37 Thoughts you have as an IB student

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Compiled by Jocelyn Wong
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The programme that's full of laughs ... kind of

Compiled by Jocelyn Wong |
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Many of the class of 2015 spent the last two years studying a broad, often gruelling syllabus – the IB. They received their results yesterday (and hopefully got everything they needed); others have a year to go, or are yet to embark on the journey. 

Here are few thoughts you’ve had, or will have, if you’re on the IB programme. 

     1. “This is not an assignment that you can do the night before it’s due.” Challenge accepted. 

     2. Maths: No calculators on Paper #1. Gaaaaaahhhhh

     3. My IA mark will go up or down by up to two points? Just because someone else in the class did it poorly?

     4. Two back-to-back exams on one day? No problem. 

     5. Takes Visual Arts: I really hope that my work doesn’t get sent for moderation … 

     6. Takes Design & Technology: When am I going to use this in the real world?

     7. Teachers: Gave us homework during holidays. Didn’t grade papers because “they were on holiday”.

     8. Takes an Art (Visual, Theatre, Music): Stay up to date with your reflections? Nah #yolo. More like stay up the night before they’re all due and write a term’s worth of reflections in one go. 

     9. You spent all weekend in Causeway Bay… with your tutors

    10. You’ve spent the last two years in Kumon and after-school tutorials. The only tan you’re going to get is from sine and cosine

    11. Your pile of notes and past exams are almost as big as you

    12. Questionbank is your best friend

    13. With Sparknotes and Schmoop coming at a close second and third place

    14. turnitin.com, oh, thank God! Only four percent plagiarism.

    15. Wow! I feel so rested! I got five hours of sleep last night!

    16. A “healthy sleep schedule” is pretty much an urban legend 

    17. Ditto “effective stress management”

    18. You complain about how much you have to get done over the weekend, start work at 12. On a good day.

    19. You see your subject tutors more often than you see your family

    20. “Which way of knowing did you use?” is a legit question.

    21. Mathematics: “No formula sheet, no problem! I got this” said no one ever

    22. You spend the year cruising and then realise that all your deadlines are the same day.

    23. You’ve written a 2,000 word essay. For maths. #icanteven

You eat, sleep and dream trigonomic equations

   
   24. Word counts and footnotes are your worst nightmares

  
 25. What?! I thought the deadline was next week!

  
 26. You ask if you can get CAS hours from going downstairs to help your mom buy milk

   27. You fill in university applications as a procrastination tactic rather than doing actual work

  
 28. Your backpack is the same weight as you – or heavier.

  
 29. Losing your A3/A4 visual art portfolio is a fate worse than dropping your phone into a toilet. Your brand-new iPhone 6. That bad.

  
 30. You can’t do basic maths anymore without your GDC. Your total dread of Paper 1 is real.

  
 31. How’d I get this right?! Right, the mistake carried through. Excellent. So I got the question wrong but my method was almost right? Score!

  
 32. Methods of becoming a zombie: getting bitten by another zombie, viral infection, radiation, studying for your mocks …

  
 33. Progress reports: where the grades are completely off and comments don’t matter!

  
 34. Every science lab, make up all the data. Make the line fit!

  
 35. Has a good summer. Comes back to school only to find that your EE draft is due in a week. 

  
 36Cramming all the past papers because you know that’s what’s going to end up on your mock exams

  
 37. Takes Chem: You can basically sing The Elements Song by heart.

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