How do IB students feel about their Q1 grades?

By Stephanie Solis ’20

Do students feel accomplished with their grades? Junior IB students have had a rough year because they are adapting to new norms since it is the beginning of the year. Certain students feel like they could have done better; therefore, they did not feel achieved in the first quarter.

Emily Pereznegron, a junior, expresses, “The biggest challenge of mine is managing my time. It is really hard to be at school for over 8 hours and then having to go home and spend 5 or more hours working on homework.”

Pereznegron mentioned that she needs to improve on working alone because most of the time she is working with friends.

Moreover, Pereznegron said, “Even though working with my peers help me understand subjects better, I feel like I depend a lot on my friends.”

Pereznegron does not feel satisfied with her grades at all. She said it is definitely a wake-up call for her and her peers as she stated, “Just when I think I understand what is happening in one class, I lose focus of another class. My grades are constantly fluctuating, and I do not like that at all.”

Similarly, Cristian Ortiz, a junior, expressed that it has been hard for him to adapt to new courses since his essays are graded harshly compared to past years.

“I now realize that there are many things-which I still am not good at-in regards to my writing, which I need to quickly improve upon,” Ortiz mentioned.

Ortiz said that he is satisfied with his math grade because it is one of his favorite subjects, and he excels the most in math.

Ortiz also said, “I am not satisfied with my grades as I am not seen as a “B student,” or I do not see myself as one. It frustrates me to have any grade aside from an A on my progress report.”

Pricilla Segura, a junior, stated, “I really want to push myself to further improve my grades, and other things besides my grades like tardies and absences. These two things leads my GPA to a disaster because I miss important concepts.”

Segura mentioned that currently, she does not feel satisfied with her grades at all due to exams. She expressed that she can do better and that she feels disappointed because usually, she is a student that does not give up. Also, she said that it is hard getting used to IB courses.

All of the following students do not feel accomplished with their grades because it is something they were not used to, but they all mentioned that they are willing to improve their grades and that they are working hard. They also express that the courses they are taking are really rigorous and they did not expected something like this. Now, how do you feel about your grades?