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.