b is for baccalaureate

_ “Phúc” (Phuc) means phúc đức, phúc hậu, hạnh phúc - kindness, merit and happiness.  _ “Đam”, “Đàm” (Dam) mean yên tĩnh, yên lòng, an tâm - tranquility, calmness, relief. _ “Bích” (Bich) means ngọc bích, ngọc lục bảo - emerald, jade (can be understood as both the color and the precious gemstones). _ “Sơn” (Son) means núi, mạnh mẽ và uy nghiêm như núi - mountains, as strong and majestic as the mountains. _ “Đạt” (Dat) means thành đạt, vẻ vang - success, honor, glory. _ “Nga” (Nga) means xinh đẹp, tốt đẹp - beauty, kindness. _ “Đông” (Dong) means mùa đông, hướng đông - winter, East. _ “Dũng” (Dung) means dũng mãnh, anh dũng - strength, power, bravery. _ “Dung” (Dung) means xinh đẹp, yêu kiều - beauty, elegance, grace.

Can you see it? Can you see how beautiful these names are? And you dare compare them to your vulgar profanities?

Names are extremely important in Vietnamese culture. They represent the virtues, qualities, characteristics that parents want their children to possess. They represent the hopes and dreams of Vietnamese parents. THEY REPRESENT A VERY HUMAN BEING.

WHEN YOU TEASE SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR NAME, YOU ARE NOT ONLY INSULTING THEM, YOU ARE MAKING THEM ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES, OF THEIR OWN NAME AND THEIR OWN LANGUAGE, EVEN THEIR OWN ORIGIN.

31 July 2016, 22:54 || and honestly i was just about to pick up the phone and then i realized that i didn’t do nothing wrong || 

i get asked a lot about how i managed a 45 in the IB, so for my 101st post i’ve decided to compile a list of my general advice here. keep in mind that there’s no magic recipe to a perfect score - these are just a few little things that worked for me. 

sleep!!! i always prioritised my own health and wellbeing by giving myself at the very least 6.5~7 hours every night. sleep well and you’ll be happier and more focused in class. otherwise, when you’re constantly tired, you’ll be so drained and lose motivation fast.

don’t be a perfectionist. remember that a 7 doesn’t necessarily mean 100%. don’t waste your time and energy trying to top your class in one subject or reformatting an IA for ~aesthetics~ when you could be lifting your grade in another. low 7s across the board is better than some very high 7s but a bunch of 6s!

experiment with study methods. i made posters for economics, flashcards for definitions and formulas for my sciences, summary notes for maths and comparison tables for literature. sometimes i studied by myself, other times with friends. mix it up to keep it interesting!!! see what suits your learning and your subjects. 

get a head start! this applies to a few things: 

core components. do as much as you can in first year, especially CAS! you’ll need to concentrate on grades in second year, which is difficult if you’re still overwhelmed with extracurriculars and trying to fulfil CAS requirements. 

IAs. some contribute to your final grade more than others, but they’re worth the effort since they give you a larger margin for error in final exams. give yourself deadlines earlier than what your teacher gives you: plan done by next week, first draft in two weeks, final copy in a month, etc. 

know your enemy. half your marks come not from knowing the content, but knowing how to play the game!!! do plenty of practice papers so you’re familiar with the style of questions, and study the mark schemes very carefully. often, especially in the sciences, there’s very specific wording or answers they like, so take note of those. check out examiner’s reports to see what issues past students have had. 

change your attitude. this one’s hard to explain and hard to do. it’s about a shift in perspective, and it really did make all the difference for me. 

think of your IAs as opportunities to revise for exams and explore your subjects in a broader context, perhaps to see if they’re career paths or areas you might want to pursue further study in. try to choose topics that interest you if you can!!!

think of your exams as a chance to show off your achievements. put your effort into writing brilliant answers, rather than focusing on avoiding mistakes and being upset about what you don’t know. stick it to the examiners and show how far you’ve come!!!

What's in my pencil case? ・ 310816

Your parents will hover like crazy and try to help you unpack when you move in. They mean well, but if you’re overwhelmed don’t be afraid to kick them out for a bit. 

Don’t ask your RA what bars to hit up in town (like one girl from my floor actually did)

Check your e-mail five times a day, your professors might be sending out syllabi or other helpful/important stuff ahead of time. 

You will cry at least once while buying textbooks from the campus bookstore that you couldn’t find used on Chegg (sidenote: use Chegg) 

Your dining hall probably has pizza available for every meal. Don’t eat pizza for every meal. 

Even if you hated salads your entire life, you will learn to love them so that, you know, you don’t eat pizza for every meal. 

Check your dining hall hours online. Some of them close between meals. 

Leave your door open or do random Internet browsing in the floor lounge if you want to meet more people. 

At least one of your posters will constantly fall down no matter how many 3M command strips you use.

A lot of campus events are lame. A lot of them are not. Go to as many of them as you can anyways to meet more people.

If you need time to yourself, take it. You’ll make friends eventually without having to hang out with them constantly. 

Don’t expect to become BFFs with everyone you meet, and don’t expect to become best friends over your first weekend. 

If you’re standing if a long period of time, bend/relax your knees every so often. If you keep them locked, you might trigger a nerve in your body that causes you to pass out (this may or may not have happened to me on my second day, oops) 

Drink water.

Carry an umbrella if there is the slightest chance of rain. Carry one even if there isn’t, just in case. 

Carry a sweater or hoodie always. 

Pokemon Go is lit on college campuses; every single building is a gym or pokestop and there are lures everywhere. Plus, your eggs hatch in no time because you’re walking everywhere. 

It’s okay to eat alone in a dining hall; either no one will care or someone will sit at your table and strike up a conversation.

If you really, really don’t want to eat alone, literally just knock on someone’s door in your hall. If they don’t want to go with you, try someone else. Chances are, someone else might be hungry, too or at least willing to walk over with you. 

Come up with a roommate agreement. Decide when you’re cleaning, sharing policy, guest policy, light and noise preferences, etc. 

If there is a massive involvement fair on campus, research some clubs online so you know what to look for. Otherwise you’ll be overwhelmed in two seconds. 

Join a group chat with people on your floor or in the same area of study as you, it’s super helpful for general information.

Ask everyone you talk to to add you on Snapchat. 

Simple things like taking out the trash or doing laundry will suddenly feel very overwhelming. 

The extended essay is difficult, it’s time consuming and quite frankly, it’s a bit annoying. I mean, thank you IB for piling on another assignment to our already 20 meters high pile, thank you. Now, if you’re one of the brave ones who have quieted the “science EEs are the harshest marked EEs” thoughts and have chosen to disregard the fact that you’ve essentially signed yourself up to take up residence in your lab, then this post is for you. I have tried to make my tips as general as possible, however, I did my essay in chemistry, hence a lot of these tips may be best suited to chemistry EEs. 

1. Set Your Essay In The Real World - Locate A Problem, Find A Solution.

Pick a topic that will allow you to place your essay into the wider context. The easiest way to do this is to look for global issues that you may be able to solve through chemical/biological/physical means. Look at oil spills, the food industry, previous disasters in medicine (e.g. thalidomide,) eutrophication - the list could go on. Examiners love this because it shows them that you’re aware of the greater impact that this essay may hold (a key element of every great scientific experiment ever done.) If you try and place the essay into a context that is personal to you, it shows your personal engagement and is an easy way to tick off that requirement. 

2. Reference Journal Articles

The fact that you’ve pushed yourself to read through difficult, scientific theory, which is probably beyond your level of competence, shows a lot. Seeing as most journal articles are written by scientists in the field, you can harness solid facts to back up your data and strengthen your argument. This is a must. Please do it. 

3. Why Is Your Method The Best?

Alright so you’ve found a method that is finally allowing you to gather data (hallelujah! must have taken you ages to tweak the method around.) Well, why did you pick it? Why did you alter it? Is there any other method you can use to quantify the same thing? If so, why didn’t you pick that method? Is it too expensive, hazardous or time consuming? You must ask yourself these questions and then answer them in your essay. The examiner wants to know why you feel as if your method is valid, for only then can your data be valid too.

4. Include Original Diagrams And Pictures

I tried my hardest to make sure that 90% of the diagrams used in my essay (including reaction pathways) were done by me. I used a mix of hand-drawing and microsoft word to put together my diagrams. Easy way to show effort and make your essay look great, remember, presentation is half the battle to pleasing the examiner. However, don’t go overboard. Any superfluous diagrams should go into the appendices. Everything in the actual body of your essay must be meaningful, anything else to just ‘add extra knowledge,’ can be put into the appendices.

5. Utilise Scientific Notation Throughout

This includes binomial nomenclature for any species in biology, IUPAC notation in Chemistry and proper SI units and terminology in Physics. 

6. Talk To Science Teachers (Other Than Your Supervisor)