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The ways students maintain a healthy study-life balance

study-life-balanceLast month, IB World magazine spoke to teachers about how they maintain a healthy work-life balance. Now, we’ve asked IB Diploma Programme students how they divide their time between studies and a social life…

They say school years are the best years of your life. For IB students, it’s a time when they make friends with people from all over the world and learn about how they can make a difference. It’s also a time when they discover how to balance time pressures with mounting workloads, activities and life outside the classroom.

The IB Learner Profile encourages students to achieve balance. It helps them realize that by attaining balance in different aspects of their lives, they can achieve wellbeing for themselves and others. Below, past and present IB students share how they manage to strike a balance between school work and a social life.

Akshat Thakur

Akshat Thakur

“Schoolwork itself is integrated with social contact, and that promotes being a ‘people’s person’. Get together with your friends, help each other out and, once you’re done with the necessary studies, go and enjoy yourself.” – IB Diploma Programme student Akshat Thakur, The Heritage School, India.

 

“You have to keep everything in perspective. If you have an IA due as well as an internal mini test, for example, ask yourself: ‘what is more important?’ It’s obviously the IA as the test you can always re-do. Don’t stress about both because this will impact on your social life. Always prioritize the tasks you are given.” – 2015 IB Diploma Programme graduate Megan Caldwell, Franconian International School, Germany.

“Thanks to the help of my IB coordinator, I managed to find a balance between my academics and extracurricular activities fairly quickly. We made an online colour-coded calendar, where I would add assignment due dates and the dates of other commitments. I then allocated a specific amount of time for each task, which helped me sort out everything I needed to do.” – IB Diploma Programme student Gabrielle Drolet, Robert Bateman High School, Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

Jessica Alexander

Jessica Alexander

“I was not only a full IB Diploma Programme student, but also a varsity track athlete. I struck my balance by looking at track as my escape. This is what I would do to relax rather than spend extra time unwinding with what I would call ‘empty activities’.” – 2015 IB Diploma Programme graduate Jessica Alexander, Renaissance High School, Idaho, USA.

 

“To make reflections easy and have more time to do other things, every two weeks write a mini reflection; just a paragraph about the activities you have been doing and what you’ve been learning about. At the end of 12th Grade, or when you finish that activity, and it’s time to write a large reflection, the many mini reflections can guide you.” – 2015 IB Diploma Programme graduate Megan Caldwell, Franconian International School, Germany.

“Share the colour-coded calendar with your IB coordinator. Then they can regularly check in to help make sure you’re not getting ahead of yourself, and that you’re making time for social, as well as extracurricular activities” – IB Diploma Programme student Gabrielle Drolet, Robert Bateman High School, Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

“Hang out with your friends, but spend half of that time discussing doubts and projects and questions that are just too difficult. Algebra can only be defeated and tamed if you have enough manpower.” – IB Diploma Programme student Akshat Thakur, The Heritage School, India.

“Support from friends who are going through the IB programme is important. As well as being able to socialize with them, they will continue to stay positive even when the programme seems too intense. I can honestly say I enjoyed the DP because I was able to stick to my my personal philosophy of always trying to improve myself mentally, physically, and spiritually, which made it much easier to strike a balance between my commitments.” – 2015 IB Diploma Programme graduate Jessica Alexander, Renaissance High School, Idaho, USA.

Megan Caldwell

Megan Caldwell

“Spend CAS hours doing something you enjoy. This way, CAS doesn’t seem to eat away at your free time and feel like an extra thing to stress about. For example, if you are going to study sports, join a sports club or help advertise for it; if you like business and think that is what you want to do, help on your school’s newspaper or the advertising team. Doing something that relates to what you want to study at college or university enhances your personal statement, too. It shows you are truly passionate about that subject.” – 2015 IB Diploma Programme graduate Megan Caldwell, Franconian International School, Germany.

“Each day has 24 hours. It’s up to you how you utilize that time. It’s enough to manage between school and social lives. An IB student needs to have the attribute of being “well-balanced”. We should be well-rounded, and improve our strengths in all aspects. After all, the 21st-century world is ours for the taking”– IB Diploma Programme student Akshat Thakur, The Heritage School, India.

“If ever you become too overwhelmed with tasks, talk to teachers about it. They are very understanding and willing to extend due dates to meet student needs.”– IB Diploma Programme student Gabrielle Drolet, Robert Bateman High School, Burlington, Ontario

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