Starting the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme with high expectations for yourself is natural and admirable. The exact moment in DP1 where my expectations collided with reality was when I got my grade back from my IB English Lang and Lit Paper 1 test and looked down at my mark of 5 staring at me. I barely scraped a 5. This genuinely hurt me after putting in a lot of work into that very test. I felt betrayed by my initial feeling of satisfaction after walking out of the exam.
As one of my HL subjects, I had a goal of maintaining at least a 6 for each of them. Before that, I believed that I could actually handle IB English pretty easily after succeeding in English Language and Literature during my IGCSEs. I didn‘t want to face the fact that I wanted to be excellent at everything. But the IB forced me to confront the idea that I couldn‘t treat everything as equally important. What’s important isn’t this specific assignment, but rather, realising afterwards that my efforts alone don’t guarantee my expectations of earning at least a 6. I had to learn how to work strategically alongside working hard.
The Mindset I Brought With Me
Coming from Pearson Edexcel IGCSE with all Grade 8 and above (A and A*) for my 9 subjects, I had the conclusion that the formula for success was as follows:
Discipline + Continuous effort = Excellent grades.
Working harder and delving deeper and longer into my subjects for better understanding usually, if not every time, produced better results. I equated being a good student with receiving 80 % and above in my tests results. Looking back, wanting 7s for everything was not naïve at all. It’s completely reasonable. The unrealistic part was assuming that if I wanted the highest grade, I should give every subject the maximum possible amount of my time.
When Even Effort Alone Isn’t Enough
For my English Paper 1, it was the very first instance where we were tested in timed conditions without the occasional “Sir, could you have a look at what I’ve written so far?”. I felt apprehensive but certain that the hours I spent studying would come to fruition. However, there is a difference between effort on its own and effective effort. My hours spent studying were spent practising and practising by watching videos from past IB students in the hope of getting some tips. That was my effort. But, since that didn’t seem to work out, I went to my teacher after class and asked what I was doing wrong. After a lengthy conversation and reading of my work, he believed that instead of practising essays upon essays, I should try to study the feedback given. Rewrite a paragraph first, then ask again for feedback, understand how I improved and what other areas I’m still lacking in.
Another example is when I got a low 5 in Chemistry HL. This was a hard blow to my pride, as I thought I could handle the Higher Level class as I genuinely loved the subject. I had repeated my strategy with English and confronted my teacher to ask how I could aim for a higher score. Once again, it proved useful. I was given tips on practice questions I could find in the Chemistry Textbook, which were the closest to real past paper questions. Finding out what the exam/examiner was looking for and implementing this in my answers was more effective than blindly practising questions again and again.
This helped me consider that IB rewards the following:
- Understanding the assessment criteria
- Getting feedback (perhaps a one-on-one meeting with your teacher for personalised constructive feedback)
- Identifying weaknesses
Rather than simply spending more hours scribbling down another essay at my desk… I simply used “working hard” as a way to reassure myself. That I was doing enough, more than enough. Working harder made me feel safer because I could tell myself that I was doing everything possible, without actually challenging myself to see if my study method was effective or not.
Everything Can‘t Be First Priority
Honestly speaking, IB is considered as one of the most academically rigorous curricula. It is hard juggling 6 subjects, with three being Higher Levels, a TOK Exhibition and Essay, an Extended Essay, 4 Internal assessments, 2 Oral Exams and CAS. But if everything receives 100% of your time, eventually nothing will receive a sustainable 100%… It is not that you are incapable of doing these things. But, simultaneously treating all of them as urgent and extremely important will not advance your progress in any of them. It’s a prioritisation problem. I, myself, noticed that my approach wasn’t sustainable when staying up later than my usual 10 pm bedtime, feeling guilty when resting, or jumping between assignments too often proved to be ineffective.
Ambition Without Perfection
I still aim for higher grades. Grades matter as much as before, but I can’t sacrifice all my time and energy attempting to maximize every single one of them. After realising what I want to do in the future, I’ve realised that I probably don’t need to beat myself up for English or History as much as before. I began distinguishing between subjects which required more of my attention due to their relevancy with my goals and those where maintaining a solid performance was enough. It helped me realise that a grade doesn’t have to be my personal best in every subject for my overall academic strategy to be successful. One disappointing grade doesn’t justify sacrificing disproportionate amounts of time trying to fix it.
In a nutshell, ambition isn’t something you need to throw out of the window whilst doing the IB. You simply need to learn how to redirect it. You will probably have to redefine what being a successful student means to you, like I am starting to figure out. Wishing you perseverance as you embark on your IB DP journey!