Inside the IB: A Student’s Honest Experience

Have you ever stopped to think about just how challenging the IB program really is? Or wondered what a typical day looks like for an IB student at ISB? If you have, you might notice that students often arrive at class already exhausted, not from staying up late for fun, but because they spent the previous evening studying tirelessly for a test or completing assignments. The IB isn't just about attending lessons, it's a constant cycle of preparing, reviewing, and managing multiple subjects at once. Every day feels like a struggle to meet deadlines, with exhaustion being normal. The dedication required is impressive, and it affects every aspect of their lives.

Let me tell you about my experience. Hi, I'm Daria Vernea, and I've been a student at ISB for over three years now. This is my first year in the IB program, and only now am I starting to truly feel the pressure that my friends in the previous years have been warning me about. For a long time, I kept telling myself, "I'll get through this. It can't be that hard people are just exaggerating."

Well... I was wrong. Don't believe them. The IB isn't just challenging; it's relentless. As time goes on, you have to balance multiple subjects, deadlines, and assignments with a social life and sleep. What I thought would be manageable quickly turned into a whirlwind of studying, revising, and keeping up with coursework. The pressure isn't just about tests, it's about constant mental endurance and learning to balance everything at once.

So, if you're hearing from upperclassmen that it's tough, take it seriously. Because once you're in the middle of it, you realize just how real that pressure really is.

We wake up every morning not knowing exactly what the day will bring. Some days we feel ready, and other days we feel completely unprepared. Life does not warn us about what is coming next. Just like a surprise pop quiz, things can happen when we least expect them. You might plan your day carefully, but something unexpected can still appear and change everything.

This shows that life is full of mysteries. No matter how much we prepare, we are not always ready for every situation. And that is okay. Being unprepared does not mean we failed, it means we are human. Sometimes we learn the most when we are caught off guard. Even when we think we should be ready, life reminds us that we cannot control everything, and we have to keep going anyway.