It’s been a quarter since my junior year started. A large percentage of our class is taking the full IB diploma, and almost everyone is taking at least one IB class. IB is known internationally for its rigor and it challenges students to set them up for success. Although it’s quite obvious that the IB would be harder than your usual classes, it still feels sudden when your grades start to fall.
When you join 9th grade everything gets harder because you’ve entered high school but you eventually get adjusted to it. Then grade 11 arrives, and again everything gets harder. The challenges get tougher and the grade boundaries are stricter. Everyone says that failures and mistakes set you up for success, but that doesn’t ensure that the failures feel like a stepping stone and not like something dragging you down.
The classes move faster, the content doubles, the time you spend studying increases, your IAs, EE, CAS, your subjects, the exam structure – where to score the most points, how to answer the questions, the key terminology, the right way to do it. It’s all on a newer level for most of us. Maybe, that’s exactly why it happens, maybe the grade drop or the challenges are a part of the process. We might have to experience all of this in order to fully adapt to the IB.
It’s still not pleasant to see your grades slip by one or two levels compared to last year. Looking at your report card can definitely make you question yourself and your choices. Everyone around me often says, “In quarter one your grades will drop, but they’ll go back up again.” It’s motivating, but I wonder if it’s actually true. When you’re already struggling in the beginning and you know the content will only get more difficult, is it even possible for us to think that with time our grades will go up.
It’s not something magical that will allow your grades to go up by themselves. You can’t expect your grades to rise by hoping or doing the same things you’ve always done. It’s your choice to be satisfied with your current grades, or work on how to improve them.
Some of my grades have dropped from grade 10, while some stayed the same. Still, I’m determined to bring them up. I know I’m trying hard and hopefully my grades will go up. The idea that “your grades will go up” is honestly something that also makes me realize that it’s possible and if other people have done it, so can you. But, it’s not just about waiting, it’s about doing, working, learning and improving each time, even if it’s little by little.
Maybe, that’s what this quarter is about, it’s the beginning of a journey where the path may be rough at first, but eventually you’ll have a smooth journey throughout. It’s about you choosing to stay on the path giving it your all, figuring out how to maneuver your car so it stays steady, and you don’t lose control of it. It’s a process, a journey and when you reach the end of the road you’ll get back to the rough starting and remember your first quarter, how your grades dropped and where you are right now, even after the quarter one disaster.
Image: Violet Trajtenberg
