#studyingforib

IB: I finished! Testing was about a month ago and it feels like a lifetime since then. As expected the three weeks of testing were crazy, but it was also when the IB Class of 2017 at my school was most unified which created an incredible sense of community and I honestly could not have done these past two years without my classmates and friends. Last year I tested in Visual Arts SL and this year I tested in Math SL, Spanish B SL, History of the Americas HL, English A HL, and Physics HL. As usual a couple tests I think I did great on and others I will be surprised if I get a 4 (honestly my history essays were so bad). In TOK we had a discussion about if we would do IB again knowing what we know now and I think I would. While IB may not have been directly helpful (it wasn't a factor in me getting into college) the experience and community have been incredible and I would do it all over if I could. While IB is quite stressful and there are constantly moments when you doubt yourself and your ability and if it will ever end, there are also experiences that make it all worth it. I have learnt so much about myself and my weaknesses and strengths as well as better prepared myself for college and my future. I have had to learn (or at least realized I need to learn) time management and limit procrastination and other immensely helpful skills. While the journey may have been incredibly difficult and filled with blood, sweat, and tears (literally, so many paper cuts) the end destination is not something I could have reached without it.

High School: It feels to weird to have finished high school. I transferred schools three years ago to my current high school to do the IB program as well as it gave me an excuse to transfer schools (there was some friend drama going on). I never expected to be where I am now. I have met the most amazing people who have helped shape who I am and I will be so sad to see them go. Luckily a large percentage of my friends are staying in state so I will be able to see to them. I have changed so much since ninth grade. I can officially say I did a school sport (and got a varsity letter!) as I did badminton this year, which this year was the first year my school offered badminton. Badminton was amazing in allowing me to meet people outside of IB and my grade and even though we lost every match (it was the first year, you can't expect us to be any good) I made incredible memories as we all stayed positive and had fun throughout the season. Due to my high school experience being so intensely intertwined with my IB experience it is hard to talk about just my high school experience.

Next Up: I am going to a local community college. I decided to do this because while I had an exact plan for myself in 9th grade so many things have changed that I am now unsure of what exactly I want to do. I plan on doing a general Associate's Degree and exploring different possibilities before transferring to a four year college and getting my Bachelor's Degree. This summer I need to work on getting my driver's license as I will need that to get to school in the fall (this is going to be a battle against myself as I haven't driven in two years and driving causes me a lot of anxiety, but I know that the end result will be worth it) as well as getting a job and all that fun entering the adult world stuff.

I'm not sure how to end this as I have already said a lot in this post. In terms of the goals on my "About Me" page, I am graduating with Honor Society cords along with my IB cords and stole so I have remained in NHS for three years and my GPA has also remained high. This year was more difficult in terms of the schedule and classwork, so while my cumulative GPA will drop a bit at the end this year I am still proud of the work I have put in throughout the past four years. The Studyblr community has also been around for me for roughly two years, so half of my high school years, and this community has been great in helping me get through IB and high school.