Deadlining
Wandering around reading everyone's LJ makes me realize how little I miss high school. xP
Seriously, high school sucked pretty hard. Admittedly, I did develop a very strange autoimmune disease and spend freshman and sophmore years on dialysis (that saga, and a subsequent kidney transplant, is a topic for another post entirely), but I think it might have sucked pretty hard no matter what. I was in International Baccalaureate - like five years of schooling in four, to the uninitiated. To my fellow IBers, I raise a mug of espresso and chant, "I.B., therefore I B.S.". As I think most IB students will tell you, it's not the work itself that's enormously hard; it's the sheer quantity you get, and the limited amount of time you have to do it in. College came as an enormous relief to me for a number of reasons, but chief among them was the reduced workload. Suddenly, I had only four classes to concentrate on. Four! And how many hours of class time a week? Three! (Well, labs aren't in there, but you get my drift.) Not to say that college was a walk in the park- I worked pretty darn hard, and had my share of screw-ups- but it was incredible how much time I suddenly had. Something I miss, now that I work 9-5...I felt like college let me take a deep breath and begin the process of figuring myself out. I would do IB again, given the chance. I met a lot of good friends there, and it DID teach me some pretty impressive study skills. (Also- IB teaches you how to write. This will save you a lot of time in the first few years of college, and most likely put you ahead of most of your classmates.) The program did expand the things I could learn, too- I'm certain I had a broader exposure to literature and history that I would have in my surburban Maryland school. I'd try to take things a lot less seriously, however. Use IB to get yourself into the college you want to go to. Use those study skills to make those first few years of college easier. And hang on, everyone- things WILL get easier.
On a completely unrelated note, big love to my older brother (the Army doctor), who was shipped out to "Iraqistan" (his word) last weekend. He's in Kuwait right now, sending us very funny emails about finding death scorpions in the outhouse. He's a doctor, and a flight surgeon, so he should be spending his time somewhere safe and boring giving pilots physicals. Take care anyway, Jefe. /hugs
Seriously, high school sucked pretty hard. Admittedly, I did develop a very strange autoimmune disease and spend freshman and sophmore years on dialysis (that saga, and a subsequent kidney transplant, is a topic for another post entirely), but I think it might have sucked pretty hard no matter what. I was in International Baccalaureate - like five years of schooling in four, to the uninitiated. To my fellow IBers, I raise a mug of espresso and chant, "I.B., therefore I B.S.". As I think most IB students will tell you, it's not the work itself that's enormously hard; it's the sheer quantity you get, and the limited amount of time you have to do it in. College came as an enormous relief to me for a number of reasons, but chief among them was the reduced workload. Suddenly, I had only four classes to concentrate on. Four! And how many hours of class time a week? Three! (Well, labs aren't in there, but you get my drift.) Not to say that college was a walk in the park- I worked pretty darn hard, and had my share of screw-ups- but it was incredible how much time I suddenly had. Something I miss, now that I work 9-5...I felt like college let me take a deep breath and begin the process of figuring myself out. I would do IB again, given the chance. I met a lot of good friends there, and it DID teach me some pretty impressive study skills. (Also- IB teaches you how to write. This will save you a lot of time in the first few years of college, and most likely put you ahead of most of your classmates.) The program did expand the things I could learn, too- I'm certain I had a broader exposure to literature and history that I would have in my surburban Maryland school. I'd try to take things a lot less seriously, however. Use IB to get yourself into the college you want to go to. Use those study skills to make those first few years of college easier. And hang on, everyone- things WILL get easier.
On a completely unrelated note, big love to my older brother (the Army doctor), who was shipped out to "Iraqistan" (his word) last weekend. He's in Kuwait right now, sending us very funny emails about finding death scorpions in the outhouse. He's a doctor, and a flight surgeon, so he should be spending his time somewhere safe and boring giving pilots physicals. Take care anyway, Jefe. /hugs