I went into my senior year eager to learn as much as possible about The System. Recognizing that George Mason is a public high school, and is in and of itself a mini-society with all its rules, groups, norms and routines, I decided to take it as an example of the structure of life in the mainstream society. I imagined that the tight schedules and the work load many have to put up with were a glimpse of things to come.

Jumping into conclusions isn’t the way to go, so to find out first-hand about the different ways classes operate, I made the conscious decision to drop my IBH English and IBH History classes in the middle of my senior year. Seems appropriate enough: I had learned what it’s like to make it through the dreaded junior year with advanced classes and endless homework, and then refreshed my memory a bit by enrolling again and spending four more months constantly nagged by homework. So when I switched into a “stupid” class, as CP courses are commonly referred to by some arrogant IB students, the difference was pleasantly surprising.

In George Mason people who want to learn and to succeed have the opportunity to do so. However, I still hold that I was right to think that school is where we are meant to practice our time management and organizational skills, and how we manage this juggling is for future superiors to judge. More often than not, you can trust a 16 or 17 year-old who went for nine months straight constantly burdened by work to take workplace duties seriously as an adult.

Because of the work load, being enrolled in a challenging IB class means staying up late to catch up with the work, and knowing that there is always more to do. This must also interfere with the kinds of interests people pursue in their personal lives because it’s much harder to be devoted to something wholeheartedly if you always have to interrupt yourself and go do that unfinished paper.

True, the IB classes can be seen as an opportunity to get a good education, to shape the character, but then there is the fact that many procrastinate, then cram all the information, hoping it will stick, and it hardly does. The knowledge isn’t retained. In fact, the information is often forgotten right after the test has been taken. How many of you remember anything about your literary criticism paper? Plus, the work is often done mechanically with no heart whatsoever put into it.

I don’t know what standard history is like, but I did switch into a CP English class. Having been in the IB program for a year and a half, not including the sophomore Pre-IB courses, I often heard the CP referred to as “stupid” classes. I admit that I was so ignorant as to use the term myself; it’s a standard reference. But what I found is that CP English is in many ways just as stimulating as IB, and in some cases much more so. Without the endless homework, you are able to read the assigned book, 1984 for example, and actually think about what is happening because you aren’t so pressed for time that the only goal is to get it done. Prove me wrong, but with books it should be quality over quantity, and the books read in CP are by no means second-rate, and one is able to devote much more time and care to the assignment.

But it gets even better: Not having the constant distraction of homework allows one to explore subjects that are either not taught at school, or to go deeper into those that are. It’s really a matter of finding something to do, but after that one is free to go all out. And in a way the standard classes develop one’s character much more than the IB. Although the rigid IB helps to develop responsible, punctual individuals, (which is not a guarantee – there are plenty of clever slackers out there,) a person’s character is also tested in the standard classes. The student is basically left to his own devices, which means that he is able to look around and notice all kinds of possibilities that he simply wouldn’t have had time for had he been hurrying to finish his homework. Free time means that one has to find something to do, which means exploring many different areas of interest, and the possibilities are endless.  If you think about it, the CP does more to develop character than the IB, because the student is responsible for his own discipline. Instead of blindly following schedules, he has to create and manage his own.

Of course, there are two sides to everything, and the bad side of this is that if one isn’t really curious, or active, this comparatively free time could be the beginning of something very dull at best, and tragic at worst. And as far as formalities go, for now, the first thing any college or law officer is going to look at is your school record, and if they find out that you decided not to “challenge yourself,” then you’re going to be seen as a slacker--a very unfortunate stigma. That taking an easy class and not challenging yourself are one and the same is a misconception, because in reality it allows you the time to challenge yourself in interesting ways that take more than good organizational skills or the will power to stay up late to figure out.

The above is a brief on only one aspect of our school system, but the conclusion that I think can be drawn from it is that if you go the IB route, you are or may be respected just for taking it, not only because of the implication that you are special and smart, but also because it really does take self-control and will power to pass with a satisfactory grade. If you pass the challenge at 16, 17, 18 years old, then your future colleagues know you are a reliable, hard working individual who can be trusted. On the bad side: you have probably been stressing out about assignments and deadlines for the past months or more, and you still have IB exams coming up. Not only that, but chances are, you have been conditioned to follow directions precisely. Written directions are the law, and much effort is put into following them correctly. On the bright side, all this work will probably pay off in the end.

If you decide to go the other way, then it’s a different story. You may still end up mentally and physically worn out, and you probably won’t be treated as nicely because you took those so-called “stupid” classes in high school, etc. But when it comes down to it, you are probably on the better of the two sides, because in the end you had the opportunity to follow your heart, and didn’t have to delay it, waiting for a free day, counting hours and weekends. And hey, if you are someone who has a hard time thinking of things to do, at least when you had the time to yourself you could have gone out and looked for something interesting without worrying about standard deadlines too much. The best thing about pursuing your own interests is that by taking your time and trying out many areas, you will eventually find that which will make you very happy.

The way things seem to be running right now, it seems that one has to make the choice between stress and success. I haven’t graduated so I don’t know the real impact of having dropped an IB and switched into a standard class, but I have no doubt in my mind that a standard course can broaden one’s horizon just as well as an IB course can. It’s just a matter of embracing the opportunity. Taking an IB class doesn’t automatically make you bright, and taking a CP class should not imply stupidity. It’s a matter of taking charge and doing what feels right.

The decision is yours: you can either have your brain molded by the IB, or you can embrace freedom and sculpt it yourself.