What Is An IB Student?

The definition of an IB Student varies depending on different individuals. On a theoretical level, an IB student is someone who has been enrolled in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program offered by IBO. 

Essentially, IB Students are the ones who, through their international mindedness and cultural understanding, make the world a better place. At its core, the IB Program, throughout two years, tries to imbibe certain qualities in their students which prepare them to excel in life and have a positive impact on everyone they interact with.

IB has a set of qualities which each of its students develops as they engage in the diploma course. This is known as the IB Learner Profile.

• Inquirers

• Knowledgeable

• Thinker

• Communicator

• Principled

• Open-Minded

• Caring

• Risk Taker

• Balanced

• Reflective

However, there are also specific subtle characteristics which define an IB student. Please note that having these characteristics are not a prerequisite for someone to finish the IB Diploma successfully. These characteristics are automatically developed as you go through IB.

Before you go reading, check out this video which shows you a day in the life of IB students

It is a known fact that there can be a lot of stress while doing the IBDP program. We dedicated a separate blog to quantify the amount of stress one has to deal with. Stress management is an essential aspect of defining an IB student. With the multiple assessments and presentations, you need to be calm in your head and work your way through what seems like a never-ending pile of work to graduate with IB. Acquiring this quality at a young age sets you up for success. The stress you experience in IB is nothing compared to what you face in the real world.

If you are someone who has just graduated from the diploma program, make sure you are well aware of this quality of yours. However, if you are just about to begin your IB journey, you should be confident with the amount of coursework you will be expected to do. All of IB is designed to make you a better individual and get you one step closer to success.

If you are starting your IB journey, you should be aware that your second year of IB will be more important than the first. This also means that it will be a little more challenging and thus will bring more stress into your life. This is because the first year is more like a rehearsal where you are getting ready for the big show. Second-year of IB will have you submit your Extended Essays, Theory Of Knowledge Presentations, and your IB exams. Stress management is one of the qualities you should have (or, if not, you should work towards developing). If you wish to enjoy your second year of IBDP and are keen on learning stress management techniques, then keep a journal and jot down a to-do list regularly. Being organized is vital in managing stress and will pay you well in the long run. Long story short, being an IB student means you can work in stressful situations or at least be willing to develop the ability to tolerate stress!

When successfully graduating from your diploma program, perseverance is a dedicating factor. Be it in the form of Internal Orals, or submission of your assessments, the journey of IB requires you to tackle academic barriers every week. A lot of time, one is unable to understand what is necessary to do in the first go. Therefore having a persistent mindset and being someone who comes back to complex topics and situations time and again is essential. To be an IB student, you must have that level of engagement with your subjects that you are open to decoding the complex topics regardless of how much time it takes. Having a revision plan from the very start is good practice to create that quality within you.

Moreover, being persistent pays off in any field of your IB. Once you graduate from IB, you will understand the importance of persistence, which will help you curate a work ethic for your college and professional life. Persistency also plays a massive role in helping you write quality essays as you revisit your drafts and fine-tune them. Thus, as an IB student, you become eloquent in documenting your thoughts. 

The holistic nature of IBDP ensures you get a taste of all the possible academic files available. Since the program offers six subject groups to choose your subjects, you get a sense of the group that resonates most with you. This helps you decide on your college principal but also helps put the finger on your interests. IB students are highly aware of their likes and dislike mainly due to the exposure they get early on in their lives. Not to mention the extracurriculars one indulges in, Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) push the students to go out of their comfort zone and explore the kind of person they want to be. Being an IB student definitely means having a never-ending nag to explore and discover things about the world and yourself.

Time management is an essential aspect of graduating from the IB program. However, the ability to do multiple things simultaneously is even more important than managing your time. I am talking about more than just doing various IB-related things simultaneously. Every student enrolled in the program also has a life outside of IB. IB, at times, can be overwhelming and leave you with no time to attend to your duties. However, it would help if you weren't carried away with this over-imposing nature of the diploma and took care of essential matters like finishing up your college application and preparing for supplementary exams like SAT and TOEFL, which will aid you in your college application. Multitasking is a skill that comes in handy a lot of times. To become someone who can multitask gracefully, you should be able to prioritize everything you are engaged in. Also, keep in mind that these priorities change over time. For instance, in your first year of IB, your priority should be keeping up with the assignments and your subjects; however, the second year of your IB must have you focusing on researching your college and applying for admission. During this time, you would also have to submit the final draft of your Extended Essay and Theory Of Knowledge presentation and take your final exams. You should then play your multitasking card and manage all of these critical activities simultaneously. As an IB student, you should always be willing to take more than what you can keep on your plate while being careful not to drop anything! 

One of the less spoken-about qualities of IB is that everything seems to connect toward the end. The subjects you study from various groups suddenly appear to be interdisciplinary and complement each other very well. The activities you did for CAS unexpectedly helped you write your Physics and Maths Internal Assessments. And most importantly, the Theory Of Knowledge, which makes no sense at the start of the diploma program, becomes that thread that connects everything.

Being an IB student makes you understand that the world cannot be segregated into different shades. It is, in fact, multidimensional, and everything is eccentrically connected. This mindset makes you more imaginative and helps you find solutions to daunting problems by applying methods different from the obvious answer. To be an IB student is to have the ability to take up any challenge, regardless of how out of the world it may seem, and have the faith within yourself to come up with the best possible solution.

It is essential to know that there are no pre-required characteristics that one should have before enrolling in the IB Diploma. All of the traits mentioned above, along with the IB learners profile, are attributes one is encouraged to develop throughout the course. All these qualities are organically promoted among students because of how IB is structured. All it takes to be an IB student is the willingness to discover who you want to be.

While you are going through IB, we at Nail IB want to offer you the best help we can. We want Nail IB to be your virtual companion to hustle through IB. We have many helpful blogs that will help you navigate your way through IB. Apart from our blogs, we offer a "Take A Test" module, which allows IB students to evaluate their level in the IB Program. Make sure to try a test and see your strengths and weaknesses. And finally, to ensure you have all the resources you might need to nail IB, we have curated exclusive student bundles for your convenience.