Ah, freshman year. I think Charles Dickens can sum it up best: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Arguably, the hardest year of IB (just don’t tell the juniors that). I know exactly what you’re thinking: “Why is there so much homework? How am I supposed to have a social life?” And most importantly, “Help!” Fret not, Phi class, I’m here to answer all of these questions and more with a few tips.
Manage. Your. Time. - Listen, I know that this is all you’ve been hearing since orientation but your teachers tell you this for a reason. Every second of your time is valuable. Use your time to be productive. Finish, or at least start, every assignment the day you get it. It may seem tedious, but do it for the future you. For the you on Friday that completely forgot your literary analysis packet or geometry homework was due. Because you managed your time and worked on it throughout the week, now you only have one page to scribble random answers on instead of four.
Weekends are a delicate balance. - Weekends are just about every synonym for spectacular you can find listed in a thesaurus. Fridays are when you can finally wind down and put your backpack somewhere you won’t be able to see it for the next two days. You can go out with your friends or stay at home watching Netflix until you pass out. You’ll wake up Saturday with a smile because it’s noon and you’re not at school. But then, Sunday creeps up on you. Suddenly, you have assignments for every class due tomorrow, there’s a million tests and quizzes coming up, and is it A day or B day? Sure, weekends are good for relaxing but are probably the best times for getting work done. I know homework is the last thing you want to be doing on the weekends but it is going to save you a LOT of trouble on Sunday. Here’s what always works for me: work for about two hours every day. On Friday, do whatever is due next week, hardest stuff/projects first. On Saturday, do the easiest assignments. No one wants to be actually thinking on a Saturday. Leave Sunday for whatever you didn’t do Friday or Saturday, like studying.
Take a deep breath. - Coming to IB is like getting dropped in the middle of a hurricane, tornado, and earthquake all at once. You’re so focused on trying to balance the juggling act that is being a well-rounded student with good grades and a social life that you forget to stop for a second and breathe. If you don’t find time to center yourself, you’ll totally lose it. Try and find something that takes your mind off of school for at least a few minutes. Listen to music, take a power nap, meditate, do something that is not connected to anything academic.
These tips are definitely something I could have used my freshman year, so I hope they’ll be of some use to our beloved freshman. Welcome to the IB family, Phi’s. This year is going to be hard, but it’s not impossible. Join clubs, meet new people, go to IBall, and most importantly, try to calm down! Tell yourself that everything will be okay, because it will be.
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