! Welcome .

It’s hit me that the final leg of the IB Journey is here. It’s hit me also that I’ve been in this programme for 6 years (read: for much too long). Goodness gracious me.

I’m almost there…! I am so psyched up for it all. Can you believe it? My final year of IB and AP testing! (Though really, there are more tests to come, especially in the field I’m entering).

Technically, I’ve already been accepted to university. I’m just now waiting for the regular decision unis to get back to me around Feb. or March. IB Student this fall will be University Student/Undergrad Scum. So there will be a new blog by then…

So what has IB Student accomplished this last year, which was but 30 minutes ago?

1. Turned in their freaking Extended Essay.
2. Finished their Creative and Service hours (I really need to get my Action hours in).
3. Received their first acceptance letter(s).

There’s more, of course.

To everyone, have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Don’t procrastinate too much, those of you on holiday; and don’t drink (excessively).

-IB Student