5 Tips for DP Students to Avoid at Least One Mental Breakdown a Night
Our student bloggers are invited to write in their own words and to hold nothing back âwe promise we wonât edit them. Read Farah Walter's 5 tips for DP students to avoid at least one mental breakdown a night on our From Students to Students blog:
As IB students we are aware that the upcoming workload may exceed our expectations, and overwhelm us at certain times. One way or another, anything caffeinated becomes our best friend and proves itself increasingly helpful during an all-nighter. However, as teenagers we still want to meet friends, party or occasionally relax. And although we often do this, we donât balance our work, and are left with an unfinished TOK essay, English FOA and IB paper due the next day. Often times we are forced to set priorities, regarding what we need to do now, later, or just before the due date. So for all IB studentâs sake, I decided to list 5 helpful tips to avoid having at least one mental breakdown a night- because if we are being honest, we have no time for crying.
You have two days to finish an insane amount of work and cannot prioritize either task. On top of that your teacher has been assigning homework like a mad man, and expects this to be completed. Instead of entering the class empty handed and being shunned by your teacher, write them an email. Believe it or not, teachers are humans too and do understand that as IB students several subjects expect a lot from us. However, if all fails you can still say that you wrote an email.
This may sound cheesy, but your plans really are extremely helpful for your essay. A detailed plan is almost the entire essay, and is the basis of every successful paper. Through developing a thorough idea of what you want to write about you arenât forced to stress or panic. Often enough, I was stuck without any plan, and reminisced about the times I had a clue about what I was talking about. So take your time, and definitely use your class time wisely!
For most students, including myself, frees are the best part of the day. We have one or more hours to relax, are able to catch up with friends and just have a little free time. Unfortunately, this is not the routine which is ideal for your academic success. Although, it is completely acceptable to spend a couple of frees relaxing, work should also be included. By working in your frees, you are able to eliminate homework, ask teachers about assessments or moderate each otherâs work.
As a student I know that the criteria is a giant text which could be boiled down to two words. Trust me, I have often enough refused to read the exceedingly long expectations of synthesizing information and evaluating the sources. However, the ability to gain full points relies on you fulfilling the criteria. In order to understand the key terms such as interpret, contrast, etc. you could create a normal word table, and define each element separately. Once finished, you will know how to answer each question perfectly, and are no longer left with struggling to identify the difference between examine and interpret. Hence, reading the criteria will become a guide towards addressing every important point throughout your essay.
Spend an hour a day for the task:
If an important essay is due in one week, you might think that you have a lot of time and put it off for a couple of days. However, once you are a day away from submission, you regret not having started earlier. A simple tip is to spend an hour a day, working or planning your essay, so that you are not struggling the night before!
I hope these five tips will help you as much as they have helped me! See you next Thursday!
Don't miss Farah's next week's blog on the Individual Oral Commentary (IOC).