Members of the IB Alumni Network
Members of the IB Board of Governors
Oxford Study Courses
IE University, Segovia
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
The Florida League of International Baccalaureate Schools, Inc. (FLIBS)
International Baccalaureate Schools and Colleges Association of the UK and Ireland (IBSCA)
Minnesota Association of International Baccalaureate Schools (MNIB)
Ohio Association of IB World Schools (OAIB)
Texas IB Schools (TIBS)
Members of the IB Staff

Check out our page on ways to get involved in the World Student Conferences as an alumnus. If you are a student interested in applying for a conference scholarship, please see the IB World Student Conference scholarships website. The deadline for general scholarship applications is the 15 April 2012.

Additional scholarships are available for the Segovia World Student Conference. An application is available through the conference website or by downloading the application directly, here. The deadline for the Segovia scholarship application is the 16 April 2012.

We haven’t posted too many items recently, but we are working diligently to improve and expand the services offered through the IB Alumni Network to the nearly 850,000 IB programme graduates worldwide. Our goals for the year focus upon increasing opportunities for IB alumni to connect and share information. We are exploring ways to improve career and networking resources, provide information for prospective university and masters degree students, and expand the ways in which IB graduates can reach out and connect with other alumni from around the globe.

As an alumnus/a, you play an important role in shaping the future of the IB Alumni Network. Check out the few items below for ways to get involved. If you’d like to submit an article for the IB Alumni Network Blog, send us an email.

An opportunity to visit the IB global centres

Ever wanted to see behind the scenes at the IB? We’d like to invite you to our offices for a chance to see how the IB works and meet other alumni in the area. We are in the initial planning stages for this event and we need your input to make it successful.

Will you be in Washington, DC, the Hague, or Singapore this year?

Let us know if you’ll be near one of our offices and come and represent alumni from your IB school, college, university, or employer at an IB sponsored alumni event. We’re looking forward to being able to host.

Planning a successful event will depend upon the number of alumni that respond. Fill out the form if you’re interested!

IB Alumni Social Networks: Pick your favorite

We recently launched the Alumni Network Facebook page. ‘Like it’ today! Use it to connect with the IB Alumni Advisory Council (IBAAC) and keep up with events and news or post a question. Not a fan of Facebook? You can also check us out on Twitter. Prefer to keep it professional? Join the conversation on the IB Alumni LinkedIn group.

These sites are supported by the IB alumni relations staff and the IBAAC. Today, a global team of 22 members serve on the IBAAC. They have been focusing their efforts on the formation of the council’s vision and organizational structure. The team is broken into three regional councils representing the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The council’s purpose is to bring alumni together to network, share ideas and connect with the IB. If you  have an idea for the IB Alumni Network or would like to join the IBAAC, please email us.

Thank you for supporting student scholarships!

Thanks to the support of the alumni and IB community members, we have managed to raise funds for four full IB World Student Conference scholarships. The fundraising effort will continue up until 1 March and the conference takes place in July in Vancouver, Canada and Segovia, Spain. More information on the World Student Conferences.

The IB Alumni Network Facebook Fan page! 

This page will  keep you updated on the alumni community and serve as another forum for you to connect with the over 850,000 IB grads around the world.  Check out the Facebook page for stories that highlight the lives of these alumni.   Like it today!

This month marks the one year anniversary of the IB Alumni Advisory Council (IBAAC).  Last January, the IB partnered with a small group of young alumni who wanted to help create a bridge between the IB alumni community and the IB organization’s staff, activities and programmes. This group of volunteers has played an important role in shaping the IB Alumni Network and they have been instrumental in the development of a number of projects – including posts on this blog that highlight the work of IB alumni.

Today, the group is diverse and represents alumni from every part of the world.  A global team of 22 members serves on the IBAAC and they have been focusing their efforts on the formation of the council’s vision and organizational structure. The team is broken into three regional councils representing the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

They have also been providing feedback to the Alumni Relations staff as well as engaging fellow IB graduates. The council has also supported IB related research and the review of programme components such as CAS and the Extended Essay.

The council’s purpose is to bring alumni together to network, share ideas and connect with the IB organization.  There are about 850,000 IB alumni who currently dot the globe!


 If you’re interested in becoming more involved with the IBAAC in your region, please email us at alumni.relations@ibo.org.

To contact the Alumni Advisory Council with ideas, questions, or comments, email us at the address above or reach out on Facebook and Twitter.

To join the alumni network, sign up for the IB Alumni Network newsletter.

The mission of the IBAAC is to foster an international community of lifelong learners while actively promoting the IB mission of a better world through education.

We had an opportunity to hear from Sreyneath Poole about her IB experience (in all three IB programs). She offered her reflections on the IB below. You can also follow her work on her blog Inspiring Cambodian Women.

 Could you tell us a bit about your background and where you studied with the IB?

I am a Cambodian-American and I am a former student of the IB programs. I completed both the Primary Years (PYP) and Middle Years Program (MYP) at the International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP) in Cambodia and received my International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma from Dobbs Ferry High School, New York in 2009.

 Including the IB programs, I have been enrolled to three different teaching systems. I was enrolled in the Cambodian government school and the American public school. Each teaching system was different, but I found the IB programs better prepared me for my academic life in higher education.

What was the most valuable aspect of your IB experience? What was most challenging?

When I was enrolled in ISPP, the IB programs exposed me to different cultures and countries. Being surrounded by students from all around the world, I was learning and understanding the world from my classmates. Not only that, ISPP had a yearly sports exchange program where students from other international schools around the Mekong River region came to compete in competitive but fun sports. As a former athlete, the sports exchanges were one of the highlights of my years in the IB programs. I became more aware of the world through exposures in my classes, my friends, and exchange programs that I went on.

The academic rigorousness, for me, began with the MYP years. I wanted to do my best in school by challenging myself. The teachers were very supportive of my academic endeavours and challenged me to become the best student that I could be. The grading system was also very meaningful. Although all students were given number grades, we were also given evaluations. The evaluations gave me a chance to see my qualities and area of improvements.

What project are you most proud of from your years as an IB student?

I was always interested in history but I realized that I knew very little of my own Cambodian history. I took the challenge of writing a research paper about the Khmer Rouge regime as part of my extended essay project. I wanted to learn more about Cambodian history. In the process, I discovered a very dark and shameful history and I also learned what my family had gone through during the Cambodian genocide. As a result, I started my own project to make a documentary film about my family’s story during the Khmer Rouge regime. This is a project that I have been working on for the last four years and I’m still working on it. Without the extended essay project, I would have never become deeply invested on learning more about my own history and finding out what happened to my family during that time.

Did the IB program help you prepare for college?

Even though the IB programs are academically rigorous, the programs go beyond producing good test scores. The programs taught me how to work with other students well, it taught me to take academic risks, solving problems in an effective ways, in both academic and personal situations, and most important of all the IB taught me the importance of time management. As a college student, time management is the very key to college survival.

 Thank you Sreyneath!

We’re reaching out to alumni and the IB community to make the 2012 IB World Student Conferences an incredible opportunity for current diploma candidates. Here are three ways you can take action to support this event:

Visit us in Segovia or Vancouver:
Are you an IB Alumni? Will you be in the area this July? Let us know and we’ll send you information about special opportunities for alumni at the IB World Student Conferences. To let us know, fill out the sign up form and tell us whether you’ll be in Vancouver or Segovia within the “your interests” box (duplicates are ok, if you’ve signed up before we will make sure you don’t get emails twice).

Support a student scholarship:
If you can, help us create scholarship opportunities for students with limited resources to attend. To fund a student scholarship, head to our donation page or search for the International Baccalaureate on the Network for Good.

Share this message:
Everything you need to know about supporting the conferences as an alumnus/a can be found at blogs.ibo.org/alumni/wsc, including conference dates and links to IE University’s and the University of British Columbia’s World Student Conference web sites. In addition, registration information for students is available at http://www.ibo.org/wsc.

More about the conferences:

The 2012 IB World Student Conferences will be held in two locations: Segovia, Spain and Vancouver, British Columbia in early and late July. Each conference will bring together over 400 current IB diploma candidates for a week of leadership activities aimed at fostering global engagement through social entrepreneurship and inspiring responsible action to create a more sustainable world.

Gabriela volunteered to share her EE experience and topic with the alumni community — please read on (in her native Spanish) to findout more about elements within the philosophic works “The Stranger” and “The Tunnel”!

Mi nombre es Gabriela López, tengo 19 años y soy de Asunción, Paraguay. En cuanto al Bachillerato Internacional lo realicé en el colegio Saint Anne’s School en la misma ciudad.  Actualmente estoy estudiando la carrera Relaciones Internacionales en la Universidad de San Andrés en Buenos Aires. Gracias al Bachillerato Internacional tuve la oportunidad de compartir una experiencia que no solo la tenía con mis compañeros de colegio sino con todo el mundo. Cuando vine a la Argentina conocí chicos que tuvieron la misma experiencia y me siento muy agradecida y privilegiada de haber pasado por esto. Nunca tuve la duda de descartar el esfuerzo de conseguir el diploma y ahora más que nunca reconozco lo importante que fue.

En cuanto a mi experiencia con la monografía puedo decir que fue todo un desafío y sinceramente no fue nada fácil. Por un lado me parece de suma importancia el tema que elijan; es lo más crucial de todo el trabajo porque debe ser de mucho interés. Personalmente elegí hacer sobre literatura y desde que terminé la monografía no pare de leer y seguir ese hobby. No obstante, otro consejo que considero de igual o más importancia es hacerlo con tiempo ya que la monografía no es un trabajo cualquiera, requiere tiempo y esfuerzo estructurarlo. Uno de los grandes aspectos de la monografía fue la unión que establece el alumno con el profesor y al mismo tiempo se crea un compañerismo con los demás. Siempre tuve el apoyo de mis profesores y compañeros lo cual ayudo mucho en el proceso. Espero que pasen un buen rato haciendo la monografía y no lo vean como un trabajo más porque sinceramente opino que es el que más podrán disfrutar!

—

Este trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo analizar uno de los recursos literarios utilizado por dos escritores influenciados por la corriente filosófica existencialista. En ambas obras, los protagonistas demuestran actitudes y comportamientos que expresan ideas de dicha corriente, entonces ¿de qué manera el aspecto simbólico de las novelas “El Túnel” de Ernesto Sábato y “El Extranjero” de Albert Camus expresa la angustia existencial en la vida de los protagonistas? Se analizarán los protagonistas de dichas novelas, Juan Pablo Castel de “El Túnel” y Mersault de “El Extranjero” y sus distintas visiones existenciales de la vida.

Los símbolos a ser analizados en la novela de Ernesto Sábato son: el cuadro llamado ‘Maternidad’, el puente y el titulo de la novela. En la novela de Albert Camus, la muerte, la cárcel, el calor y el titulo de la novela serán los símbolos a ser analizados. La utilización de estos símbolos  es muy eficaz ya que sirve de gran influencia en la personalidad y el desarrollo de los protagonistas de ambas novelas y al mismo tiempo los símbolos forman parte de los recursos literarios más importantes utilizados para exponer el tema principal de estas; el existencialismo.

La conclusión demuestra que el uso de la simbología es un recurso literario eficaz para representar la angustia o visión existencial de los autores reflejada en sus protagonistas. La simbología es de gran importancia ya que sirve para exponer diferentes factores que influyen en la personalidad de ellos  y en la formación de las mismas.  Es por eso que  la angustia existencial se ve interpretada de diferentes maneras.

Dear Alumni,

As 2011 draws to a close, I am writing to you from the IB Foundation Office in snow-covered Geneva. This is where the IB began in 1968, the brain child of a number of education visionaries from several countries, soon joined by others spanning all continents.

The Diploma Programme examinations have now taken place for the November 2011 session and over 9,000 students who participated await their results on the 5th January. In May 2012 about 120,000 students will sit examinations and take other forms of assessment; they will add to the IB alumni now into their third generation. The number of schools taking on an IB programme increases on average by around 14% per year; at this year-end there are 3,302 schools in 142 countries.

I am full of admiration for the many alumni I have met during my 18 years with the IB. You are internationally-minded, critical thinkers who respect and benefit from cultural diversity, and give some of your time to others. We have a growing IB alumni data base of more than 20,000, but there have been several hundred thousand IB graduates. We invite you to ask other alumni to consider joining this international network which has professional and personal advantages, and promotes intercultural exchanges across the world. To register as IB alumni, please click here.

I am extremely grateful to IB alumni who have already assisted us in the IB organization by attending conferences as part of a panel discussion, providing feedback on proposed publications, talking to universities to improve IB recognition, and giving their time to support our Alumni Relations office.

Most recently I attended a 25th year celebration of IB at a public school in Norway. There were alumni spanning two generations. I was impressed with the interesting way their careers and lives had developed and how “IB” they were – caring about others, articulate, alert, and wanting to make the world a better place.

We in the IB are so appreciative of the many excellent initiatives undertaken by IB alumni. The academic rigour of the IB is important, but its humanitarian values are everything.

Have a wonderful festive season and an excellent year in 2012.

Sincerely,

Ian Hill
Deputy Director General
IB Organization

]]> http://blogs.ibo.org/alumni/2011/12/23/message-to-alumni-2011/feed/ 0 http://blogs.ibo.org/alumni/2011/11/29/how-do-i-look/ http://blogs.ibo.org/alumni/2011/11/29/how-do-i-look/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:46:54 +0000 Valerie Thomas http://blogs.ibo.org/alumni/?p=2014

In case you didn’t notice, our blog has gotten a bit of a face lift!

Everything you need to find can still be found on the site. Take some time to click around and enjoy the new look. If you haven’t visited the “Welcome” page yet, we encourage you to fill out the form found there to sign up for the alumni network mailing list.

While we’re in our renovation process, we’re open to suggestions for the blog layout, features, etc. Please let us know if there is something you’d like to see, or also if you have any experience in web design/consulting and would like to help! We’d love any and all feedback.

Stay tuned for more developments — there are a few more tricks up our sleeves (social media related tricks) … We’ll inform you of our latest changes and additions as we make them.

We got a chance to speak with Julia Aubuchon, an alumna who moved from sunny Florida to snowy New York and lived to tell the tale. Read along to learn about her life and how her IB experiences helped inspire her current job — working on the television program Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!

First off, can you describe a bit about your background?

I was a part of the IB Program at Fort Myers High School in Fort Myers, Florida. While I had some of the best years of my life in high school, my senior year was wrought with indecision and trepidation. I had no idea what to do next. Where would I go to college? What would I major in? So I went into my guidance counselor’s office one afternoon and laid it all out on the table. I explained my interests in journalism, my love for TV Production, and my passion for my IB Photography class. My counselor told me if I was serious about journalism, I should look into Syracuse University, and so I did. I applied; only to find out I was deferred. Not totally disappointed, I enrolled at the University of Florida. Then, a few weeks later, came the curve ball. A week before high school graduation, I found out I had been accepted into the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.  So I booked a flight to New York that weekend, saw the campus, and fell in in love.

College was tough my freshman year. I went from living in the Sunshine State to one of the snowiest cities in the country. I went from having a solid group of friends to not knowing a single person. At times, I thought I wanted to move back home, but I took the obstacles as a challenge and I grew. By the time graduation rolled around, I had double majored in Broadcast Journalism and Geography, I went from being a deferred student to one of 12 Newhouse Scholars, I had studied abroad for a semester in London, and had written several articles for the international platform, ABCNews.com.

A week after college graduation, I was on my way back up to New York. This time it was for a second round of interviews for the NBC Page Program. I had heard a lot about the program, avidly watched the sitcom 30 Rock, and thought it would be the perfect way to continue my love for television. Fortunately for me, I was accepted into the program. I worked as a Page for 10 months before taking a job at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, which is where I am today!

Do you have a favorite memory from your time in the IB?

In a world where everything has gone so digital, one of my favorite memories of the program was my IB Photography class. Not only did the course allow me to express my creative side, but it also provided me with an opportunity to learn how to develop my own film. It was no longer just about taking a picture and uploading it onto a computer. It was now a truly organic process of spending hours in a darkroom working to create a single, compelling photograph. The idea that this was considered “school”, was beyond me.  My love for the class eventually translated into my work, and I received a 7 on the IB test!

What are you doing now? Was this influenced at all by what you studied in the IB?

Right now I’m the Audience Coordinator at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. While my IB classes might not have a direct link to my job, they definitely played a huge role in helping me get here. My photography class helped me understand how to compose a great shot and how to create an aesthetically pleasing image – a crucial skill in the journalism world. Plus I double majored in Geography in college, which all stemmed from my love for my IB Environmental class. Being a Geography major is very unusual in the TV world, so it’s always a great conversation starter in job interviews.

What was your favorite thing about working as an NBC page?

My favorite thing about being an NBC Page was that no two days were alike. One day I would be working an episode of Saturday Night Live, and the next I would be giving an NBC Studio Tour to Cosmopolitan Magazine’s 50 hottest bachelors. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to do that! The program gave me such insight and such exposure into the television industry, it was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. Not to mention, it gave me the job I have today!

UK Office or US Office?

During my study abroad semester in London, I took a “Comedy in British Television and Film” class. In it, we watched several episodes of The Office – the UK version. While I can definitely appreciate what Ricky Gervais did for the show – I mean, he essentially brought it to life – I have to say my heart is with the US version. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been a loyal viewer of the series, watching every episode of every season, but you just can’t seem to beat Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute or John Krasinski as Jim Halpert. Their outlandish antics and comedic chemistry will never grow old with me.

What are your plans for the future?

I hope I’m fortunate enough to be afforded the opportunity to continue working in entertainment television. I absolutely love my job and I’m still learning so much each and every day. I get to work with the best in the business and am constantly reminded of how lucky I am to be there. Ultimately, I’d love to move up in responsibility at the show and eventually work as a segment producer.

- — -

Thank you, Julia, for taking the time to reflect on your IB and post-IB life! We wish you the best of luck in your producer endeavors.

(And if one day you’d like to offer me a writer position on an NBC sitcom, I’d be more than willing to accept. – Valerie)