Entering the IBDP is a bittersweet feeling for any student. However, the feeling of subtle excitement is often very quickly overtaken by stress – You suddenly get thrown into assignments from each class, weekly readings that you’re not accustomed to, and TOK lessons that you most probably don’t understand. Sooner or later, you find yourself completely exhausted and questioning why you enrolled in the program in the first place. Although stress is a natural part of any curriculum, it should not get in the way of enjoying yourself and your last years of high school. To avoid getting yourself in such situations and worsening your mental health, consider some of my tips for living a (relatively) stress-free DP1 life!
- Give yourself time
Change is uncomfortable. However, the same people who agree with this statement are often the ones who don’t apply it to their own lives. There are numerous minor changes in our lives that bring us discomfort and annoyance – a slight change in the schedule of the bus you take every day, your favorite coffee shop not having your go-to drink, the list goes on. If these situations make you feel unnerved, just imagine the toll that enrolling in one of the hardest high school programs has on your health! Allow yourself to understand that feeling discomfort and not adjusting to a change immediately is a natural process, and it has nothing to do with your skills or intelligence. If you feel like you are falling behind in classes or that your grades aren’t the best, don’t be too harsh on yourself. Instead, try to improve your weaknesses one step at a time.
- Work smart (not just hard) when dealing with CAS
The DP program stands out from other rigorous high school programs by the additional elements that it includes, such as CAS. There are often times, however, when we are encompassed with so many assignments that we cannot physically make time to complete each component of the program. Instead of trying to dedicate separate times for each element, try to think outside the box and see if the tasks that you are already doing qualify as CAS experiences – Did you take extra time to perfect your Biology notes and make them look pretty? Write it as an experience for Creativity! Tutoring your classmate before your exam? Feel free to write it under Service! There are tasks that we complete each day that count as CAS experiences, so take a look at your daily routine, and you may save time searching for such activities!
- Just Do It
Time management is one of, if not the most, essential skills to master as a DP student; Without time management, it may feel like you no longer have the time to take a breath from demanding schoolwork. Everyone knows that getting your work done as soon as possible is one of the best ways to develop organizational and time management skills. However, most prefer to wait until the last minute to complete their tasks. Although you should not be hard on yourself, you should be able to keep yourself in check. For example, whenever you want to complete your assignment and your mind is coming up with never-ending excuses not to do it, just count to 5 and do it anyway. Cutting off your thoughts and not getting caught up in excuses is the key to starting to work on your assignments early. Small progress is still progress, and working for 20 minutes each day leading up to the due date is better than calculating how much time you have left until the clock hits 11:59 the day off.
- “Comparison is the thief of joy”
Coming from personal experience, comparing yourself to others does more harm than good. It is essential to remember that everyone is on their own path, and focusing on others is taking away the energy that could have gone into working on yourself. It is absurdly easy to get caught up in comparing yourself to others, and while there is no silver bullet to ending this issue, I can recommend the following:
- Try journaling or any other activity that will help you understand yourself.
- Do not run away from your weaknesses. Instead, identify and target them.
- Habitually reflecting on both your strengths and weaknesses helps you gain the invaluable skill of introspection. Having such deep knowledge of yourself will, in turn, make you less interested in comparing yourself to others as you will realize that there is no point in comparing your path to that of others’ when everyone has different goals and objectives.
- Stop creating competitions that don’t exist
Yes, you are a DP student, but you are also a teenager trying to survive a cycle of endless schoolwork and levels of stress that you have never experienced before. If you are a high achiever, the academic stress is even worse: you constantly evaluate yourself in every aspect and don’t allow yourself to take a step back and rest. Hence, it is crucial to remind yourself that not everything is a competition, and that sometimes, you have to allow yourself to breathe. If your body is giving you signals that you are pushing your limits, listen to it. Resting for a few days will fill you with the energy needed to become even more productive and avoid burnout in the most crucial of times.
Final thoughts
If you are an extremely stressed, overworked DP1 student, don’t worry. You are not the first and definitely will not be the last. So, remind yourself that if others could do it, then you can do it too. Having such a drastic change in our lives, especially at such a young age, can be at times frightening, but remember: nothing changes if nothing changes. Yes, it may be overwhelming at times, but the DP is also an excellent way to develop yourself, both personally and academically.