I didn't choose the IB Life. The IB Life Chose Me.

I haven't written in awhile. Sorry, but I didn't choose the IB Life. The IB Life chose me. Anyway, second year began with just as much stress as last year ended. For some reason, our teachers think it's better to put all our deadlines at the same time. Don't know why.

The perks of being a second year are numerous. Being half-way done is the obvious one. Also, we get to watch the innocent first years and laugh maniacally. I was listening to one girl talking about TOK, and how it was cool that they sat around and talked about the nature of truth. I found this hilarious for some bizarre reason. But that's the second year mentality. Really, anything is funny in the IB Life, because there comes a point where you'll laugh at anything just to relieve the stress. I also found myself in the position of having to help another first year kid pick out his extended essay topic, and I got all nostalgic.

I have so many projects to get done, books to read, college applications to complete, papers to write, tests to study for that I'm feeling a bit robotic. I'm being perfectly serious when I say that I actually need to miss school to get my homework done. That's the irony of it. Really, I can't focus in my classes because I'm distracted by my nauseating amount of work. I get home, and I'm exhausted from school and my job and CAS and from being so stressed out. Then I don't get homework done. IB is so strenuous that I now think of being at school as a waste of time when I could be working on IB.

Let's see, what's my to-do list look like? Well, I have a biology test tomorrow, a calculus test on wednesday, homecoming skits on thursday, homecoming game on friday, a math IA to put actual math in by friday, a history IA topic to pick, a Model U.N. paper to write along with a resolution, college applications including getting recommendations and writing multiple essays in time to get feedback by November 1, reading some books of literary note that I want on my college resume, my final EE for October 15, my final world literature essay October 16, a pseudoscience fair on October 22, a history IA due about that time, a book drive/fundraiser to organize, CAS, my dog-walking job, and starting Mock Trial up. Throw in a bunch of history readings, math homework assignments, a couple of essays, some unforeseen catastrophe and that sums up my life right now. The IB Life, that is. I don't really have a life at this moment.

"Evaluate to what extent has IB driven you mad? Discuss the ways of knowing." Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Pi Day

HAPPY PI DAY EVERYONE!!! You should not hesitate to celebrate the greatest of irrational numbers by stuffing your face with pie. I will be stuffing my face with pi, because I have to study for a math test tomorrow.

The Guide to Acceptable Situations to Swear for the IB Student.

In general, I'm against the casual use of profanity. To put it in my venerable mother's words, "it is a sign of a weak vocabulary." But there are some instances of profanity I do condone. I bring to you The Guide to Acceptable Situations to Swear for the IB Student.

Today I learned I got a 97% on my most recent Math test. And just when I was seriously wondering if Math Studies might be a less suicidal route. I saw the 62/64 on the test, and inside I was like

Totally killing a test is completely worthy of a good curse. Let your feeling out!

We play Jeopardy review games in history, and I was my team's choice for Final Jeopardy. The teacher read out the question, and everyone stood there stunned. Everyone but me. I quickly scribbled down the answer, gave it to the teacher, who gave me a small nod of approval when he read my answer. I did a little dance as I went to sit back down in my seat. When he read out the answer (Treaty of Greenville) it took all my self-restraint to not say, "Damn straight it's the Treaty of Greenville!" Why shouldn't I luxuriate in a little swearing, I just won my team 5 extra credit points on the unit test.

Then there are the ridiculous questions on tests where you just have to widen your eyes and throw up your hands in defeat. I think of these questions as "What the hell?" questions, because that is the first thought in my head when I see them. Completely acceptable.

Not that high schoolers need an excuse to swear, but at least these are appropriate instances for inappropriate language.

Math. Ha.

So we're delving into trigonometry. Yeah... Let's just say the real number line isn't wrapping around the circle. It's wrapping around my brain and strangling it. But there's hope yet. According to a New York Times article I read, infinity isn't real. It had interesting things to say, but they all went over my head. My talents lie in the humanities and science.

Mathocalypse Now

One of the rudest awakenings of all time is discovering how dependent I am on my beautiful calculator. Once you take that away from me, I'm practically helpless. This is the case in IB math, which has just the luck to be my hardest class. My teacher opposes extensive calculator use on principle, and I have my first quiz tomorrow, which I will take without the aid of a calculator. When confronted with that bleak scenario, I discovered to my utter shame that I couldn't remember how to multiply on paper (Give me a break, I haven't had to in at least 3 years, if not more). This is when I realized that should humanity ever be robbed of its technology, its computers, its internet, and its calculators, it would be followed with nothing short of apocalypse.

 I can see it now, the horror when all the computers across the world collapse. The desperate hunt for information, only computers and phones aren't working, and news networks must resort to ancient tv broadcasting methods. National governments assume the worst and begin blaming old enemies, starting to go to war, but stopping once they realize they don't have weapons or tactical capabilities. The panicked go to gather supplies, but credit cards don't work and no one can withdraw cash from their accounts. People resort to stealing to stay alive, and violently defend what is theirs. There's nothing anyone can do about this anarchy, though, as hospitals and law enforcement can't function properly without their technology. Cities become battle grounds with tribal territories marked in blood. There may be an exodus of people to the countryside, but all of us have grown accustomed to the luxuries provided by our technology cushioned existence, and cannot survive for long. Fields are plundered, and soon people rely on subsistence farming to eat. Then the harvest is bad, and more bloodshed ensues. Then plague strikes, but we don't have the technology to develop a cure. Those who are left are reduced to nothing more than primitive beings, armed with a rudimentary intellect and thirst for survival. During all this, the paranoid who built underground shelters in the case of nuclear war have the last laugh, but not even they can last long, as they did not prepare nearly enough supplies, and die alone and forgotten in their tomb-like havens.

At this point, the issue of man vs. technology can only have one outcome: destruction of mankind. My calculator is only the beginning of the end.