Social Life + IB = impossible?

[nicole10493]

It's not impossible It's all about time management and how many other things (ie extracurriculars, work, etc) you are doing on top of IB. If it helps, one thing I've been doing lately is spending my Friday evenings out with my friends (both IB and non-IB), then when Saturday comes along I do my homework so I have Sunday off (maybe even spend more time with friends! ). But remember this: it all depends on the individual! Don't worry about how your life is; just live it. I was constantly worried, "Oh my goodness. I have no social life!" or "My grades aren't doing that well..." and those thoughts made me depressed. When I started ignoring those thoughts and began living life on a day-to-day basis, everything started evening out (for the better). Now my grades are pretty decent, AND my social life is becoming what it used to be (I'm also getting decent amounts of sleep, may I add ). Point is: don't stress if something isn't going the way you want it to. Smile, take a deep breath, and take everything one day at a time. Figure out which plan is best for you.

BTW to make up for any "lack" of a social life, the IB at my school holds an annual banquet at the end of the year. Also, we throw parties every few months with just IB students at each other's houses. Just throwing out some ideas for those out there who don't know what to do.

[crushxoxo]

I don't think its impossible to have both; you just have to figure out when to have less of one so the other doesn't become nonexistent. I realized by my junior year that as your grades decrease your social life increases. There might be a correlation instead tho...like maybe you are more social because you don't understand the work?

[Summer Glau]

It's possible to have a social life; you just have to know when to have one and when you should put it off to the side for a bit. I've had weekends where I didn't leave the house and stayed in doing work but I had time to go out on other weekends. I usually hang out with friends/go out when there's a break from school or a long weekend. Yes IB is hard and sometimes you won't have time to go out when you really want to, but if you never have time to go out or stay up until 2 am everyday doing work then there's something very, very wrong with how you manage your time.

I'm not the type of person who goes out a lot anyways; I think my social life would have been pretty much the same even if I wasn't in IB.

[whatisreality]

I don't have a social life, the only time when i go out is for church or concerts. But i always KNOW that I can have a social life actually, it's just due to my procrastination i don't exactly have one. I also sleep quite little. I spend a lot of time watching dramas.

[breanna_cheer]

I wish I could say it was possible, but I dont go out/ hang with my friends nearly as much as I wish I could. I go to practice Monday through Friday with competitions on the weekends, sometimes missing school for out of town ones, in addition to the almost impossible amount of work my teachers give me. And whenever I do get a day i'm not swamped with work, i'm sleeping. My friends and I are either doing school, extra curriculars, or sleeping (which is rare). I'm afraid I have to admit my grades have suffered a bit this year with all that's going on, but if it's taught me anything, it's taught me time management. I've learned to use every second to my advantage and to (as hard as it is) not procrastinate. My social life is kind of not existent right now, besides my small group of friends , but that's what I've sacrificed in order to keep my head above water in IB.

[Shennell]

As soon as I saw the title, I was like hell noooooo ha no. Its either social life, sleep, good eating habits or good marks. No and can fit into that .. none

But the again, it depends what you feel is a social life. I never had one, so it dint make a difference when I got in but my other classmates completely lost their social life

[Dinstruction]

My social life is IB.

[Cronos]

It really is not impossible, you can manage your time, have a good sleep, wake up study and FOCUS while studying, if you don't then there will be a loss in time that you could spend relaxing or doing an activity you enjoy.

Do all your work in time, hand in your assignments ASAP, and simply study what you take and by the end you'll get a high mark and still have a social life..

[Rares T. Gosman]

It's really impossible. Honestly all you want to do at this age is have fun, and homework is not very fun at all. If you're one of the lucky few who think they've got the time management skill and potential to pull it off - then by all means, I salute you. But if you're a procrastinator like myself and my colleagues you'll find most of your day is spent on the internet or in front of the TV. Then come the BBQ's, social outings, other stuff you want to make room for, and suddenly there's no room for study.

If you can find a way to do your work on time, then maybe. But if you want to have more fun in High School than you will in Uni/College then you should probably drop. Never lose hope though

[Jasmeena]

I agree that having a social life and doing well in IB depends entirely on the individuals. Take me for example. I have 7ns and one 6 (Maths ) and I still manage to do all the extracurricular activities, go out every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, have a boyfriend, and still have some time to spare. It's a fact that I rarely do sleep, but that's because I don't need sleep. I'm a night person and everything I do, I do by night.

But if I was to choose between wasting 'the best years of my life' and remaining a social life, I would rather be studying. !!! The future is what we should look forward!

To be honest, I live for the day when my dreams will come true, and well, I won't let anything stand in their way So social life is just... good to have, but would not choose it over anything if I had to

[lilianna009]

Sometimes reading this forum i have this impression that we atend some different IB .

I mean, I'm not that social creature, I love sleeping, watching my favourite tv shows (like now, I'm watching Vampire Diaries all over again cause there is a 3 weeks break), sleeping more, I spend looooooots of time at fb, twitter. And I spend like about 3 hrs/day commuting. And kids in my school they do party A LOT.

Well, maybe that's gonna change next year .

[Sammie Backman]

I have a social life, good grades and get enough sleep. YOU MAD?

The IB is not much worse than school in general.

[Beni]

I have a social life, good grades and get enough sleep. YOU MAD?

The IB is not much worse than school in general.

IB1 isn't as bad as I expected either...

Perhaps it is the pressure of exams + IAs and such that makes a social very difficult next year :/

[Austin Glau]

I have a social life, good grades and get enough sleep. YOU MAD?

The IB is not much worse than school in general.

I am piss.

Seriously though, I am mad If I didn't take IB at my school, I would probably be in a much better position than I am now (with both colleges and social life)

[Crazy Gemini]

I have noticed that it is really hard to maintain an healthy social life and IB grades high,

most of the people undergoing the second year of IB that have impressive scores do not go out and the only company they have good are our dear books.

Now do you find impossible to have a social life and good IB scores? Would you give up one of them?

In my opinion is useless to get a 45 & at the same time have "wasted" what can be considered the best years of our lives..

Lately i am indeed, struggling between school, boyfriend and friends, however i can confess i am a proud(? maybe not that much) 5iver/6er and i will never give up my happy party life for the IB (yes i am a horribly disappointing IB student)..

what do you think? any experience to share ?

It's give and take, like everything in life...

I didn't have much of a social life before IB, so I'm not an expert, but I constantly have to let my boyfriend down. He doesn't do the IB, so he can never really understand how much stress I'm under, but he tries to understand and gives me my personal space, but he does tell me I'm irrational when I tell him he should study rather than go to a gig on a school night.

You're not a disappointing IB student because you take time out to forget about school and be a kid. But I still think the best years of my life are ahead of me (uni is the time for party) but I admire the fact that you can take time out, I struggle with that, and I'm one of the more balanced students in my school...

[kkmercer]

It depends on how seriously you take yourself and the IB program. I would like my diploma but try to recognize the skills and abilities I have gained just by being a part of the program, so I don't isolate my friends as I work myself to the bone. I also really prioritize. If I can put less work into an assignment without having it impact my grade, I do. It's important to split the difference. I have observed people who throw their entire being into getting the diploma and fail. Sometimes it's outside of your control. That's why it's important to have people to remind you that it's not the end of the world if you don't make the examiners sob at the brilliance of your extended essay. Having friends in IB is a good idea as well, because they understand what you're going through, and they are the perfect people to rant to. I guess the point is, don't hold it all in. You need to have some non-academic outlet for you're frustrations and stress, and it really helps to have some goof-ball friends to help you through the rough patches.

[249702]

It's definitely possible. I currently have all A's in second year IB, along with playing a sport, participating in 3 extra curriculars,  and still having time to spend with my boyfriend and close friends. IB is not at all as bad as people make it out to be if you apply yourself properly.