I am currently sitting in bed writing this post on my thoughts on this whole transition process. Compared to prior years this year’s transition can be. No. Most definitely considered to be unconventional.
At the start of Term 2, Singapore had already started to plan its way to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the country. One of the things that the Singaporean Government enforced to the population was that all large gatherings were to be cancelled and could no longer take. That meant whole grade assemblies were cancelled to aid in this transition process, including transition night was cancelled which would’ve have been very beneficial for everyone. Transition night is a night where all subjects/courses are displayed; teachers and students share their insight and answer questions. It is essentially a career fair for IB subjects. This is the time where you are able to find out more about subjects that interest you to help you make better choices for your subject selections. Now, instead, we were dependent on finding our own time to ask peers in the grade above for advice or ask questions about IB.
I don’t really like admitting it out loud, but I do know what I want to do. There’s a part of that has got my life planned out and I feel enthusiastic but at the same time looking too far out into the future scares me. It is truly a dichotomy of emotions and I am also in complete denial. Admitting that you have your life planned out makes it more real and in the next two years I’ll most definitely be moving out of Singapore The transition process forced me to take my life more seriously, it’s as if in the span of a month I am much more mature than I was before the start of this process.
Prior to this, I have looked at universities. My parents have always said that it’s not too early to know what you want, in retrospect, I was in denial and I always neglected what my parents said, always brushed it off and said: “I still have a few years.” The day we were told that we were going have to start making decisions on what subjects to take in IB was when it hit me and everything was real, it was the day in my life I had to admit that not only I but everyone I knew was growing up. Every time my parents asked me what I wanted to in life I answered an ‘I don’t know’, when in reality by the time I was in Grade 9 I knew I wanted to pursue something in design. When looking at universities I always looked at design/art schools, always typing into my search bar ‘Best design schools in the world’. By the time I was in Grade 9, I did have a dream university which was or still is RISD. I know that I have to have options, I’ve looked at several design schools and other universities too all mostly in America.
When selecting my IB subject I more or less knew I wanted to take. Initially, I planned on taking HL Economics, Biology, Design Technology and SL Math Applications, SL LangLit, SL Indonesian Lit.
HL
- Biology: I enjoy Bio and it is my best science
- Economics: I have listened to Alumni ’20 Chloe Tallentire gush about how much she loves Econs for the past two years; tells me every time that I should take it. Yes. She has sold me on it. I have also heard her talk about how much she hates Psych that I just don’t want to take it
- DT: It’s the subject I enjoy most at school and I know I’m going to pursue it in the future
My SLs were simply chosen just because I needed those certain subjects, but I didn’t really put much thought into it. However, after talking with my teachers and my UAC my subject selection did change. But the biggest debate was whether or not I should take Physics over Bio. It was a debate I was having with myself since the start of the process and at one point I was just content with taking Bio because I enjoyed it (I’m not saying I don’t enjoy Physics, but I knew from the very beginning that it would be challenging). Right before I gave in my form for good, I remember sitting at my lunch table confiding in my friends whether or not if I should take Physics over Bio. Keeping in mind that my friends’ opinions on what subject I select don’t really matter because this was for me and not for them. In the very end, I chose Physics over Bio, knowing that it would benefit me if I wanted to pursue design and I could even branch out to engineering.
My final selected subjects:
HL
- Economics
- Design Technolgy
- Physics
SL
- English Literature: It is the same course as Indonesian Lit, therefore, I can get more practice of the skills
- Math Analysis and Approaches: The course will benefit me when applying for uni, because of what I want to pursue
- Indonesian Literature