This year, juniors are enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB), taking on harder classes, bringing a new experience to students.
IB classes are college-level courses that help prepare and develop new skills for students who plan to attend college. It presents a new challenge to students compared to regular classes, as it helps students earn college credit while in high school and can lead to a boost in their GPA, and help them earn the IB diploma, which prepares students for university and earn more credits in university.
IB coordinator, Ms. Dukellis, said that about 50% of the juniors at Del Mar are enrolled in the IB program. Most of the students in the program say that they are constantly stressed by the amount of work that is assigned to them, which can discourage many students inside and outside of the IB program.
Mikayla Manalastas, a junior, admits that IB classes are tougher than she expected, but she’s determined to push through.
“I knew they were gonna be really hard, like super duper hard,” she said, “but I didn’t expect them to be as hard and tiring as they are now.”
Manalastas is currently taking IB Math, IB Language and Literature (Lang & Lit), IB History of the Americas (HOTA), and Theory of Knowledge (TOK). Her favorites?
“TOK, because we think about why we think what we think,” she said, adding that she also enjoys Lang & Lit, “because I like my teacher.”
Despite the heavy workload, she believes the challenge is worthwhile.
“It depends what kind is student you are,” she explained. “If you can do it, then obviously do it. But if you’re not committed, then you shouldn’t.”
Her toughest course so far is IB Math, “it’s such a huge jump,” she said, but she doesn’t regret joining the program. “Some days I do, some days I don’t,” she laughed. “But I think I’m a boss, so I can power through.”
For sophomores thinking about joining IBs, Mikayla’s advice is simple: “Do them,” she said. “It’s whatever, if you can, you should.”
Giovanni Martinez, a junior, is currently taking four IB courses and says the program’s reputation for being “overwhelming” isn’t quite what he expected.
“I expected them to be overwhelmingly hard,” Martinez said, “but they ended up being just a lot of work, not difficult.”
Martinez talks about how the workload from his classes keeps him busy but manageable when he stays consistent.
“They become difficult when you don’t keep up and when you’re not consistent,” he explained. Out of all his classes, history is his favorite, while biology is the toughest.
“I like learning about history,” Martinez said. “Bio has a lot of work, and sometimes I don’t completely understand the material. That’s the class I have my lowest grade in, a C-plus.”
Looking ahead, Martinez plans to take IB Psychology and IB Theory of Knowledge (TOK) next year. He also wishes the school offered IB Chemistry.
“I really liked chemistry, and I wish I was able to expand more on it, but there’s no other advanced chemistry class.” Martinez said.
Despite the heavy workload, Martinez says he doesn’t regret joining the IB program. “I don’t regret it because I feel like I needed that little challenge,” he said.
He also offered advice for students thinking about IB next year: “Don’t procrastinate at all and keep consistent with your work, and make free time for yourself too.”
When asked whether he’d prefer the Advanced Placement (AP) route instead, Martinez was clear, “I prefer taking IB classes because it helps me get the IB Diploma.” Martinez said.
Another student enrolled in the IB program is Bella Riojas, who is currently taking five IB classes. She talks about what she knew about what she was going into in the IB program. “I knew the classes would be hard, but I was interested in history and bio, and I was advised on taking lit,” Riojas said.
She talks about how she knew the workload was going to be hard, but still wanted to take IB HOTA and IB Bio because she has an interest in them. “I don’t necessarily regret taking as many classes, but I do think that taking the IB classes is a good choice, it’s just hard,” Riojas said.
Despite how difficult it is to take on 5 IB classes, Riojas doesn’t regret taking them. She also discusses how the workload not only affects the students but also the teachers.
“I like history… but I feel like the person teaching you has a really big impact on how you like learning,” Riojas said.
Riojas believes that the teachers also have an impact on the students since the students need someone to engage them in the topic and teach them to improve their skills. She also offers advice to the students who are taking IB next year.
“If you’re not used to studying for the classes, it’s going to be a very big jump, and you have to work on time management, and more skills so that junior year won’t be as hard as everyone says.”
Despite being overwhelmed by the amount of work and how difficult it is, these students manage to push through and are able manage their IB classes, going beyond what they’ve learned and work hard.
