Reflection

I was terrified when I entered high school, like most poor freshmen.  I came from a tiny bilingual, Montessori charter school with a graduating class of 18, so coming to Millbrook was a complete culture shock.  I  was also terrified when I entered IB, like most of my peers.  I expected a “rigorous, demanding program” (Lord Baron) that would make me cry at least one night a week.  Well, it turns out one of those things were true, and it was not crying once a week. (Although, I do admit that I have shed many, many tears over IB coursework, just not at the frequency that I expected.  Sorry for the cliche Mrs. G, but I can attest to the legitimacy of the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”)  Looking back on all of the late nights, difficult tests, terrifying orals, never-ending Extended Essay, and uncountable Internal Assessments, I realize that I never regretted doing IB.  I knew when I signed up that it was going to be very difficult.  Honestly, that is why I did it.  I wanted to take on the challenge of the hardest program offered at Millbrook just to see if I could do it (no matter what Nina Wilder says, I still don’t believe that AP is harder than IB).  And sure, I have lost a lot of sleep and possibly some of my sanity (jk...maybe) along the way, but I value the knowledge that I gained in this program more than I regret those rough times.  I now know what chemiosmosis is, what rumbo means, how to write an essay in 2 hours (but I still struggle to not go over that time limit), what Stalin’s Five Year Plans were, and that sense perception is a WoK.  The knowledge that I have gained about myself is equally valuable to the academic knowledge that I acquired in IB.  I have learned that I can deal with a lot more than what I thought I could handle when I began IB.  I have learned how to do work in a short amount of time and maintain its quality.  I have learned how to get out of my introverted shell and become close with my IB classmates.  I will miss my caring teachers and hilarious peers, but I am grateful for the time that we have had together.