The end of this last school year saw exhausted and stressed former International Baccalaureate, IB, seniors breathe sighs of relief knowing that they passed their tests and got their IB diplomas, as it usually goes at the end of any year. However, this year was a little bit different for the IB students, coordinators, teachers, and the administration.

According to IB administrator Mary Lane Grisley, for the first time since the program has been here at Highland all the IB students enrolled in the program passed their exams and graduated with their diplomas. Along with that, the size of participants was also the largest there had been at the school.

To get the IB diploma, different requirements need to be met. A certain number of points need to be acquired and that is done by completing the extended essay, the theory of knowledge essay that is done in the class, and doing 150 hours of action, creativity, and community service activities.

All of this is done in addition with completing the IB course work in all the disciplines and passing the exams. The accomplishments of this graduated class seem to be paying off as they are, or will soon be, entering their first year of college.

“What I’m hearing now from some of the students is, they’re pretty much going into state colleges here and they are going in as sophomores able to just concentrate on their major,” Grisley said. “They’ve essentially gained a year to two years of college by getting the diploma if they [went] in state. Other students got into very prestigious colleges because they were in the IB program, like Duke, Lewis and Clark, UCLA, Stanford. That’s been a really positive thing.”

In the past, an estimated 75 % of the students would pass the tests and get their diplomas. So, not only is this a big change, but a former IB student who graduated before the Class of 2017 was able to finally earn their diploma after previously missing it by one point. The excitement of all their success was definitely a shared feeling between all of them.

“I was incredibly excited and proud,” IB graduate Tilda Wilson said. “Getting the diploma never felt like a given when participating in the program, but the fact that I did made all my effort feel worth it.”

IB graduate Ardyn Ford also had similar feelings when she discovered she would be getting her diploma.

“I was basically a nervous wreck right before I checked my IB scores,” Ford said.  “As soon as I saw that I had passed the tests and received my diploma it was just this huge flood of relief through my body. It was a buildup of two years of stress that paid off.”

A lot of dedication was put in by the students to make this work. Some of the students would get together at each other’s houses and do their work. They helped each other and maybe most importantly they had fun. There was almost a guarantee that in the beginning of last year there would be a big group of IB seniors eating lunch together in the library discussing the many things teenagers do. Grisley believes the success of this graduated year was because “they really got a cohort going” along with having “amazing teachers.”

The IB teachers spent countless hours making sure their students were as prepared as could be for not only their exams, but also for college and the changing demands of the workforce.

The specific minimum amount of points needed to get the diploma is 24, but 24 – 45 points can be earned. Usually, most students would get between 24 to 30 points. However, out of the 30 students from last year, 12 of them got between 24 and 30 points, 16 of them got between 30 and 39 points, and two students got into the 40s with one getting 43 points.

Both Ford and Wilson had a lot to say about advice for current and future IB students based on their experiences.

“First of all, it is totally worth it. It seems scary and overwhelming, but it is totally doable,” Ford said.  “Have confidence in yourself. Things definitely come together as time goes on. You just have to make time, stay engaged, and find ways to deal with the stress whether it’s through sports or friends.”

Wilson shared similar feelings looking back at her time being an IB student.

“Do it and stay in it. I can’t count the number of times I considered quitting the program altogether because it got stressful and I was worried I wouldn’t succeed,” Wilson said. “If you only go into the program to get the diploma it’ll just feel like you’re checking a bunch of random boxes and it won’t be fun. You’ll have more fun and learn more interesting things if you do IB, and you’ve got to find a way to convince yourself that that’s what’s most important to you, even if it isn’t.”

With the success of last year’s IB students, the future of the IB program at Highland already has a promising start.