International Baccalaureate
By: IB Survivor
Taking International Baccalaureate Diploma changed me. You don’t ask people ‘did they get straight A’s’ because most of them do, you ask them ‘how many subjects they took’.
Once, you were the crème de la crème in your school, acing in academic, curricular and sports. Joining tons of clubs and maybe become the president of them all. Yet when I came here, in Kolej MARA Banting (KMB), all I feel is how incomparable they are to me. Some of the people I met there were Student Heads, State Players, State Debaters, Royal Bloods, Straight A+ Holders and geniuses. So many leaders, so many intelligent brains. Hence, I stop asking who they are as to not crush what’s left of my self-confidence.
Then, the first-semester exam’s result came out. I failed in Math, a subject I always excel in. Even the other subject marks weren’t as good as I hoped. Most of the class also did badly. I was shaken. I was stunned. What did I do wrong? Did I lose my brain during the holiday? All the doubts came running in. I started to lose confidence. I started to believe that the marks I gained in my high school were just a lie. Maybe I was never good at all.
And the most haunting question came, will I survive this?
Here, I listed for you the things we have in IB :
1. Curricular activities, or here we called it CAS.
‘Creative, Action, Service.’ In 2 months, my class needed to gather RM 20k. We took the challenge and pulled every connection we had. We were the first class to start our CAS Project, which is Akkisani For Life. A project to supply solar panels to a mosque in a Cambodian village which has no electricity at all. So, we went from dorm to dorm at nights, selling crackers and drinks. We sold doughnuts during recess. We went from house to house asking for donations. We did car boot sale and sold second-hand items that we had. We put moneybox in mosques during Friday prayers. All of that mounted up to only RM 10k. We needed another 10k and we only had a few weeks left before going to Cambodia.
2. Extended Essay (EE).
Along with the normal academic activities, we had Extended Essay which is a 2000 words long essay about anything on a specific subject. It’s basically a mini-thesis and you cannot have the same title as others as well. I did a research in World Religion subject with ‘Transsexual in Islam’ as the title. I had more than 20 book and website references and did an interview with an expert as well.
3. Internal Assessment (IA).
During our batch, we had IA for every subject, which are Malay, English, Physics, Chemistry and Math. For Malay and English, it’s basically comprehension essay about the novels we learnt in class and an oral test. For Physics and Chemistry, we had to come up with an experiment that’s different from everyone else, conduct it and write a full report about it. For Math, we had to use the things we learn in the syllabus and use it in real life situation. I investigated a few shapes to find the prime shape as to save maximum space using integrals.
4. Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Essay
Theory of Knowledge subject is basically learning philosophy in life. We learnt to question things, human behaviour and the elements of life. Learning it was fun, doing the essay wasn’t. Some of us who think we did well in the essay got bad results, and some of us who think we did badly in the essay got good results. In the end, we never knew what the examiner wants.
5. Math Higher Level (Math HL)
This subject has been nominated as a killer subject all around the world. We always think we understand the subject and then fail to answer the questions. A normal question in the exam will be only a line with the solution sometimes more than a page. At first, I could not accept the reality of it and kept trying to make shortcuts. Then I failed and learnt that there is no other way around.
6. The People
Having many dominant leaders around make things competitive. Being surrounded by people who were always listened and followed by others make everyone wants to speak up, want to show that their opinion is the truth, their way is the right way. In the first semester, I was pressured by the environment and the people around me. I had to change myself drastically. From being a leader, I changed into a quiet person, a follower. I tried to adapt to my new environment. From a quiet class to the noisiest class. From never hearing bad words, to hearing them everyday almost every hour. From having girls as a majority to being a minority. I remembered there was a time, I was very stressed. So, I went to see my high school friend in her college. That night, I cried my heart out for an hour or more. I didn’t say a thing, I didn’t tell her anything, I just cried. Somehow, meeting a familiar figure enabled me to calm myself down, to take my mind off all the stress I faced in KMB.
Now, can you imagine the life in IB?
We were in the toughest (nominated) diploma programme, we had to find another 10k, we need to complete our project, we were the last class in semester exam result and we were constantly criticized by teachers and admins due to our ‘engineering class’ behaviour. Oh yea, and every IA, EE, TOK Essay and final exam will be graded by other IB teachers from all over the world.
By the end of 2 years constantly struggling, we had 3 Maths teachers, 2 TOK teachers, 3 Malay teachers and 2 PAI teachers because some of them couldn’t stand our attitude anymore. We were the worst class, said the teachers. Our class name was famous because of our bad behaviour. A few of my classmate quarrelled with the teachers, put an attitude with the teachers and sometimes, simply never come to class anymore. Almost all the teachers gave up with us, or teach us just for the sake of doing their job.
We were hopeless. We were in constant fear whether we will make it or not. Whether we will get 35 points and fly and not. Or simply, whether we will get the Diploma or not. We were once the best in our school, now we were on the edge of failure. Had I known this, I’d just take the UIA Foundation, or Matriculation or just any other programme! But here we are and there’s nowhere to run now.
Then, came the angels that helped our class, that answered our dua’s. The people who kept their belief in us even when we didn’t trust ourselves anymore.
These words were what kept us going. Because of their hope in us that never ends, because of their belief in us, we kept on trying, we kept on giving our best, despite some of us crying every day due to the pressure. Thank you, my angels.
Now, it has ended. If I was asked whether I’ll do it again, I’ll say, no, because I’ve done it once and I want to experience other things now. But doing IB changed me tremendously. Doing IB challenged my ego, my introvert-ness, my attitude, my manners, my patience and most of all, it challenged the trust I put in Him.
If you ask me, whether you should take IB or not, I’ll say yes, because it teaches you life and it forces you to grow.
Taking International Baccalaureate Diploma changed me. You don’t ask people ‘did they get straight A’s’ because most of them do, you ask them ‘how many subjects they took’.
Once, you were the crème de la crème in your school, acing in academic, curricular and sports. Joining tons of clubs and maybe become the president of them all. Yet when I came here, in Kolej MARA Banting (KMB), all I feel is how incomparable they are to me. Some of the people I met there were Student Heads, State Players, State Debaters, Royal Bloods, Straight A+ Holders and geniuses. So many leaders, so many intelligent brains. Hence, I stop asking who they are as to not crush what’s left of my self-confidence.
Then, the first-semester exam’s result came out. I failed in Math, a subject I always excel in. Even the other subject marks weren’t as good as I hoped. Most of the class also did badly. I was shaken. I was stunned. What did I do wrong? Did I lose my brain during the holiday? All the doubts came running in. I started to lose confidence. I started to believe that the marks I gained in my high school were just a lie. Maybe I was never good at all.
And the most haunting question came, will I survive this?
Here, I listed for you the things we have in IB :
1. Curricular activities, or here we called it CAS.
‘Creative, Action, Service.’ In 2 months, my class needed to gather RM 20k. We took the challenge and pulled every connection we had. We were the first class to start our CAS Project, which is Akkisani For Life. A project to supply solar panels to a mosque in a Cambodian village which has no electricity at all. So, we went from dorm to dorm at nights, selling crackers and drinks. We sold doughnuts during recess. We went from house to house asking for donations. We did car boot sale and sold second-hand items that we had. We put moneybox in mosques during Friday prayers. All of that mounted up to only RM 10k. We needed another 10k and we only had a few weeks left before going to Cambodia.
2. Extended Essay (EE).
Along with the normal academic activities, we had Extended Essay which is a 2000 words long essay about anything on a specific subject. It’s basically a mini-thesis and you cannot have the same title as others as well. I did a research in World Religion subject with ‘Transsexual in Islam’ as the title. I had more than 20 book and website references and did an interview with an expert as well.
3. Internal Assessment (IA).
During our batch, we had IA for every subject, which are Malay, English, Physics, Chemistry and Math. For Malay and English, it’s basically comprehension essay about the novels we learnt in class and an oral test. For Physics and Chemistry, we had to come up with an experiment that’s different from everyone else, conduct it and write a full report about it. For Math, we had to use the things we learn in the syllabus and use it in real life situation. I investigated a few shapes to find the prime shape as to save maximum space using integrals.
4. Theory of Knowledge (TOK) Essay
Theory of Knowledge subject is basically learning philosophy in life. We learnt to question things, human behaviour and the elements of life. Learning it was fun, doing the essay wasn’t. Some of us who think we did well in the essay got bad results, and some of us who think we did badly in the essay got good results. In the end, we never knew what the examiner wants.
5. Math Higher Level (Math HL)
This subject has been nominated as a killer subject all around the world. We always think we understand the subject and then fail to answer the questions. A normal question in the exam will be only a line with the solution sometimes more than a page. At first, I could not accept the reality of it and kept trying to make shortcuts. Then I failed and learnt that there is no other way around.
6. The People
Having many dominant leaders around make things competitive. Being surrounded by people who were always listened and followed by others make everyone wants to speak up, want to show that their opinion is the truth, their way is the right way. In the first semester, I was pressured by the environment and the people around me. I had to change myself drastically. From being a leader, I changed into a quiet person, a follower. I tried to adapt to my new environment. From a quiet class to the noisiest class. From never hearing bad words, to hearing them everyday almost every hour. From having girls as a majority to being a minority. I remembered there was a time, I was very stressed. So, I went to see my high school friend in her college. That night, I cried my heart out for an hour or more. I didn’t say a thing, I didn’t tell her anything, I just cried. Somehow, meeting a familiar figure enabled me to calm myself down, to take my mind off all the stress I faced in KMB.
Now, can you imagine the life in IB?
We were in the toughest (nominated) diploma programme, we had to find another 10k, we need to complete our project, we were the last class in semester exam result and we were constantly criticized by teachers and admins due to our ‘engineering class’ behaviour. Oh yea, and every IA, EE, TOK Essay and final exam will be graded by other IB teachers from all over the world.
By the end of 2 years constantly struggling, we had 3 Maths teachers, 2 TOK teachers, 3 Malay teachers and 2 PAI teachers because some of them couldn’t stand our attitude anymore. We were the worst class, said the teachers. Our class name was famous because of our bad behaviour. A few of my classmate quarrelled with the teachers, put an attitude with the teachers and sometimes, simply never come to class anymore. Almost all the teachers gave up with us, or teach us just for the sake of doing their job.
“Your class has to change their attitude. Some of you are so arrogant.”
“Your class is so good when it is about CAS Activities, but when it comes to studies…. “
“I gave up. For those who want to learn, I’ll teach them. For those who are not interested, I will not try anymore.”
We were hopeless. We were in constant fear whether we will make it or not. Whether we will get 35 points and fly and not. Or simply, whether we will get the Diploma or not. We were once the best in our school, now we were on the edge of failure. Had I known this, I’d just take the UIA Foundation, or Matriculation or just any other programme! But here we are and there’s nowhere to run now.
Then, came the angels that helped our class, that answered our dua’s. The people who kept their belief in us even when we didn’t trust ourselves anymore.
“I know you’re not like this during your high school. I know you did well. And I know you can do better than this.
“This is the last effort I can help you, but you must do it. Every time I give you tasks, you have to do it.”
“You all have to prove to the teachers and other classes that look down on you that you can be better. I believe you all can do it.”
These words were what kept us going. Because of their hope in us that never ends, because of their belief in us, we kept on trying, we kept on giving our best, despite some of us crying every day due to the pressure. Thank you, my angels.
Now, it has ended. If I was asked whether I’ll do it again, I’ll say, no, because I’ve done it once and I want to experience other things now. But doing IB changed me tremendously. Doing IB challenged my ego, my introvert-ness, my attitude, my manners, my patience and most of all, it challenged the trust I put in Him.
If you ask me, whether you should take IB or not, I’ll say yes, because it teaches you life and it forces you to grow.
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