The IB Commune

Imagine this: you were pulled into a blind vote and told your entire class could get a pizza if no one raised their hand, but one person could get a fat Starbucks gift card if they and only they raised their hand. Would you be the one to take that risk, even if it meant everybody would lose out if someone else raised their hand too?

If you're an IB student, you shouldn't even have to consider putting that hand up. In the ideal world, of course, ceteris paribus (shoutout to econ students). This is what it means to be a part of the IB community — a collective that recognizes its members' struggles and desires by the back of the hand.

Because in IB, there’s no such thing as going it alone.

You may sit for your own individual exams, write your own extended essay, and stress over your own deadlines in solitude — especially if you’re the single student who keeps submitting assignments at least 3 days off the mark that practically everyone knows of — even so, when it comes down to it, Mr. International Baccalaureate has his network of unlikely support. It’s a silent agreement, an unspoken code that transcends subjects. There’s no self-taught language student who doesn’t know about the infamous pain experienced by Mandarin students. Unless you’re getting consistent 7s. Can’t relate.

Need a last-minute explanation of the integrating factor before your calculus test? Someone in the group chat is already typing a response, and you can almost imagine them looking at you disappointedly. Have a few hours before your human relationships Psych ERQ? Have no fear; someone already has their 13-page document loaded up with every possible response to every possible question. Wanna see a vividly drawn diagram of the male AND female human reproductive systems from a Bio student? Me neither, but it looks cool on paper.

That’s why, when you’re in IB, you shouldn’t just focus on getting your ideal predicted grade. You should be savoring the moment (responsibly), getting boba and ramen on long, hard days, going on 2-hour video calls to share the latest information on studies and gossip, and doing reaction videos to university offers. Take advantage of those dropped blocks, too, so that you can sneak out into other random classes you’re not in to troll your friends while pretending to have always been a student of that class to the point where the teacher genuinely thinks you’re their student.

After all, IB isn’t just about the rigorous coursework that makes you question your life choices. It’s about the people you survive it with — the people who are also participating in that blind vote.