All year long all I have heard is questions and mumbled comments of dread from sophomores about the infamous and well-feared International Baccalaureate Program. I sit in my art class and listen to the underclassmen’s many, many jumbled statements and assumptions that I have to clarify repeatedly and, to be honest, it’s kind of annoying. 

Now, I’m not saying I wasn’t there a year ago because trust me when I say I had no idea what to expect for the coming year. But, I do wish I had had someone to guide me along this winding path of community service hours, IA’s, HL and SL. Those words probably mean nothing to you at this point, but they will become an integral part of your vocabulary once August hits. For more clarification, I wrote a story previously about the difference between DP and CP at our beloved high school that you can check out on the Warrior Wire website.

For the ones who haven’t read it though, they’re basically equal in terms of the workload. CP gives a lot more freedom, as I’m sure those of you who chose it are well aware, and the amount of IB classes you take is going to affect how much work you have pressing on your shoulders. And for the DP kids who are completely immersed, you know all too well what it’s like to stay up until 3 or 4 writing that wonderful Extended Essay.

I bet I can guess what you’re thinking: What the heck is Extended Essay? EE is a 4,000 word essay you all will be required to write in your junior year to send to IB. CP kids write a Reflective Project, which is virtually the same with a few different requirements. Reading this back to myself, I think I would be stressed out by just the first paragraph. So let me take a step back.

IB seems very hard and scary when you are not in the program. It seems like so much work bearing down on you and I can say with fair certainty that those going into it are doing it primarily for college applications. But, and I know this is a little overused, it is really not that bad. Yes, there is homework. Yes, we do have things like internal and external assessments that are big projects. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming and sometimes it is a really satisfying program that seems like normal classes.

Just like any other program you would go into, it’s a fluctuating system. You will get a big assignment here and there and homework in one or two classes every night, but in the end it’s just school. You get through it because you will have teachers and friends to guide you and the seniors will be there to clarify things, too. So try not to sweat too much. Soon you’ll be getting annoyed with sophomores for not knowing anything about IB.