There seem to be many controversies surrounding the IB during this period (especially with regard to the May examinations). While we will not be commenting on those, we want to offer a piece of advice to those who just graduated. 

If you scored well for the IB, that’s great! Your hard work has paid off and we hope you are satisfied with your scores. We wish you all the best for your university applications!

For those who did not do well, whatever the reason may be, we want you to know that it’s not the end of the world. 

Sure, it may feel like it. Failing the IB and having to retake it or just not obtaining a grade you were aiming for certainly doesn’t feel good. Maybe your parents are disappointed or maybe, you are disappointed in yourself.

Know that this feeling is normal. Accept it. But try not to dwell on it for too long. Take 1 or 2 weeks to feel sad. You need time to feel better. 

But here’s why life should move on. 

1. Your IB grades do not define whether you will be successful in life. 

Yes, it might define which university you can get accepted to. But this in itself, does not determine your success. There is no fixed route in life and there are many measures of success. 

Getting in to a university degree of your choice definitely seems like a big deal at this point. And it is, but only to a certain extent. I’ve seen many successful people (in terms of what they personally define as successful) who did not even go to university. One of my close friend’s father who now owns his own company, did not even go to university! He also has a healthy and happy household (however, this comes with blessed circumstances, of course). 

And university does not necessarily define your success! Of course, in many cases, it might. For example, should you want to become a doctor or lawyer, you definitely need a university degree as these are professional credentials. But look at Mark Zuckerberg (yes, I know he went to Harvard) who did not even finish his degree and yet went on to build such a successful company. 

Now, we are not advocating that university is useless or that you should not go to university. What we are saying is that university is not the only path that leads to success. It has been proven time and time again that not going to a “good” university does not mean that that you can’t achieve success in life. 

This leads us to our next point. 

2. What’s more important is your ability to rise up from this. 

This quote is rather cliche but we felt it was apt. 

“It Ain’t How Hard You Hit… It’s How Hard You Can Get Hit and Keep Moving Forward. It’s About How Much You Can Take And Keep Moving Forward!” ― Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa.

Life can sometimes seem really unfair and that’s just because it is. We can either choose to feel pity for ourselves or do something about it (Hint: the former does not achieve much). 

No one could have anticipated the COVID-19 situation nor how the IB would grade its students. These are all events that happened out of the blue and it’s not even something we could have controlled. 

But the fact of the matter is that in life, many of such unexpected incidences will occur. 

So what can we do to prepare for these? We can build resilience. 

The more we are able to overcome such adversities and to adapt to them, the more we will be able to fight future ones. 

You can choose to see this situation as an act of unfairness to you (which isn’t unreasonable) or you can choose to use this as a life experience to build up your resilience. 

Think about your next step. Are you going to retake the IB exam and get a higher score? Are you going to proceed with university? 

There are many routes still open to you. You just have to be open-minded to them. 

But wait, you didn’t experience the same thing so how could you ever understand? 

The truth is, I don’t completely understand what all of you are going through. I might try to imagine myself in that position, but I would not be able to fully comprehend the exact emotions and situation that you are in. 

But here’s the thing, you don’t exactly understand what the other IB students are feeling as well. They might be in a better or worse situation than you. 

Since no one really fully understands what each other is going through, then how can we ever give advice?

That is why this isn’t about our advice. It’s about what you want to do with your current situation now. Our advice is only what we believe is the “best” but what is “best” to you, only you would know.