Blood, sweat and tears, it's finally over.

As many of you know (or as two of you know, depending on how many people actually read this blog) I finished the IB program ten days ago. On Wednesday I will graduate for real, and my time as an IB diploma student will be over.
It is truly strange to sit down in front of the computer when I get home and not study. The pressure to study these last six months has really gotten to me, I think it has gotten to all of us. Sleep is probably what has been affected the most. I know that "we can sleep after IB" had become a regular expression among us as the exams got closer. Now that it is all over, and has been over for several days, there is still that anxiety attacking me when I go to bed and realize I have not studied for tomorrow.
I have been in school full-time for twelve years. Thirteen if you count the "six-year school" but honestly, all we did was play with plastic dinosaurs, sang songs and re-enacted the Lion King in the pillow room, so perhaps it should be counted among the kindergarten years instead.
But twelve years. I admit the first few were not always about studying, but it was still school. You had to get up early in the morning, go away to an institution you definitely loathed certain days and you have to learn. Oh the learning. Now I cherish every new piece of information about the world, but at ten? I couldn't care less about what happened if you divided 33. (to be honest, math has never been that high up on the priority list. Though I have gotten quite better at division since then.) I always liked the books though. The getting lost in other worlds. The cozying down under the covers on a rainy (or sunny) day and just read.
I always did like learning to a certain extent (IB has forever ruined that expression for me.) I was is somewhat of a know-it-all, so I loved arguing with people. And I was always right. Always. Never wrong. Always right.
I am going off to University of course. If things go my way, I will be sitting in Scotland next September, reading a book of my literature list and enjoying the finer things in life. And by finer, I mean IB all over again. Only worse. But before all of this, I am taking a year off. I think it's good to take a year off, especially after IB. It's so different from the Swedish system in thinking and in tempo. When all my friends complained about only have a week to write a paper, I was at home trying to write the one we had been given today. Due tomorrow. It was fun though, I won't deny it. I have met some wonderful people I know I will continue to be friends with for a long while and I've learnt a lot. Not just about history or maths, but about my own strengths  and weaknesses. Though so very cliched, I have climbed out of the shell I was in, and now I can actually talk to strangers. Who would have thought that could be possible.
It is just so strange, that after three years of hard-core studying, I will do nothing for a whole year. I will be working of course, but there will be no essays to write. To seminars to get ready for. No tests to study for, no syllabuses to read and definitely no CAS hours to complete. I'll be free.
After a life that has been defined by school for twelve years, I will be able to pick up a good book of my own choosing (no more Prep in my house) and just read. I will be able to make plans without the constant "oh, I have to study!"I will be able to sleep for a whole night.
There you have it. My end of school post. I don't really know how I feel about it. Of course it is not really the end, as uni is just over a year away, but it's the end here. I will most likely never study in Sweden again.

I'm Sarah and I am done.

Blog Everyday in August #3 - A bit about school

Here we go, it's just the third of August, and I have already missed a day. I apologize, and if I feel like it I'll make it up to you by blogging in September, but we'll see how much I have to deal with in school. IB doesn't really give you time to rest on the last year. At all.

Is it strange that I look forward to starting school again? I think it's the fact that it is actually my last year, that makes it so exciting. I'll be graduating next year. Graduating. I'm turning 18 in just a few weeks. I'm flabbergasted. But that isn't actually what I was going to talk about.

I'm now about to start my last year of IB. Since we in Sweden have a very different school system for the ones IB is based on, we got an extra. This is also because Swedish "gymnasium" is three years, and the B diploma programme is only two. But it is also very good, because Ib has a very high tempo and demands a lot from its students. It means that you can decide to leave the school, and star another program that suits you better.
Frankly, I just like to complain about doing three years of IB.

But I do miss it. Sure, this is the last and most demanding year, but I think if I just put more effort in it, it will go quite well. Sure, we have a lot of stuff to do, things I haven't actually started yet, but I like it. I really do. I like learning in general. Just finding things out, things I never though I would know.

Take history, for example. I love history, for it explains how the world looks today. It's so important to look back, to understand, and to refrain from repeating some things. Looking at old alliances and enemies, gives you a take on why the world looks the way it does today. And I think it is simply fascinating.

Then Biology. I never thought I'd know the things I do, never. But it is, for lack of words, awesome.

The fact that I now have amazing friends isn't all that bad either.

As a matter of fact, it's quite a difference from how it used to be. I didn't really have that many friends two years ago. The people I went to school with, I knew, and I spent time with them IN school, but we weren't friends. We didn't invite each other out after school.

Now it's different. And as someone who has gone through the experiment of having no friends, they do mean a lot to me.

As crazy as they are.

So, yes, school. Only 21 days left, and I still have time for two trips before it starts. First I'll be off to Oslo, to see a friend. We'll be going to the Harry and the Potter show as well. Be sure to check my channel, for Ingvild and I will be crazy and making videos.

Then, on the 16th, I'll be going to London again, and I am looking forward to seeing lovely Lucy again.

I think that was it for now. I promised Ingvild to vlog today, and I shall, as soon as the sun goes up anyway. If you're interested, it will be upload here.

Random thing of the day: I just made way too many pancakes, and I have to say... I am becoming quite an excellent pancake cook.

It's a break!

Hello again dear readers.

It's now Sunday, and I am without my blues. The reason that facing a week isn't making me hide underneath the covers is simple. I do not have school tomorrow.

Now, I have told you many times before that I do enjoy school, and it is true. Sometimes you just need to sleep, you know? Get out of bed in the morning not worrying about the books, the computer, the charger, the calculator and whatever else you need to bring. Sometimes you need to get out of bed in the morning because you chose to.

It feels GOOD.

It will only last a week, but maybe that is all an Ib student needs to charge her batteries. NaNoWriMo is starting in a week you know.

I am awaiting the week with both excitement and fear. The last two NaNo's have been complete and utter failures, so I really do have hopes for this one. There are only two problems.

I have two tests this month. One in history that I do not need to study that for, but it's the other one that has me quaking in my converse.

MATHS.

This is probably going to cause a failed NaNo.

Now it's time for me return to my nano-notebook. I still have lots of planning do to, and I can't wait to start writing!

Sarah