Junior year is often said to be the hardest year of high school. I was constantly belittled about how I “won’t survive.” However, did I listen to any of the advice given to me during my underclassmen years? Absolutely not. I figured: “Oh, I’ll just lock in and it’ll be super light!” About a month into the year, and I’ve failed two math tests, I have a C in Spanish, and I’m surely the farthest behind in my CAS and EE course (for IB Diploma).
IB Diploma is a path that rising juniors can take, requiring six IB classes, and three of them must be HL (higher level). Additinally, students need to take CAS and EE junior year, and TOK their senior year. I’m overwhelmed with work everyday, and it doesn’t help going to a two hour tennis practice after school everyday. By the time I’m home from practice, all I want to do is go to bed. Because of this exhaustion, I don’t have the energy I need to study for tests and do homework. Half of the curriculum is out of my league and I just don’t feel smart enough for it. The academic pressure is intensifying more rapidly everyday. On the first day of school, my IB Environmental Systems & Societies (ESS) teacher, Brent Maiolo, said “you guys are growing up, no late work will be tolerated.” He followed this with “IB is more rigorous than what you’re used to, but you have to adapt and overcome.” Adapting, sure, overcoming, so far, not. Along with all of this, I’m doing dual enrollment, not for one, but two courses. Now, they aren’t extremely difficult classes, but they are very task oriented. What I mean by this, is that the classes I’m dual enrolled are Yearbook, and Advanced Journalism, both of which I am an editor for. In my yearbook class, I was assigned twenty pages to edit, all of which are from students who have not been in the yearbook before, therefore making the editing process more meticulous.
However for journalism, editing hasn’t been the issue, it’s been writing these damn articles. As I write this, I am sitting in my previously mentioned ESS class, on a short Wednesday, cranking out an entire article. Is this my fault, yes, but am I also being hammered with tons of work from all of my teachers? Yes.
For one of my HL courses I need for the IB Diploma, I chose to do IB History HL. This isn’t a bad class to take. I’ve always liked history. It’s one of the things I’ve always been interested in and I like learning about. However, being the primary speaker in our very first debate was not one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made. With Mr. Reed constantly interrogating me with questions that I don’t even understand how to answer every 20 seconds, it made this speech almost impossible. I heard the words “point of information” come out of his mouth thirteen times in the seven minutes I had to talk. However it wasn’t just him hitting me with the interruptions, it was my classmates on the side arguing in opposition to me. I like history, just not the difficulties that come with it. As a student in IB Diploma, I’m supposed to have a free period, but did I take that opportunity? Of course not! Why would I? Because of all the work I need to do? A simple break for once? For some study time? Instead I decided to become a peer tutor, as a student who barely passed his freshmen year. While I don’t see myself dropping IB Diploma anytime soon, the courses I chose definitely have a lot more rigor than I originally expected. It’s different than freshman year civics and sophomore year Honors U.S Histories & Cultures. But if I really think about it, it’s different in a good way, setting me up for success for my education post-highschool. I’m secretly glad I’m challenging myself; it’s giving me an opportunity to make up from my mistakes I made during my freshman year when school wasn’t a priority of mine in any sense. So, to the sophomores who may find themselves considering IB courses, IB Diploma, or dual enrollment, take these harder courses at your own risk, don’t underestimate the diploma, and try to balance out your sports, schoolwork, and time with family and friends. Remember where your values lie, and however hard you may think she grades, don’t take Ms. Wilson for granted.
