MacDonald 1

Kate MacDonald

Professor Beard

Critical Reading and Writing I

01 October 2023

Present Challenges Prepare

High school is a uniquely relatable experience to the American teenager. Although

attending high school is something the vast majority has done, every single student has

experienced it within the lens of their own perspective under definitive environmental

circumstances. My experience however, was ultimately defined by my junior and senior year,

when I decided to join the International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidate Program. The

program included a full schedule of college level courses, community service requirements,

thesis papers for each course taken, and a lofty examination process. However, as a student who

began the program right after a year in quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my social

setting became very narrow as I only took classes with fellow Diploma Candidates. I define an

effective high school experience as preparation for the academic rigor of a college education, as

attending college was always my main goal. Although high school limited my social

experiences, my high school experience was effective to a great extent as it prepared me for the

academic setting of college through college equivalent courses and civic engagement pathways.

Extenuating circumstances throughout my high school experience caused my social

opportunities to be limited by the exposure of narrow minded peers. The COVID-19 pandemic

caused students to become virtual learners without social contact, causing limited social

exposure to differing types of students. Directly following a year without being social within a
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school setting, I was thrown into the Full Diploma Program, which only fifteen students at my

school partook in, and I was required to have every class with them. Although this began as

exciting, my adaptable and social personality type got restless very quickly with the

comfortability of being around like minded students. Fellow IB Diploma Candidate, Vivianna

Acerrio, stated that “Type A people take IB and it wasn’t until after college that I can socialize

with people with different personalities,” when reflecting upon her experiences in the program

(Acerrio).

I often found myself with the desire to experience a new type of thinking, and the

students that typically partake in IB classes are very similar, thus hindering my opportunities of

social growth through cultural transfusion outside of the same fifteen peers. In a recent article

published by The Atlantic titled “The Purpose of Education-According to Students,” author

Magdalena Slapik states that “school should be a place where I can learn about their culture and

where they came from and them learn about mine” (Slapik). When reading this article, I related

strongly to this statement because the inevitable shell that taking a full schedule of IB classes

puts you in, eradicated my ability to understand varying perspectives. I grew to know my peers

and their mentalities very quickly, and the monotonous tone of my social life made me, most

notably, uncomfortable. My strongest recollection of this uncomfortable feeling took place in a

class called Theory Of Knowledge, that only IB Diploma Candidates could take, and we

discussed general philosophy. Because this was a discussion based class, I grew to know the

opinions of my peers so well that I could almost talk to them as if there was a script printed for

me to read. As an evolving learner, I thrive in an environment that challenges my mentality

rather than an environment that creates predictability. Although the IB Diploma Program
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ultimately aided me within my academic abilities, the limited social structure caused my social

opportunities to reach a static extent.

Additionally, the lack of social expedition led to a weaker mental health within my last

two years of high school. One of my primary hobbies includes art, and my main inspiration for

what I create comes from other people and their life experiences. I often use art as my main

focus of creative expression in order to cope with obstacles that challenge my mental health. But,

without proper stimulation for inspiration, I faced artist’s block strongly and this weakened my

ability to cope with the cumulative stress of taking a schedule of IB classes. I often would reach

for my sketchbook in trying times and my main focus was character and fashion design, but I

found with the lack of inspiration, the more general my characters began to look and the more

basic the fashion pieces I was sketching turned out to be. The inability to create something

typical to my portfolio also made me feel static, as if my pen could only draw the same lines over

and over again. Not only did improper socialization weaken my inspiration, the crippling

pressure to succeed within the program caused a decline in my mental elasticity, defined as the

way my mind typically bounces back during times of stress and defeat. I often felt suffocated by

the wave of assignments that were worth such a crucial part of not only my grade in the class, but

my final examination grade in the program. Interviewee Vivianna Acerrio agreeably stated that

“overall it affected my mental health negatively because it made school the only thing I had time

for in my life,” when prompted to reflect on her the program affected her mental health as well

(Acerrio). Administrators often describe the program with one end goal, to achieve the Diploma

that you get when you pass all of your required examinations. However, the pressure that comes

in tune with that expectation allows for students such as myself, and my peers, to feel as though
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they will not receive the Diploma when stressed, thus feeling incapable and leading to a feeling

of guilt and distress.

Regardless of the effects on sociability and mental health, the Diploma Program allowed

for the opportunity to take college equivalent courses in high school, which ultimately prepared

me greatly for college classes. Specifically, my IB Literature course that spanned over the two

years I was in the program helped improve my writing skills in terms of flow, structure, and

original creation of personal thesis that engage my own curiosity. I also did a lot of examination

preparation in my IB History course, practicing under a specific time constraint to mimic the

testing process, and this practice caused me to be able to write effectively and quickly. I adapted

many skills that have already aided my learning in college, not only in writing, but with my

study habits as the program taught me how to manage my time wisely while balancing a full

schedule. Most importantly, my public speaking skills improved dramatically over my

participation within this program, as I was forced to create and present presentations that lasted

at least ten minutes on multiple occasions. Public speaking is an important skill to possess, not

just for collegiate success, but for greater confidence within a workplace setting; it’s simply a life

skill.

I do not believe that I would have been able to find college courses this effortless if I had

not taken the IB Diploma Program. In a 2019 article published by the New York Times called

“High School Doesn’t Have To Be Boring,” authors Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine observed students

in both higher and lower level classes. They concluded that “in lower-level courses, students

were often largely disengaged,” of which I had witnessed among my peers during my high

school experience (Mehta and Fine). This reflects the standard that common core classes often
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hold, meaning that the content taught to students within the classes do not engage them into

exciting learning processes, hindering their ability to grow as a student. Although during my high

school experience, I was often jealous of the students that were in common core classes because

they had more free time than I did, I don’t think I would trade the education I received from the

IB Program for the potential alternative. According to Vivianna Acerrio, “common core classes

in high school are not as effective because ultimately they teach to the lowest of the class which

for the majority of the class does nothing,” when asked whether she would have preferred taking

common core of the IB Program. Overall, the college level equivalence of the courses I took in

high school equipped me with the skills necessary to exceed in college, which in turn verifies the

effectiveness of my high school experience because I wanted high school to prepare me properly

for greater academic rigor.

My education within the program exceeded outside of the classroom, as I was presented

with public service requirements through the IB Diploma Program, thus forcing me to get

involved within my community and build better professional strengths. My high school is located

in Simi Valley, California, home to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The high school I

went to had specific connections to the Presidential Library, and there was a service program

called the Citizen Scholarship Institute, of which I had to participate in for my IB Diploma. The

idea behind the CSI Program was to allow high schools to create service projects that interested

them personally, and to take active action within the community in order to carry out their plans.

The capstone requirement of the process was a presentation that actually took place at the

Reagan Library, and I had to publicly speak to a great number of people when presenting my

project. I chose to partner with the social science department at my high school in order to create
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a club that bridged the gap the teachers within the department were having with their students. It

was a history buff club and we actually ended up having a very successful club on campus.

Throughout this process I learned to collaborate and communicate effectively with others, as I

had to reach out to staff at my school and at the Reagan Library in order to ensure the vision for

my project was properly carried out. These communication skills have already benefited me

greatly in my college experience because I have no trouble speaking to my professors or other

staff members, because I know how to be an active member of a community. If I did not take on

the Full IB Diploma Program, I believe I would lack the strength I hold in these skills I now

possess.

Many students often deem their high school experience as pointless because it did not

equip them with skills that could be used in real, everyday life. However, I always knew that my

personal goal was always to go to college and obtain my degree, thus the academic standards

placed upon me through higher level courses in high school benefited me greatly. I was able to

develop skills through the Full IB Program that have not only aided me academically, but

professionally in an everyday setting as well. My confidence with public speaking, for example,

has leaked into other areas of my life, such as interviewing for jobs with clear speech and critical

thinking on the spot. I believe that because of the skills I was able to gain, I would overall define

my high school experience as greatly effective. Although, I recognize that I hold a great sense of

privilege with the ability I had to take these higher level classes, and while writing this essay I

realized that it was higher level setting that allowed for me to be more confident in academics.

This however, is a problem to the general high school population because students that choose to

take common core classes end up feeling unprepared and unchallenged thus leaving them less
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equipped to succeed in the workforce. I believe because of the inequality found within public

school systems, there has to be a change in the way that schools are choosing to educate their

students, particularly ones that do not choose to take college level courses, as that should not

decide whether or not they deserve to gain life skills.

Works Cited

Acerrio, Vivianna. Interview. Conducted by Kate MacDonald. 24 September 2023.

Ponnuru, Ramesh. “What Is the Purpose of High School?” The National Review, 12 Aug. 2019,

https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/08/12/what-is-the-purpose-of-high-school/.

Slapik, Magdalena. “Student Perspectives on the Purpose of Education - The Atlantic.” The

Atlantic, https://www.facebook.com/TheAtlantic/, 1 Oct. 2017,

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/10/the-purpose-of-education-according-to-st

udents/541602/.