Winter Break

It's christmas, which is lovely because it means that I can sleep to 11 and have somewhat of a social life! However, it's also pretty scary because I know IB is nearing its end and I really have to start doing more revising so that I'm fully prepared for the exams in a few months.

I got my report card back two weeks ago and I was pleasantly suprised. Although the teachers warned us tht our grades would most likely be worse this term, I was at the same amount of points total. I lost a point in history and english but gained to in biology so I was definitely proud of myself. Especially considering I know I can do better in english and history but I really did work hard to improve my biology grade.

To keep up my decent grades I plan on getting back on track with my work load as there's only a bit more than a week left of the break now. In this time I plan to finish as many of my internal assessments as possible so that I don't have them riding over my shoulders when I should be studying for the actual exams.

Just Over Two Weeks Left

Finally, exam week is over!

It's nice to know that I have normal lessons again, less stressful than exams but I'm still so so tired. It kind of sucks that we get the grades back already this week though because I know I haven't done well in a couple of exams and therefore I'd rather put off seeing how badly I have done. However, I shouldn't be complaining because I at least I don't have exams anymore (for the moment).

This week is not without its deadlines and stresses, though. Tomorrow, I have my english oral after school and I really don't feel like I'm prepared enough. It's 15% of my grade and I really want to do well so that I have a good amount of my final grade done and I know it's bringing up the rest of my grade, not down. Therefore, I'll be working on that in a frenzy this evening.
I also have my geography fieldwork final draft due tomorrow. I've already finished it but I don't like my it. I want to make changes but I don't have time this evening as english feels the most important - most difficult.

All I can say is that I'm most definitely looking forward to our christmas break in about 2 and a half weeks time. Then I can sleep, work on everything I have to work on and relax in the sun when I go to Cape Verde

Exam week and Birthday

It was my birthday last Wednesday, I turned 18, an age renowned for its immense celebration but did I celebrate? Not really, no. In fact, the weekend that has just passed I did not celebrate like a normal 18 year old would. Why not you may ask. Well, because I'm an IB student and we spend all our free time like we do at school - studying. Except for a measly birthday dinner with my family that lasted around two hours because I needed to get an early night, I did not celebrate at all. Both Saturday and Sunday were spent revising for the exams I have this week.
Bad timing? Yes, I agree.
Here's a little picture of how only the next two days look:

And that's missed out the history exam I had today and the biology exam I'mm having tomorrow. Oh well, I guess I don't need a social life or even to have time to go to the gym. Something I'd usually dread, I long for. I just hope I do ok on these exams so that all my lost time was worth it.

Right now I'm writing my TOK essay first draft and then I will move onto some History revision and then I will finish my evening with Biology, I can't wait. It's only a few months left now until the exams though. In a way it's nice; it means IB is over and I am free of it forever. All that awaits me now is university and then a life of working to try and make ends meet with some kids on the way and a husband and whatnot. In a way it's pretty bleak to think that way and I know if I study hard I'll have more opportunities to do what I want in the future, not just anything to make ends meet.

Uni chioces / grades I'm getting now.. grades I want

I'm about three months into IB second year now and things are really in full flow. I'm really starting too realise how last year was a piece of cake in comparison to this year. Now we're getting Internal Assessments done in all subjects, orals done for English and Swedish and everything is really starting to feel much more real. These things actually count to my final grade and that's scary because last year was just practise, I knew if I messed up it wouldn't count at the end of the day. If I mess up now, then it's my final grade I'm messing up and that's scary...

I had a hard time deciding between the UK or Sweden for university but after much consideration, I decided I would take a gap year and then go to uni in Sweden. This is mainly because all my closest family is here now and it's free to study! The only problem with me studying in Sweden is that it makes me feel like studying the IB in english was kind of a waste of time. I mean, it's my first language and it means that high school life has been easier for me.. but it means I haven't been able to practise my swedish as much, which is necessary because it's my second language and I need to be tip top for a swedish uni.
There are pros to the IB though, I know I'll be 10 times better than everyone else at structuring and writing essays and I'll be able to source unlike anyone else. Swedish schools don't focus as much on essay writing as IB and that's sad for them because universities definitely do!

At the moment I'm doing ok in my subjects, like everyone, I wish I was doing better but I'm really trying to study more to change that! The only subjects I was really unhappy with my end of year grade was biology and Swedish. For biology all it takes is a little bit more revision and really trying to understand the stuff (easier said than done, that stuff doesn't make sense to me!) but for swedish it's more complex. As I said, it's my second language and I only really started learning it when I moved here just over two years ago. The problem is, that the level I'm studying at is at a first language level and it means that I don't get very good grades. It's frustrating because it's hard to learn all the grammar, etc and even though I'm taking a swedish course on the side of IB, I don't seem to be improving.

Oh well, if I improve in these two subject areas, I aim to get a 34/35 at the end of the year plus however many points I get for the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge.

Hectic

The past two weeks have been so hectic. I'm starting to understand what the last years grade 12's meant when they said that this year is a lot of work.
I have essay's due in pretty much every lesson and if not an essay, it's an IA. I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to be able to have any sort of social life, considering the weekend that just past I spent only doing schoolwork and everyday after school I've had at least 4-5 hours of work to do. It sucks but I know it's worth it.
I want to study Law or politics after my gap year so I know it's important I get a good work ethic now so I won't make life more difficult for myself when I get to uni.

However, we did have a four day break last week, which was really refreshing. Even if I still have a lot of work due (Geo, Bio, History, English) and I had to spend my breaking doing it, I was at least able to get fully rested. I went to sleep at 11/12 every night and woke up at 10. I'm feeling a lot less stressed after the weekend too because I know I'm rested and able to do all my work.

IB is hard but I'm more than half way through conquering it!

An IB Summer

Unlike my swedish friends who went on multiple holidays over the summer and didn't do a single piece of homework, my summer did not involve "chillaxing by the pool" and I had a lot of work to do. IB and having a Summer Job are somewhat demanding 

I started my summer by taking a break. I went to Crete for a week and there I had a week to recuperate and relax before I didn't anything substantial. It was nice and warm and I spent most of my time in or by the pool. It was sad to have to leave. Then when I came back I had one week free before I started my summer job at the Royal Bank of Scotland. In that week, I spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and basking in my free time, but I also decided what sources I would use for Extended Essay. 

The Extended Essay (for you that don't know) is this 4,000 word essay all IBer's have to write in a vain hope to gain 1 or 2 extra points on top of the points we get from our classes. My EE is on history, specifically Winston Churchill and his effect on the Second World War. It's hard.

Before that week I wasn't entirely sure what books I was going to use for sources. I had already written my introduction and I had a lot of great website source but nothing that had been officially published. However, a quick google search, a chat with my dad (a Churchill enthusiast) and a hop and a skip to the local library later,  I knew in which direction I was going. 

Then I started my 6 weeks at the Royal Bank of Scotland. That was hard too. I'm not entirely sure what my job title would be but for six weeks, if I had to choose it would be "workplace slave". Whilst there I did anything from filing, to taking dishes out of the dishwasher, sorting out batteries and all the other things the receptionists were supposed to do but didn't want to. It was kinda rewarding though, I learnt a lot and I know it's going to look really good on my CV for future jobs. ((And I made lots of money!)) During these weeks working, the 9 hour shifts really took it out of me and I really did not have the energy to go home and do any school work. I usually just fell asleep in front of the tv when I got home. I don't know how grown-ups do it?

Anyway, after this I visited my friend, Nicole, in America, namely Boston. I was there for a little less than three weeks and it was so much fun! I went to see all the attractions and found out how the Americans got rid of us after the civil war. It was interesting and mostly, really fun.  I mean, I got to meet Nicol, one of my closest friends, for the first time in over a year! 

About half way through the trip I suddenly realised that I had that thing called an Extended Essay and I wasn't supposed to be having this much fun on my break. Luckily, Nicole too does IB and had work to do. We both spent two days with just our heads in our books and I got a lot of good notes and work done.

After that we went back to sightseeing and having fun.

After I got back from America, I pretty much started school straight away.

So yeah, that was my summer.

Why I'm Writing this Blog

Hi. My name is Henrietta. I am 17 years old and I am a student at Stockholm International School, studying the IB diploma. I am half swedish, half english and I lived in the UK until I was 15 and Sweden since then. 

The IB diploma is an international course that's supposed to be "preparing students for success in higher education and life in a global society." I don't know if this is completely the case, honestly I only do the IB because I moved from the UK two years ago and I couldn't find any other course in Sweden that was solely done in english.

I just know that the IB is a lot of work and there are extra curricular things you're supposed to do at the same time as studying for exams and your Extended Essay, such as CAS. CAS stands for Creativity, Action and Service and it's basically a way of stealing all of an IB students extra time. I'm joking, it's kind of rewarding and you get to join in on a bunch of fun activities that you wouldn't usually take part in if it wasn't compulsory. 

This blog will be about all my adventures in the following year from now in August to when I take my final exams in May. I'm writing this blog, partly so I have something for the creativity section of my CAS and partly because I think it's good for new 11 grade IB students to know what it's like being in the second year of IB. I know last year, I didn't really have a clue what I was getting myself into.

Here, I will write everything from how I find my classes, homework, manage a social life and anything else that effects my IB life.