What is the IB experience like? How does IB Arts fit into the academic atmosphere of IB? Two student reveal all!

The scent of a carefree summer lingers in the air, whispering of freedom. All the books have been returned; our backpacks no longer weigh like millstones. The IB final exams are finally behind us, and what we used to think of as the ultimate crucible, a Sisyphean endeavor only for the slightly unhinged, flew by faster than we ever believed it could. Although the IB definitely stole our sleep and sanity at times, the experience was incredibly rewarding. With a balanced array of subjects, we could pursue our interests and gain new perspectives to ourselves and the world around us. Most importantly, we got to devote a lion’s share of our time to exploring visual arts, which was one of our six subject choices.

The IB curriculum enables students to gravitate towards the most compelling subjects, but on certain grounds; everyone gets to pick a natural science, a humanistic subject, at least two languages, a level of mathematics, and either visual arts or another empirical subject in its place. We found that being able to study subjects that felt personally useful and important thinking of the future helped us stay motivated. 

You may have heard horror stories of the outrageous workload of the IB, but we can now confidently say that it really wasn’t that bad – as long as you kept your eye on the deadlines and your nose to the grindstone. We also noticed that many of the subjects complemented each other in their topics and perspectives like pieces of a puzzle, forming a unified picture where the knowledge on one subject could be used to clarify the other. That way, the learning was easier and, dare we say, almost fun.

When it came to visual arts, we both chose it as our sixth subject, on the standard- and the higher level. Even though the subject might sound like a sweet hobby, we had to do a truckload of writing and researching. This involved, for example, building an extensive portfolio and deep-diving into the art world in a comparative study of our chosen artists – not to mention preparing a final exhibition where the fruits of our two years of working were displayed. Nevertheless, the effort paid back if you were genuinely interested in developing your artistic skills and ideas. 

In the highbrow world of the IB, slinking off into the art corridor was an anticipated break for the both of us. What we loved most in the peaceful classroom was the abundance of resources as well as the apparent lack of rules shaping our creative processes. In the end, no one else could develop your ideas for you, and with an out-of-the-box teacher, we found our ideas growing into pleasantly loopy and unexpected shapes. Visual arts taught us things that the other subjects could not: it helped us find our personal voices of creative self-expression. Even when the secrets of cell division will inevitably desert our minds in a couple of years, or months, our will to create remains.

The grass looks greener by the day, and the flowers will soon be blooming on every street. With our deep-fried brains, we will recall these times not only with disdain but also a no small amount of warmth.  The IB is over, and now it is our time to be proud of what we’ve achieved.

Text and images: Viola Rauta ja Venla Ranki