The many months leading up to the intensive IB exams felt like an intellectual rush! Hahahaha, I'm joking. It was intense, but at the same time kind of enjoyable. I like to be in English B. I dedicated most of my free time to review English B material, and trying not to completely lose my mind from stress caused by Paper 1. The last weeks until I record my IO, my anxiety was on its peak, but by a miracle I persevered.

However, at the moment of recording my, I didn't feel nervous about the Lord of the Flies individual oral assessment. Diving into that novel under Ms. Claudia’s expert English understandings let me be so equipped to analyze the major themes, symbols, contexts, and connections with the novel. After countless classroom discussions analyzing the text from every angle, that fictional island felt like a second home! I know every character like my mother's side family!

When my presentation date arrived after long some date changes, Ms. Claudia's cute word echoed my brain: “Trust yourself, you got this! You comprehend l better than you realize!” Empowered by her confidence after months of encouragement, I spoke with an enormous pride during those 20 minutes.

Ms. Claudia was one key in my whole IB journey since day one. She made herself available for extra help whenever I felt my poise crumbling. Her patience, made me approach the IO with ease at the end of the day, earning a score of 7/7!

The exam papers from just three weeks ago, you know Paper 1 and 2, however, werean entirely different beast... In spite of tireless essay preparations during class sessions, Paper 1 sent my stress levels through the roof once I confronted the prompts. I would like to think that my overthinking was doing its show time again, instead of thinking that I wasn't ready enough to develop an amazing Paper 1. I took a deep breath to equilibrate my nerves, chose one prompt, outlined essential points, the context, the purpose, the audience, the register, and the tone and start out writting paragraphs until the 5-minute warning. By the time I wrote my final word, my hand was hurted like you can't imagine!

On the other hand, Paper 2 was not so bad for me. I am really good at listening, you know. I preferred somehow American accent, rather that the British classy thing. In the reading assesment, I felt confused. At my very first moments reading the texts I didn't feel like bilingual, hahahahah. But after reading carefully, and many deep breaths after... I answer almost every question like a fricking pro. I still punish myself for allowing exam panic to override basic test content common sense!

So dear diary, at long last this two-year IB exam marathon has concluded, it leaves me a sense of relief, and satisfaction with myself. It’s incredible to realize how significantly my intellect, critical analysis abilities, and world perspective have evolved over this chapter. I surely couldn't have survived without my devoted mentors like Ms. Claudia, and Ms. Tania. Perhaps in due time, once the wound of my overthinking situations disappears, I would feel fully proud of my performance of my IB diploma. Here’s sincerely hoping!

See you next time dear diary!

Eli