Angela Bellacosa (284)

It is now winter season at Central High School, and as everyone returns and settles in, so do the new International Baccalaureate (IB) juniors. The IB program is a challenging and selective program for students who seek to develop their critical thinking skills and challenge their beliefs. However, it is also notorious for its heavy workload, challenging courses, and demanding teachers.  

Even though it is just the beginning of the year, many IB students already feel overwhelmed with their workloads. Rafaela Rodriguez (284) said she was scared of the program involving such a small group of people but now thinks of it as a benefit of IB, as it helped her form stronger connections within the program. When discussing the overall highlights of IB, she states, “I feel like all the classes dig deeper; they don’t just teach you new information, they relate it back to self-awareness and make you question who you are, they make you see connections in all sorts of things that you haven’t thought of before.” This is what the program is about for Rafaela, challenging her beliefs and how she knows what she knows. She continues, “I feel like our thoughts are welcomed more,” affirming that she values the independence she has to pursue, share, and expand knowledge and ideas. Another benefit she mentions is how engaged both the teachers and students are. She says, “We are surrounded by people who are motivated and care about their work, and it makes me more motivated.” Although they are stereotyped as competitive overachievers, students in IB are determined and inspired. Students help each other out by motivating each other to put in the work and willpower to succeed, and teachers are extremely caring, constantly checking up on their students. 

When asked about the highlights of the IB program, Natalie Margasak (284) says, “This is the first year I have been able to focus more on English and History, which I enjoy the most.” In fact, she believes that IB is very focused on reading and writing comprehension rather than surface-level memorization. Regarding this, she states, “I look forward to producing better writing after this year and view it as a great accomplishment.” The extensive writing assignments produce a lot of stress; however, they also produce a positive outcome, with many saying their writing has improved after being in IB English. Natalie believes that although the program’s structure is not her personal preference, she appreciates the help from teachers as they work hard to make sure students understand the assignments. 

New IB cohort member, Jayden Vance (284), agrees with the other students in the cohort. Regarding the size of the program, she concludes, “Because you’re with the same people, you form really close personal and professional relationships with people.” Furthermore, regarding her favorite part about IB, she states, “IB gives me the chance to prove my learning to myself through my progress in various reassessments rather than a baseline test.” She likes that the program is based on the progress that goes into finding an answer and not the answer itself. Just like Natalie and Rafaela, Jayden appreciates the fact that IB prioritizes comprehension and investigation skills over a set answer that is provided. 

Even though IB definitely has its challenges, it’s all worth it in the long run. Of course, the workload can get heavy, but the garnered skills can last a lifetime. Not only is the program composed of an abundant and ambitious syllabus along with driven students, but it also stresses logical and emotional learning. As the interviewed IB students had previously stated, IB helps develop important logical skills, such as critical thinking, and helps evolve emotional learning as the program nurtures a tight-knit community where caring for each other and mutual uplifting are common practices.