Oddly calm
So it seems that everyone expects me to be stressed about exams, motivating endless study sessions. But really, this isn't the case. I have studied, but really it occurs to me that if I haven't learned the material during the course of the years, cramming would be pointless and stressful. I refuse to cram. I refuse to stress myself out needlessly. Most people get the diploma, and I don't think there's any reason I won't.
This is motivated not only because I want to preserve my sanity, but because I am, admittedly, VERY sick of the collective attitude of my peers. "I studied ______ hours! I'm so worried about _______ exam! ______ isn't going to get the diploma because ______ is stupid as hell!"
Shut up and (pardon my French) get the fuck over yourselves. Most of you act like you're a groundbreaking genius, but there are really only 1 or 2 people among us, if that, who are anywhere near qualified to call themselves a genius and strut into a MENSA meeting.
Overall, although IB was challenging and "rigorous", I don't think it's been immune to the problems affecting the American educational system as a whole. Many times I felt I was being taught "MEMORIZE! MEMORIZE! MEMORIZE!" and "TEST! TEST! TEST!" and I was rushed around so much that I just felt... robbed. I don't really know what to call it. Mostly I blame the colossal budget cuts of the last couple of years. (Of all the places to cut funds, hey government, education is the LAST place to do so.) The teachers have been stressed beyond their limits, and it's been detrimental to the students. I'm glad to be going this year--they've made even more cuts and it's going to get ugly.
My biggest issue has been with the way we've treated literature. This is going to sound pretentious, but bear with me here.
I feel as though we've done nothing but tear apart literature. I know that teaches the value of using various techniques, but this process has almost ruined literature for me. I can't appreciate the whole anymore. To me, a book is now just the sum of its parts. I miss being able to pick up and read something and just... appreciate it. No annotation, no commentating- just reading.
Hopefully I'll start to feel better after exams and after I can escape the idiocy.
(Also, by no means do I consider myself a genius.)
This is motivated not only because I want to preserve my sanity, but because I am, admittedly, VERY sick of the collective attitude of my peers. "I studied ______ hours! I'm so worried about _______ exam! ______ isn't going to get the diploma because ______ is stupid as hell!"
Shut up and (pardon my French) get the fuck over yourselves. Most of you act like you're a groundbreaking genius, but there are really only 1 or 2 people among us, if that, who are anywhere near qualified to call themselves a genius and strut into a MENSA meeting.
Overall, although IB was challenging and "rigorous", I don't think it's been immune to the problems affecting the American educational system as a whole. Many times I felt I was being taught "MEMORIZE! MEMORIZE! MEMORIZE!" and "TEST! TEST! TEST!" and I was rushed around so much that I just felt... robbed. I don't really know what to call it. Mostly I blame the colossal budget cuts of the last couple of years. (Of all the places to cut funds, hey government, education is the LAST place to do so.) The teachers have been stressed beyond their limits, and it's been detrimental to the students. I'm glad to be going this year--they've made even more cuts and it's going to get ugly.
My biggest issue has been with the way we've treated literature. This is going to sound pretentious, but bear with me here.
I feel as though we've done nothing but tear apart literature. I know that teaches the value of using various techniques, but this process has almost ruined literature for me. I can't appreciate the whole anymore. To me, a book is now just the sum of its parts. I miss being able to pick up and read something and just... appreciate it. No annotation, no commentating- just reading.
Hopefully I'll start to feel better after exams and after I can escape the idiocy.
(Also, by no means do I consider myself a genius.)