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As an IB student, do/did you "have a life"?


deidara

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Dear all,

I shan't beat about the bush.

If I got a pound for every time I heard the words "didn't have a life" (or something to that effect) in relation to IB, I could probably buy my whole textbook list now.

So, tell me about the daily life of an IB student!

Now is the opportunity to pour out the thoughts and musings deep within your heart!

Did you consume a lot of coffee? Did you learn to survive on three hours of sleep? Did your mental and/or physical health decrease? Were you incredibly stressed? Was your social life on hold or even gone? Was it all worth it?

This is a factor in the pro- and anti-IB argument that I hear the most often, so I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts. Personally I am starting IB soon so would like to know what is in store for me.

Thank you!

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I haven't watched a movie in about a year. But in some ways maybe this is more of a meaningful life.

How interesting! What do you do to relax? Good luck with your exams!

I personally believe that it comes down to time management skills. My teachers have begun discussing that with us when she listens to the students complain about how much sleep they have been getting.

The problem is that we all know that time management is essential, but so many people I know just cannot be bothered changing their study habits (that may or may not include me!).

So what wise advice do you have on time management (as I tend struggle with it)? :)

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Guest Positron

Did you consume a lot of coffee? Did you learn to survive on three hours of sleep? Did your mental and/or physical health decrease? Were you incredibly stressed? Was your social life on hold or even gone? Was it all worth it?

You'll have a lot of things to do in IB, but having a normal social life is perfectly possible. Time management is important, but often times IB students just like to complain about the workload and the level of difficulty, even if it wasn't that bad. :D And no, you will not have to learn to survive on three hours of sleep.

The most important thing with time management is to not to start bigger projects the day before they are due.. :D I don't think there's any "magic formula" for good time management, you'll just have to learn to do things before you actually have to, and to not to spend too much time procrastinating (procrastination is the root of like 99% of the problems IB students have). Read this topic, it'll help you with time management http://tinyurl.com/bprys4t

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I'm in IB 2 still have a life, its not as extensive as other people's in my year, I don't usually go out partying heavy but I go to the cinema and then to a bar with my friends stuff like that... And I have less extracurricular activities than before but I really don't want to give up some of them. It is quite stressfull but I couldn't cope normally without it....

You actually perform better if you do things aside school, procrastrinating and work :)

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I did have a life when my grades were subpar and included 2 C's in my two years of Pre-IB.

However, when I visited colleges and realized where I REALLY want to be with my life, I stopped playing Halo until 2AM and dicking around aimlessly on the internet for hours. I also had to cut out some time with my friends during the weekdays.

But, in doing all of that, I handily got all A's in IB, including HL math/chem/history/english. Not only that, I went from despising chemistry and history, thinking "When will I ever use this?" to enjoying both of them. I actually do enjoy learning now, and that's a huge turnaround from where I used to be. It's where you need to be in life to really understand how the world works and to succeed these days.

I feel more fulfilled, and even though I ALWAYS find myself crunched for time and not being able to learn a lot of the stuff I wish I could learn on the side (I want to learn to use pro video editing software and to play lacrosse well) I find that I'm generally a more dedicated person than I used to be.

.......

But I still make time to go out on most weekends and get white girl schwasted at least once a month.

Oh, and get Adderall. Seriously. I probably couldn't have gotten all A's without it.

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I definitely don't have as much time as I did before I started IB; however, I wouldn't say that I don't have a life at all. The main part of IB that is kicking my butt is that I get a lot less sleep than my body is used to. Way back in my 10th grade year, I would go to bed by 10:00 or 11;00 pm every night, just because I enjoyed the extra sleep. Now that I stay up to about 12:00am or 1:00am every night, I am losing my immune system. I get sick SOO much more often even though I get about 5 or 6(ish) hours a sleep on weekdays. Its rough sometimes, but definitely do-able. If you are one of the people who like to party and stay out late, prepare to give that up.

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Personally, I dont understand those claiming not to have social life. I enjoy partying hard and staying out late, and my grades are all 5's and 6's. I don't spend much time studying, but I do a lot of extracurricular work and this is what overwhelms me sometimes. The IB life isn't easy, though; I don't see much sun on weekdays and I haven't been shopping for three months now - I'm getting seriously mentally sick because of it :sick:

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I have a life...well sorta.

I dont drink coffee...I dont like it.

I get sleep...sometimes I just have to sacrifice some time.

My plan fall asleep all day. Wake up a 5:30 do a bit of homework( start with 1st block and work ur way down)

In 1st block do 2nd block's homework.

Im pretty solid...I have all As and 3 Bs. :shifty:

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Your life in IB is what you make of it. I jokingly say you can A) Get Sleep B) Have a Social Life C) Get good grades... but you can only pick two. Surviving IB is all about BALANCE. If you're good at multi-tasking, time-management and you're goal oriented then IB is for you. I have friends who are able to party hard and still manage excellent grades.

I have to study A LOT in order to pass. But all the hard work has really paid off. I have all 6's and 7's right now. And I am a Senior/2nd year IB and will take my exams May 2013. I can definitely say, I can't wait for it to be OVER.

But if I could do it all over again, I would only change the amount of effort I put in my first years. The harder you try in the beginning, the easier it will be in the end.

As for my social life I have managed a 3 year relationship, varisity sports, and numerous clubs/activities.

I am happy with the social decisions I have made. But just remember to have SOME fun while doing IB. Because at the end of it all you will have the diploma or not.....at least have fun while trying.

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Did you consume a lot of coffee?

I don't drink coffee.

Did you learn to survive on three hours of sleep?

Never need to.

Did your mental and/or physical health decrease?

I would say it has improved if anything.

Were you incredibly stressed?

Stressed? Yes. Incredibly stressed? no. I'm too apathetic for that nowadays. Which isn't necessarily a good thing.

Was your social life on hold or even gone? Was it all worth it?

No.

This is a factor in the pro- and anti-IB argument that I hear the most often, so I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts. Personally I am starting IB soon so would like to know what is in store for me.

Even with this being said, I still don't like the IB.

Your life in IB is what you make of it. I jokingly say you can A) Get Sleep B) Have a Social Life C) Get good grades... but you can only pick two. Surviving IB is all about BALANCE. If you're good at multi-tasking, time-management and you're goal oriented then IB is for you. I have friends who are able to party hard and still manage excellent grades.

Literal multi tasking is a bad idea. You're better off focusing on one thing, then working on another instead of trying to do them all at the same time.

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Personally, I only spend 30 minutes tops outside of class on each subject a day and I still get all 6's and 7's

I never get much sleep as I am an insomniac, but I do not consume caffeine.

I do have to admit I am very stressed, however.

I have no social life but I never really did before because for some reason I don't mix well with other people my age.

As for health, I always get a bit more sluggish during the school year. >.<

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Dear all, Thank you for all your replies, much appreciated! So interesting to hear your different views.

I think procrastination is my main (perhaps only) problem as well as the moment. I think I will need to invent a machine that hits me every time I do something on the internet unrelated to schoolwork. :shifty:

You are all amazing for being able to lead such non-school lives parallel to your IB lives. I will need to try that.

Did you write study schedules?

Sometimes I find it helps, other times I cannot be bothered making one as it takes too long/too much mental effort. Sometimes I would feel guilty for not having done what was on my schedule. What are your thoughts? :)

And...

Was/Is being positive and optimistic a factor in your success?

Did you tell yourself "I can do this" or "This task is not so hard" continually? Taking control of your mentality is essential in school, I know that for sure!

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I had more of a life before the IB, but I think that the day after my last final exam, which will be Math HL P3, will be the day when I will regain my life again more than ever before. Since I have my driving license now, I will take my car and move from the apartment, on my own, and travel back to my family (including our animals). I probably would give the landlord my finger since he and his employed workers are sneaky savages. Of course I would like do something fun with the guys at the IB; many of them are wonderful!

I think that apart of the IBO's secret goal is to teach us not to procrastinate by learning from our mistakes. I have learnt from my mistakes and changed my way of studying since I started the IB2. However, sometimes it happens that one undermines the workload and therefore has to spend some more extra hours during the night. So, what the h*ll am I doing here?! Back to work!

I don't drink coffee, but I have some special tablets that I take if there is an emergency. However, I have become quite good at power-napping :)

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Coffee: I don't drink coffee

Sleep: I need at least 6 hours, otherwise I start doing unusual things.

Mental health: slightly haywire

Physical health: CAS forces me to jog, which is actually making me fitter than before (yay!)

Stress: high stress, high expectations, lots of fun eruptions of emotion in class

Social life: non-existent (though to be honest I didn't have much of one before IB)

Was it worth it: I probably would have regretted it if I didn't try. We'll never know :)

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My social life is in school and during CAS. On CAS I do sport dance, so I spend not 1 hour a week on Action, but about 5 or sometimes even more (but on CAS I only count one). I don't party hard, because i don't like parties where alcohol is a catalyzer (=without it fun doesn't take place). The second thing is that I like dancing but only strict dancing (that's why I've chosen sport dance). I just don't like "club dancing".

So, as you can see, I am not bookworm, I have some free time, which I spend mainly on dancing to prepare for tournaments, and to have fun.

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Another overdramatised thread. Maybe I've become desensitised to the moaning of IB work with university, but really people...

Did you consume a lot of coffee?

I've never liked the taste of it and the most caffeine I consumed during the IB was the occasional glass of coke every now and then.

Did you learn to survive on three hours of sleep?

I got 8 hours of sleep every night during the IB unless I went out with mates the night before, travelled over the weekend for fun or stayed up watching movies.

Did your mental and/or physical health decrease?

Heavens, no! If anything, I was intellectually stimulated throughout.

Were you incredibly stressed?

Never...until the actual month of IB exams I'd say.

Was your social life on hold or even gone?

Hell no! I partied, travelled, clubbed, had relationships, the whole high school experience during the IB.

Was it all worth it?

Absolutely! It helped with uni apps in the end after all.

This is a factor in the pro- and anti-IB argument that I hear the most often, so I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts. Personally I am starting IB soon so would like to know what is in store for me.

Don't let the moaners and procrastinators and naysayers get to you. The IB is a high school programme for a reason! If it was impossible to handle, it would never have become so prolific. Yes, there is a presumption at the very start that you're a relatively high achieving student to begin with, which should be obvious since the programme has and will never be characterised as 'not stimulating.' But really, all the all-night talk and the freak-outs about life being "gone" because of the IB is codswallop. If you just put in the effort, two hours/day maximum and maybe a little extra time over the weekends, you will fly through the IB!

Best of luck!

Arrowhead.

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