Memories from the 2020 DP experience

During my experience in being a full diploma student, I had never written so much as I had during the Diploma Programme (DP). At first, I couldn’t believe what I was getting myself into. But I know that I did not make the wrong decision. Yes, I did have challenges here and there, but I managed to get through them. I came out of the IB with favorite essay sayings, which are: “To what extent”, “How far could one argue”, and “How does one”.

The IB has impacted me in many ways that I hope to go further and investigate as I continue my education. The IB has taught me to view situations or problems from a wider view, which I believe comes from how much diversity is tied into the IB programme. The most memorable moments I have are when I talk to non-IB students because they have so much to say and ask. In this way, I feel different but also happy to be able to inform people about the IB.

Through two years of the rigorous DP, my most challenging moment through the curriculum would be balancing the various strands that come with it. Right from creativity, activity, service (CAS) and internal assessments (IAs) to theory of knowledge (TOK) presentations and the extended essay, the IB programme thoroughly challenged my time management and organisational skills, always pushing me beyond my boundaries as an individual. Every obstacle and challenge I’ve surpassed has equipped me with greater life skills, along with academic learning and intellectual capabilities.

From math notes in my first higher level (HL) class and the TOK presentation that gave me sleepless nights to finishing extended essays while simultaneously battling college essays―Every moment pressed in between different pages of memories, tells a different story. And together, these stories have given me the latitude to grow and prepare myself to face the real world.

The instances that I will most remember post-graduation are the passion-filled classes and lectures instilled upon us through some of my teachers. Examples vary from the sheer emotion portrayed by my math teacher when teaching us both complex theories or methods that are considered rudimentary and the willingness and eagerness my chemistry teacher had to support us by answering emails late into the night.

However, I also faced challenging moments. These moments usually occurred during my internal assessments but were most prominent during the initial stages of quarantine. My peers and I found ourselves in a situation that was defined by a sense of uncertainty and were introduced to new methods of teaching that seemed almost foreign.

As a graduating class, one of our most memorable moments was when we realized that we had completed our final TOK essays and presentations; to think that all those instances of trying to evoke our inner Plato and Socrates was over!

One of the challenges we faced as a class was meeting our extended essay deadline. We discovered that writing a 4,000-word essay with logical and coherent arguments was no easy feat. Nevertheless, we are definitely proud of our ability to tackle that Herculean task together because of the strong interpersonal bonds we developed from our collaboration in our classrooms and during our CAS experiences and projects.