As testing season finally comes to a close, rising juniors in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program were invited to IB sophomore boot camp, organized by current juniors Angelle Garcia and Ale Orozco and the IB counselors. On May 21 and May 23, sophomores attended boot camp and learned what they have in store for the next school year.

Day One consisted primarily of a review of the Extended Essay (EE)—a research paper with a 4,000-word limit. A panel of current juniors lined the stage in the auditorium, each representing a topic they chose: World studies, math, history, science, literature, psychology or philosophy. The general message delivered by the panel was to write the EE on a topic that is interesting and not to procrastinate. Later, the sophomores were able to talk one-on-one with the junior who worked on a topic that they were interested in. As a way to de-stress, therapy dogs were invited by Gables Interact. The day was wrapped up with a Kahoot quiz about all the information learned and some music.

“I feel like IB boot camp was definitely worth it because it was a great way to talk to juniors and ask them for any tips or tricks for junior year. It made me realize what I have to prepare for throughout the summer to make life easier next year,” sophomore Mercedes Debesa said.

Day Two brought the more uplifting part of IB: CAS. To develop their own idea about the Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) components of IB, sophomores played three corners and decided if the topic said was classified under creativity, activity or service. After the exercise, students were put into groups with a junior where they brainstormed “experiences” and came up with their own CAS project. Each group was able to present their experiences and CAS project to the rest of the sophomores. After lunch, there was a surprise motivational speech by IB chemistry teacher Mrs. Kiely, who spoke about techniques to relieve stress.

“Having the one-on-one talk with juniors that have experienced that hard part of IB made me feel so much more comfortable about entering IB,” sophomore Jefrany D’Catry said.

Overall, boot camp proved to be an enlightening experience for sophomores, teaching them the ways to navigate their junior year and providing them with advice from students who recently went through the program that these 10th graders are about to enter.