DEALING WITH STRESS.

Let’s be honest here. If you’re in IB, you know all too well what stress is. Depending how lucky you are, each person has their own way of handling stress. Some handle them steadily and calmly, like Barney from How I met Your Mother tv series over here:

 

Or, if you’re the opposite, every time you think about your IB life, deep down in your heart you picture yourself looking like this guy over here:

                                    

     Whichever way you think you are in handling stress, just remember, ‘stressed’ is ‘desserts’ spelled backwards. If you are able to control them and channel them positively, something good will come out of it. You will find yourself more productive and more focused on your work while still having fun at the same time.

Without further ado, here are some of my tips to relieve or to control your stress level in the IB:

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1.       Laugh

      One laugh can change your stress level and even your mood in a heartbeat. Scientists have proven that when you laugh, you’ll send signals to the brain that triggers it to think about good thoughts. The same thing happens when you smile.

      

You can do this by having a couple minutes seeing funny videos on the internet, throwing jokes with your friends, or even simply by thinking happy or silly thoughts that will crack you a smile. So, laugh a lot! It’s the cheapest way to relieve your stress. In fact, it’s free!

2.       Listen to music

      There is a reason why pregnant mothers listen to music when they are pregnant. Music soothes you, and it helps the neurons in your brain to connect to each other so that you can be more focused and sharp. Of course, this only applies to calming music such as classical or ballads.

      However, if you want something you can dance to so you can loosen up and have some fun, any kind of music will do, really. You can even sing to it really loudly so you just get all your stress out there. After that, you will surely be much more relieved.

3.       Have a friend

      “A friend is someone who is always there for you, no matter what”, or so I’ve heard plenty of times. Although melancholic, I would say that the quote is true. Find someone that you can really connect with and that understands you. That way, you can let out all your stress to them and feel understood. A true friend will always be willing to listen to you, but you must also do the same.

      Listen to them about their problems as well. Therefore, you can learn from each other’s experiences and have the support you’ll need to deal with all the problems in your IB life. Sometimes, reaching out to them is just a text message away.

4.       Find a hobby

      A hobby gives you a time-off. As a matter of fact, it can be your escape from the IB life. It could be dancing, singing, playing sports, or anything that you love so much that you feel like you can lose yourself while doing the activity. That way, you’ll forget all the stress you have in the IB for a moment and come back to it with a fresher find.

      I know for a fact that a good friend of mine seems to love playing basketball so much, and by so much I mean so so very much, that he can get away with pretty much any stress he is going through just by playing for a couple of hours. Cool, isn’t it? So find your hobby guys, it’ll work just like a quick vacation from the IB.

5.       Exercise

      When you exercise, your brain is actually releasing a hormone called the serotonin, which is the same hormone you can find on stimulants. The cool thing about this hormone is that it makes you happier in an instant. That’s a fact. Trust me. I’m taking Chemistry and am currently studying medicines and drugs (oh life). It doesn’t need to take too long, you know. A half an hour jog or even a ten-minute workout session from a Youtube video will suffice.

6.       Channel your stress positively: Focus on what you can control

A lot of times, we stress on things we cannot do anything about anymore. This actually happened to me a lot. I usually got upset for a really long period of time after I felt like I did terribly in one of my exams. Even though I could no longer control what happened to my grade in that specific test, I kept on worrying about it again and again until I was really stressed out the whole examination week, which affected my performance in my other subjects. (Yes, the subject I did terribly in was Math HL).

So, after that, I just had enough with worrying. I learn to focus on things that I can actually control, which are the things that await me in the future. This includes my future examinations and essays issued by the IB. As it turns out, a lot of weight has been lifted from me since then. I know it is hard to let go, but you just have to do it if you want to make room for a better future.

***

Speaking of exams…………….

      Stressing is good to give you the urge to fight, but over-stressing is really bad for you as it decreases your focus and confidence in going through the IB. So to relieve your stress, just laugh, listen to your favorite songs, talk to a friend, find a hobby, exercise, and only focus on what you can control. 

Yup, Good luck <3

-L

SHORTCUTS.

“Shortcuts are just for lazy, stupid people who do not have a clue of what they are doing.”

                Oh my, how adorable and innocent. Now for all the disclaimers out there, I would like to clarify a few things here.

1. Being lazy is completely different from being efficient.
2. Isn’t finding an alternative and a shorter way to complete a task requires some problem-solving skills, which makes us…smart?
3. You’re right. We currently do not know what we are doing. That is why we are trying to look for shortcuts, which hopefully will enable us to get a hint of what we are supposed to do. Is that wrong?
4. If you hate people who use shortcuts so much, then why are you reading this blog post, clearly entitled ‘SHORTCUTS.’ In the first place?

                                                     

Just kidding! Please don’t take this seriously ;) We are entitled of our own opinions so feel free to close the tab or continue on reading this post. Either way, here are my personal shortcuts to reduce the hassle in doing work and studying:

***

1.       Browse through Google

Have you ever been confused in doing your IAs, EEs and TOKs? Well, be no more! Open a new tab right now and type out www.google.com.

Get this, guys, if not most of the time, sometimes, there are people out there who have done a similar IA or EE topic as yours who are kind enough to upload their works or thoughts and share it in the internet. For TOK, there is usually someone who has briefly discussed your chosen topic too! This is very beneficial for you as you will have a clear idea of how your work should be like.

So don’t take this for granted, guys. If you read their thoughts out there, not only will this help you in doing your work, but you will also fulfill their desire to help out all the IB students just like yourself ;;) It’s basically a win-win situation.

2.       Doing Your Essay in a Reversed Order

Have you ever opened your laptop, wanting to do your EE but just wonder off questioning “How do you start this?” “What should we write, again?” The next thing you know, you ended up doing what this girl does:

                                           

Trust me, I get it. Starting your essay is usually the hardest thing to do and very time consuming. So, if you are really stuck, don’t start your essay from the start…If you know what I mean.

Okay, what I mean is, start with the content of your essay first. It’s a lot easier that way, especially if you have done your research in the first place. After you finish writing your content, you’ll know what your writing is all about, and you can both conclude and introduce it easily.

Frankly, most of my friends frequently change their introduction and even research question after they finished writing their content. So, why not save time and just do your essay in a reversed order in the first place?

3.      Syllabus: Guide Book and Study Guide

In my opinion, this is the fastest and most efficient way of studying when you know nothing of the topic either because you missed class or because you just didn’t pay attention. The teachers should give you the syllabus guide book (usually photocopied) that lists down all the key points that you should comprehend in each of the subject’s topic. Example: “Topic 5.1.2. Students must be able to list down all 4 factors of production that make up a business”. If you’re not given this, you’ll find it on Google.

What you need to do here is very simple. Just read each criterion and see if you know what they expect you to know. If you find yourself not knowing anything of it, then refer to your Study Guide, where you can read 2-3 pages of a concise summary of the topic. This will save you so much time and resources.

4.       Youtube Videos

Have you ever read the book over and over and over again and you still find yourself having trouble understanding it? In addition, at the time, asking the teacher is not an option for you as this is the weekend and the exam is tomorrow. Well, worry no more, my friend.

Apart from Google, there’s also this great studying resource called Youtube. Again, there are extremely kind people out there who are willing to explain one whole topic/theory/concept, record themselves doing it, and post in on the internet.

It’ll be just like your teacher explaining the topic to you all over again, but in a more concise manner. In fact, if you miss out on a point, you can just rewind the video. As simple as that.

5.       Past Papers

If you have already learnt specific topics in a subject and but have forgotten, then study through past papers. Your teacher may have given you this or alternatively, you can search for this again on Google.

Just try to answer the past papers as much as you can without looking at the mark scheme. After you tried all the questions, then refer to the mark scheme to see if your answers are correct. This does not only train you for doing the actual exam or test, but it also helps you remember the things that you have forgotten about. When you do this often, you will generally come to know what the IB requires you to answer from a specific question.

***

If you do the shortcuts that I mentioned before, I’m sure that your life will be so much easier, more efficient and more practical. The key to efficiently doing your essays is by doing their content first and by maximizing the use of internet resources such as Google and Youtube to help you understand your chosen topic. With the help of the study guide and past papers, these resources will also ease your studying process.

Stressed enough, guys? :’D Hahahaha. Don’t worry! After this, I’m probably going to tell you about some of my ways to reduce stress through the course of the IB. See you on my next post!

-L

PLANNING.

Each year, the enthusiasms of new IB diploma students burn up the school with excitement. The orange, red and blue flames fueled by their naïve breaths seem so calm and steady, like they are so sure that they can destruct and burn any obstacle which awaits them. Their eyes calmly whisper “I’ll just go with the flow this time. No stress.”

And what do we say to that?

Yea sure, until your flames get way out of control and turn your spirits and hopes into ashes

Go with the flow?! No! Do you know what happens to fish in the sea when they just “go with the flow”? They get LOST or they get EATEN by a shark or some sort. Seriously, what did Finding Nemo ever taught you in your childhood, kid?

The same thing will happen to you if you do that. You will either feel lost, or the flow will take you straight out of the IB.

So SWIM. And, when you swim, you ought to know where you are going to go. So PLANNING is a very important step here if you want to survive your IB. Here are the tips & tricks to do just that:

1.       Choosing subjects.

This is only for prospective IB students. If you already are an IB student and you have already chosen your subjects, skip to number 2.

By now you should have already known that there are 3 subject levels in IB, which are the studies, standard level and higher level. Thanks to the IB Diploma, you need to choose 3 higher level subjects. Now choose wisely! Choose the subjects that you LOVE. Otherwise you will have a hard time following them. Also, choose the ones which you think you can cope with all the work loads and assignments. I know for sure that sciences HL demand lots of lab works and reports.

For the languages, you need to pick 1 language A (your first language) and 1 language B (your second language). Just make sure you pick out the language that you already are used to in the first place because trust me, you have no time learning a new language in the IB.

MOST IMPORTNANTLY: Choose them carefully. Research each subject first, and give yourself time to decide. Remember, this isn’t a shopping spree. You can’t just pick all the clothes and try them one by one. There isn’t any return policy here!

2.       IAs, EE and TOK

It’s extremely important to be unique when setting your IA (Internal assessment, which is an essay you need to do in every subject you take), EE (Your extended essay), and TOK (Theory of Knowledge) topic. The more unique you are in setting your topics, the more the examiners will be interested in reading your essays, and the more marks you are likely to get in the end.

So, look for inspiration. Google news stories or articles relating to your subject that intrigue you and are unique. READ MORE. This is very important.

After that, you need to plan on the content of the essay. This brings us to step 3.

3.       Get your thoughts together

Get this. People think I’m a procrastinator as I sometimes have not done/written my work while my friends have actually written a one-full page essay. But that’s wrong. I actually just did that so that I could think of what I actually wanted to write first before I even wrote it in a piece of paper. Walking around will get you inspiration and you will come up with better ideas when you don’t rush things. I know you may not remember what you think, so you may want to take note of it when you have successfully found your inspiration.

Make a planning document so that you can gather all your written thoughts there. The next thing you know, when you start writing, you won’t have to think of what you want to write anymore.

4.       Approach your teacher.

Super duper important. You need to plan the time when you need to see them too. The truth is, sometimes when we think that our work is good enough, the teacher may not have the same opinion. And who will mark our work in the end? Exactly, our teacher. Don’t be reluctant to ask for their feedback and guidance.

Of course, you need to plan on meeting them first. E-mail them or talk to them when you pass them on the hallway and ask them when they will be free. Better yet, approach them a week before you actually need to see them so that they can make time for meeting you in the next week. IB teachers are busy too, you know.

5.       Set a timetable of doing work in a day

Some people may freak out when seeing this instruction. At least, that’s what I used to do. Setting a timetable seems so organized and so OCD (obsessive, compulsive disorder) and I am really not that type of person. However, as it turns out, setting a timetable does not have to be an appropriate timetable in a piece of paper that you stick on the wall of your bedroom, you know. You can just simply write down what you need to do that day in your notes at your phone like this: “8-10= Do English blog, 11-13=Study math”. Yup, that’s it. It won’t take more than 2 minutes. In fact, setting alarms for the hours when you want to do work also counts as a timetable, you know.

So now, now. What’s next? Actually doing what you planned for?!? YES. There you go. Think about it, guys, no matter what you do or no matter how hard you plan for your IB life, there is no way that you can excel in IB without being strict on yourself and just do what you got to do. So DON’T PROCRASTINATE! However, if you’re lazy like I am, I will share to you some of my shortcuts so that I don’t have to go through so much hassle in doing my work. That’s for my next post, though.

Anyways, you can follow these tips, or you don’t have to. Either way, don’t say I didn’t remind you!

-L

IB MOCK EXAMS?! - Struggles & Tips

Look at this guy running around in panic and fear, wishing to escape the explosions happening behind him. Now this is exactly how most of us are when we get out the exam room. We don’t want to know anything anymore, we’re scared, and the only solution we can think of is to pack our bags and leave the destruction we have caused right before us and say “I’m done here”.

But that’s where you’re mistaken. When you constantly leave a hot mess like that, you won’t only be done there, but you’ll probably be done with your IB as well. Just kidding. Or am I?

So don’t just run away from your problems. Face them. People who run away from their problems are irresponsible, immature, undependable, thoughtless, ignorant, and 100% me. Me. I am that person. So, again, I understand the temptation.

Let’s be real. Examination is almost NEVER easy, especially when you are tested on subjects that you know very well are challenging in the first place but yet you still decide to take it anyways. Yes, you, I’m especially referring to you, Math HL students. If you are one of those students and you put zero effort to improve, this is probably what your paper will look like to you.

Question 1: Has the teacher even taught us this?
Question 2: Really?
Question 3: Why am I taking this subject again?
On question 4 you question your decision of taking the IB in the first place and by question 5 you will start questioning about your purpose in living.

The next thing you know, IB has successfully shifted your desire from changing the world to changing classes.

But NO. Being a senior, you have this revelation that urges you to become a better person. Therefore, I’m going to pass down that legacy to you. Here are 7 crucial steps in order for you to never, EVER, or never again, experience the above scenario:

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Getting Started

THIS IS THE HARDEST PART. Most of the time, 99% of our energy is used for preparing the study and only 1% of it is actually used for studying. This is code red. If you find yourself doing this, I recommend you to get help from the ones closest to you so that you are reminded of the duty you should be doing. Sure, maybe you can enjoy some time for entertainment and food, but be strict on yourself when you know that you ought to stop. Better yet, set an alarm at the time when you plan to start studying! Then, lock yourself in a room with no gadgets whatsoever so you can focus on your tasks.

Notes & Question Bank

Super duper important. Hello, yes, you’re in IB. You have limited time to get your work done so every second counts. Don’t bother going through the textbook ALL OVER AGAIN unless you have ample free time to prepare. The technique is to go through all the concise notes you have from classes and go straight to your question bank or past papers so that you’re used to the questions frequently asked in the subject. If you're really stuck on a question, THEN refer to the textbook for answers. Think of your question bank and examination as Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus. Exactly, they’re similar! (Although in both cases the latter one can get kind of crazy sometimes)

So don’t study hard guys. Study smart.

Acronyms and Mnemonics

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the stupider the better. I personally make the stupidest and sometimes the most inappropriate acronyms but guess what, I’ll always remember them.

Here are some (appropriate) examples:

OIL RIG: [O]xidation [I]s the [L]oss of electrons, [R]eduction [I]s the [G]ain of electrons (Chemistry)

King Phillip Comes Over For Great…Sandwiches: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species (Biology)

How about for math, you say? Well, here’s an acronym you can use: FML. Uuh.. It stands for functions, maximum&minimum, and limits. Yeah, that’s it.

Prioritize your time

First, you have to prioritize your time on studying for the exams first (boy that is a loooong topic to discuss so I’ll just get back to that sometime later).

Secondly, the rule also applies for actually doing the exam paper. You must prioritize questions with bigger marks. Don’t dwell on difficult questions worth only 1-3 marks to miss out on the 20-mark questions! The score will probably be out of 40 to 120 anyways, so 3 marks won’t mean a lot. Strategize!

Hamburgers, NOT Hot dogs

Apart from the content, structure is equally important in writing your exam papers, especially essays. This especially applies to your first and second language subjects. Structure your essay like a hamburger! That is, start with the appropriate introduction, content, and then the conclusion, complete with all the information you should include in each section depending on the specific subject criteria. Don’t just stuff all your fillings like a hot dog, guys. Order it. Also, the proportions of each paragraph should be balanced. Let’s take it this way. You don’t want to have a hamburger full of lettuce all the way from the bottom to the top and have your burger beef cut as thin as a sheet of paper, do you? Will it look, or taste nice? No tell me, will it? NO. So stop.

Revise even minutes right before the exam

Get this. When dealing with subjects that involve memorizing, I used to not remember ANYTHING I have learnt the days before when actually writing the paper. However, in the last 5 MINUTES of the exam I suddenly felt like I became an encyclopedia and start writing so fast that everyone thought I had a seizure. No, please, let me know if this also happens to you because I’ve been feeling like there’s something wrong with me all this time. So, constantly REVISE, fellows! I'm telling you, sometimes, the last words you read before your exams are the ones that are going to come out in one of those questions.

Can’t stress this enough – DON’T OVERTHINK!

Have you ever encountered a series of true or false questions and you wondered why you keep on answering “T” 5 times in a row? Did you feel like you were doing something wrong? Aware of the oddness of it, you decided to change your answer from True to False. But then again, you ended up with a dilemma of whether or not to proceed with the change as you were afraid that your teacher might purposely create these questions to troll you. You then over-analyzed every possible scenario that you could come up with when you decided to change your answer. Hence, you ended up spending 10 minutes for a 1 mark question. Right when you thought it stopped there, you then later found that all the changed answers turned out to be wrong.

CODE RED NUMBER 2. Just. Don’t. Overthink. Be confident with your first answer if you feel like you have really thought through it in the first place!

***

Soo, yeah. Discipline yourself to actually start studying, study from your notes and the question bank / past papers, use acronyms and mnemonics for memorizing,  prioritize your time, structure your writing in the exam paper, and don't stress out. Yup. These are about the most important things.

If you follow these steps, I assure you that you’ll walk out of the exam room like Horatio from CSI over here:

Or like Six from I am Number Four here:

Because gender equality. That’s why.

#StopTerrorism #BombingIsntCool

But you must wonder, “This is only for exams though! How about the IAs, EE and TOKs which also take up MAJOR proportions of our final grade?” Whoah, hold your horses guys. Since exam is coming soon, let us focus on our exams first. About those things, I’ll discuss them on my next post ;)

So, good luck with your exams, brothers and sisters! You will surely ace them. See you on my next post!

-L

Keep Calm and Oh Wait, You're in IB

Every year, aspiring and simple-hearted grade 10 graduates decide to follow the footsteps of their seniors, unaware of the fate that awaits them. First, they will experience lethargy like never before. Bundles of essays and tests will be their best friend. Bald marks and pale skins from excessive-thinking rob their self-esteem. Their social lives and sleep hours snatched away from them at a beat of a drum.

Their saggy eye bags with colors as dark as the night sky bring attention to people and cause them to call the authorities. And I do, solemnly, wish that they did this in order to get the victims some sort of help from some support group or to plead the police to arrest the culprit that is guilty for the heinous tragedy. But most of the time, and by most of the time I mean always, would they call to report what they thought as a zombie apocalypse. [I’ll give a cookie to whoever laughs at this lame joke]

This leaves them wondering, “who am I really?” – loss of identity (Which, is also caused by the so called “Theory of Knowledge” in this dungeon, but we’ll get to that later). Sometimes they would only eat once a day; spending more of their time thinking about ways to escape this well of hell, which replenishes the remaining energy they have left to strive for the next day. But for some – they don’t even get to see the day. They lock themselves in their room day by day by day and skip school just to finish a(n) pile of essays they have left to the last minute.

Brains start crashing and so are laptops. At least, that’s their excuse for not handing in assignments. And for those who decide to cheat the odds in order to obtain sleep or basically, a life, they shall wait for the grief consequence to come. Horror. A daunting report card of bad grades will haunt them relentlessly, causing them to lose any trace of hope they have left. 

All this, only to satisfy the hunger of a villain watching and laughing from the sidelines.

And the name of this villain that causes such cruelty and destruction?

[b]a[l]d marks - p[a]le skins - no self-estee[m] - saggy [e]ye bags - loss of [i]dentity - [b]rains crashing

The IB (International Baccalaureate).

(click the link above if you want to know more about the IB,
even though by now it should be your left hand's job to describe what the IB is)

Hahahaha hold up. I may have exaggerated a bit. The truth is, everyone makes mistakes. And now, it’s time for you to face yours. Kidding again. Relax. You’re doing the right thing.

Nonetheless, guys, trust me. You are probably sick of this saying again and again and again and again, but I’m still just gonna say it anyways because it’s the truth. And I, for one, always speak the truth.

~     It’s all going to be okay     ~

Yes, indeed, little weird baby boy whose picture went viral on the internet because people think you’re so cute! Your IB life WILL get better.

No look, before you dwell in disbelief, I, myself is an IB senior. I get you. I get all the struggles of coping with the work loads and all the sleepless nights. But unlike IB, which I’m happy to inform that it will be over in just less than a couple of years for the juniors out there, your life doesn’t end just like that. So don’t let the next 2 years of struggle bring you down. You will not only survive this, but you will come out as a stronger person.

Graduating seniors are PROOF that you can conquer the IB.

That is, if you are doing it right. In fact, if you feel like you relate to my previous super dramatic storyline, then you, my friend, must be doing something wrong. Now i shan't beat around the bush anymore. Let’s get to the serious topic here. I don’t just write this blog to intimidate you guys psh come on.

As you are taking the IB, we are pretty much brothers and sisters now.

So since I’m also taking the IB which means I have no life, and no job, I’m going to tell you exactly how to survive it.

It’ll only seem impossible if you let it be, guys. 

So buckle up, as I’m going to start with the tips that everyone of us has been longing for: The perfect studying technique to ace your exams. I’ll see you on the next post! 

Oh and, here’s your cookie.

-L