Social considerations...

Ok, so here we are pulling into the home stretch. The exams start on May 2nd.
I think it's safe to say that, by now, we have all put our social lives on the back burner until the end of the exams.
But, my question is this - how did you guys deal with telling your friends you can't spend much time talking to them anymore? I personally have a lot of friends who are non-IB students and therefore have no idea what I'm going through right now. Is there some way to not take offense by it? I remember when I was in grade 10 one of my friends two years up basically abandoned me and I was really hurt...then on the 23rd he came out of the last exam and suddenly walked up to me and talked to me like nothing had happened. I now know exactly why he did that, but how do I prevent my friends getting hurt?
I dunno, just something that's bothering me right now.

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Reply 1

IB-Seed

Tell them you have exams. Whats the big deal? If you can't even tell friends you won't have much time to socialise now due to IB exams, what sort of friends are they? Ashamed of telling them you're studying huh?

Reply 2

HMSChocolate

lol dont you think that's a bit of an over-reaction? if you just talk to your friends and explain to them the situation I'm sure they will understand. I mean, really, if they're your friend they should be aware that you're doing IB and it's somehow different from whatever they're doing, right? just tell them how much work and time its going to take for you to do well on these exams and you might have to concentrate on studies a bit more and cut back on the social time with them. don't cut them off altogether. you can still talk them on weekends, take a few minutes break now and then for a phone call or something. you dont have to disappear from their lives for the 20 or how many ever days you've got exams.

Reply 3

Ramsha

i didn't understand why i was abandoned for IB (despite countless assurances that my friend did care for me)...
and let's say..
now i do..only coz im in the same position. haha.

Reply 4

Sadie_F

exactly! when you have friends who are doing partial IB or have some concept of what IB is, they'll understand. but people in grade 9/10, people in the US high school curriculum, and similar, won't really get it. i had to sign out on my friend yesterday because of work and she said "whats the big deal? you have all weekend!". she basically thought i was ditching her because i didn't want to talk to her and that i was using the work as an excuse.

Reply 5

Ramsha

be like: sweetheart..i love u ..i really do..and no im not a loser who only prioritises work and not relationships..buttttt...i'll be all yours in a few weeks' time! patience, my love! :p:

Reply 6

kmcmillan19

I ditch my work for my friends... Bad idea I know. I've had my friend over for the last 3 weekends. I really should have gotten some work done this one, but I kept needing to do other stuff. This week and weekend though, I'm getting some major studying done... If I can get off the internet...

Reply 7

HMSChocolate

Tell them it IS a big deal. If they can't trust you when you say you need to work and let you work when you need to work then... :|

Reply 8

La Môme

Tell them you can give them a few months' undivided attention after your finals...and time after that, also. I think real friends would be understanding and sympathetic. Maybe make some new ones within your IB class? :smile:

Reply 9

tinypony

This thread only works provided you still have any friends left after starting IB1.

Reply 10

jezz

Haha. I have a very busy schedule... So one night a week off I allow myself. Its smart, refreshing, and damn fun.

Take the time, even if it is going to a friends for a few hours on a Saturday night (who studies on a Saturday night, honestly?). I'm also happier to power on during the day cause then I can go to a party and not feel bad. Or spend a few hours during the day and go surfing.

Life = balance. :biggrin:

Reply 11

tinypony

Friends???
What does that word mean? I reckon I knew its meaning a long time ago, along came IBO and I forgot.

Reply 12

Ramsha

HAHAHAHA. you guys are brilliant...in a tragically IB way. :p:

i have too many friends...i'm sick of them...how do i discard them?? lol! that's the only way IB has affected me..i've become an anti-social freak. even on IM i appear as offline as i can't stand talking to my friends. it's so sick. IB has mentally scarred me. :eek:

Reply 13

HMSChocolate

haha, ramsha: interesting.

just be glad you have friends to come back to after exams are over.

there's this guy in my class last year. he finished IB exams on May 12th, the first person to finish in the whole city! and most of his friends did IB. so he finished on friday and was so glad to have to the weekend to party, but then he realised that most of his friends had exams on monday and couldn't go hang out with him anyway. he came to school on the monday and we asked him how the weekend was, he said he stayed at home because everyone else had to study! so yeah...count your blessings. :p:

Reply 14

Ramsha

i would go back to friends if i FELT like it...i don't at all...it's really really sad. i feel like such a FREAK. my ib class consists of 6 girls..technically we shud b like a family...but i only bonded with one chick (the others are losers anyway who probably haven't seen sunlight for a while)..and we practically live with each other...other than that...my old friends...think iv changed...i don't blame them...the once cheerful ramsha sees the world as a dark, evil place with selfish ppl...IB metamorphosized me into a masochist, suicidal, depressive, anit-social freak. Praise be to IB.

Reply 15

HMSChocolate

I guess IB does get you to over-analyse anything and everything I guess. i'm surprised Ididn't turn into a "masochist, suicidal, depressive, anti-social freak" as you say after the A1 books I went through.

Reply 16

Ramsha

no i mean...why can't happy, jolly books be part of the syllabus eh?? i say we should read the little miss and mr.men books. even the disney classics and the arabian night tales have dark elements in them. :frown:

let's ditch the sound and the fury, the stranger (which has made me who i am today LOL...freakin existentialist), death of a salesman, Hamlet (another work which has shaped me...suicidal freak bit), etc etc. *nearly sets all depressing books on fire..but then realises that she's burning part of herself..so extinguishes the fire*

Reply 17

HMSChocolate

Ramsha

lol you missed 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, Heart of Darkness, Oedipus Rex

And yes, L'Estranger is a strange book...

Reply 18

tinypony

Othello = mass suicide!
Antigone = mass suicide
IB should come with a disclaimer: may induce suicidal tendencies, sleeplessnes, chronic stress, premature ageing, in few cases death. IB is not for everyone, so check with your doctor to see if IB is right for you.

Reply 19

HMSChocolate

Ramsha

the once cheerful ramsha sees the world as a dark, evil place with selfish ppl...IB metamorphosized me into a masochist, suicidal, depressive, anit-social freak. Praise be to IB.