IB ALUMNI ISSUE 1

Hi all International Baccalaureate Graduates

Welcome to the first ever alumni magazine!

Hopefully you think this is a good idea and a useful forum for staying in touch with people that you know, those in other years that you may have come across and total strangers – all have in common that they have been through two years on the IB at Warwickshire College. I hope to include articles from the interesting lives that you are leading (and I think that from the selection below, you will agree that some graduates are doing some amazing things) as well as some current activities that taking place as part of both the CAS programme and academic studies.

In order for this to continue, I will need your contributions, so if you are swimming with dolphins or stacking shelves, I would love to hear from you.

Best wishes to you all
Paul

The current IB first years (soon to become ‘big ibs) are involved with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust in the building of a wildlife sanctuary behind the new accommodation block at the Leamington campus. The project involves the construction of a pond, the building of areas of natural habitat and the planting of wild flowers to encourage fauna to the site. Much of the digging has been quite hard as the ground is solid clay but the outcome has been a great success. This provides further CAS opportunities for the maintenance of the area especially with other schools being involved

Below are a few photos of the project:

At the end of October half term 2008, 14 International Baccalaureate students returned safe and, mostly, well from a remarkable 2 weeks experience in Moshi , Tanzania. The challenges they faced exceed the expectations but all felt the more rewarded for that.

The students undertook a variety of physical and cultural activities commencing with a four day climb up the 4600m high Mount Meru, the final assent starting at midnight in order to get to the summit for dawn. All showed outstanding determination to make the final push but were rewarded by the sense of achievement, not to mention the incredible views, from the top.

This was followed by a period of community work in a local village school. The group had raised $4000 before they left and this was spent on building materials for the next phase of construction. The first task was to help lay a concrete floor in the new building and so their job was to move all the materials (sand, gravel and cement) by bucket (there were only 2 wheelbarrows) to the area and then to help with the laying of the mixed concrete; a tough job in the high temperatures. Apart from this they completed the hand digging of the foundations for the next building. Many of these activities were done with the help of the students from school, when they weren’t in lessons, and many interesting conversations about cultural difference were to be heard.

The final part of the trip included a safari and a visit to a Maasai tribe again allowing our students to make comparisons between the culture in Britain and the slowly evolving nature of these fascinating people.

We have much to reflect on and all feel moved and changed by the experience. Many thanks to all who helped with our fundraising activities to help us get there.

Here is your initial feed back. Please keep it coming!

• 
  
  The alumni sounds like a great idea, I'd be interested to see how many IB students you have now and how they're doing.
  
  Personally, after taking my gap year during which I was in Italy working as a holiday ski rep in the small town of Passo Tonale, and spending the summer working at Warwick Castle, I have now started at the University of Nottingham. Here I have been studying Chemical Engineering with Environmental Engineering for almost a year now, I have another two exams to sit before I finish my first year. Next year I am going to continue to study with Nottingham University, however I will be doing so at their international campus in Malaysia. The campus is located about 30km south of Kuala Lumpur near the village of Semenyih. I am really looking forward to living and exploring an entirely different culture, and the travel opportunities will no doubt mean a very exciting year.
  
  I definitely think having studied the IB has given me an advantage over the numerous A level students on my course. In particular the breadth of study allowed me to study maths physics and chemistry together, which few A level students have done, and although not a course requirement the basis in these subject areas has proven advantageous this year. Also the level of independance and personal organisation, as well as time management, have all proved useful skills in such a demanding course.
  
  On the other hand it is unfortunate that the university does not recognise the IB the same way as UCAS does with respect to bursary allocation and the like. In this instance the University has its own arbitrary equivalence table which has meant I have possibly missed out on some money here. I have also heard that UCAS are planning on lowering the number of points for the IB on their equivalence tables soon, though I'm sure they still hold favourably to A levels.
  
  Hope all is well with you, feel free to email if you have any more questions or news.
  
  All the best
  Tom (Tom Lakey - 2007 graduate

• 
  
  At the moment I am just working in an Irish Pub to earn some money :) I applied for University in Holland and at a private institute in my hometown Düsseldorf. I got accepted at both school, but I will probably stay here as it’s much cheaper and no one knows what the future will be like because of the economy crisis. I will start my Business Studies in October. One day I hope to work as a PR for a fashion magazine.
  
  From September till the end of November I have been to South America. It was so great. I learned some Spanish and did social work at a primary school. The children were so lovely and totally amazed by my photocamera. I am still in touch with one of the teachers and the children want me to come back as soon as possible. So - one of the best experience in my life. I also visited the Iguazu waterfalls, Brazil and Uruguay. Life is so much easier down there in terms of everyday stress - La vida loca :) However, so much poverty. I was actually close to crying when I saw the children in one of Buenos Aires´s "slums" I think there should be much more support for the little ones in South America, as they don´t have any chance for proper education.
  
  In August I will go on holiday with one of my friends I met in Argentina. Matter of fact, the world is really small:
  I met one Dutch boy in Argentina who went to school with Nick White and Nick Craig in France :) I had to laugh so hard.
  
  To answer your IB question:
  Coming to England was the best choice I have made so far. The IB is a really good programm which offers you so much knowledge and qualities. I am still just upset I didn´t get the grades I wanted to.
  
  I hope this will help you. Please give my best to Andy :)
  
  Kind regards,
  
  Sarah Gädig - 2008 graduate


• 
  
  After I finished my IB I took a year out and worked in Rugby for a recruitment agency, nothing exciting really just trying to get some money together for coming to France. Then we moved to France in August 2008 and I have just finished a year's French course to improve my French, it was like a foundation year really. Plans for the future? Well ideally I will get a place on the law course in Poitiers, if not I will be looking into the possibility of different Universities or maybe something to do with Translation. I really have had a whale of a time since I left college, don't get me wrong I really miss it, the people and even the work but I cant even begin to tell how much of an influence the IB has had on my life, it has helped me beyond belief, especially the ethos which goes hand in hand with the diploma. Paul, I am really excited that you have decided to do this alumni programme. I really can't sum up how much of an impact the IB has had on my life and I wouldn't change any of my time on the course for the world. People keep asking me, if I had my time again would I choose the IB again, and my answer is 100% yes because I live by one simple philosophy in life that is you only get out of life what you put in.
  
  Again I was really good to hear from you Paul, please pass on my best wishes to everyone at Leamington, I suppose that there has been many changes there since I have left so maybe you can fill me in because I would be really interested to know.

Mark Jones – 2007 Graduate

• 
  
  Hey Paul, just received your letter about the Alumni thingy so thought I’d drop a line :DMy email is: sas217@ex.ac.uk At the moment I don't have a permanant address, as for the next few years I'm moving about a fair bit.I am currently finishing my first year at Exeter University (which has recently became the 9th best Uni in the UK, Get in!), and am studying BA CH History and Archaeology with European Studies, and also taking French as next year I will be spending a year at a University in France (though I’m not sure which one yet!). I also have a new job as a bartender/ waitress at a local bar.I will be spending my summer working in South Dakota, excavating a Native American village with the Archaeology Department of the Uni.I don't have any definite plans after I graduate, but I suppose I’ve still got 3 years to figure that out. I would love to take a Masters degree in Archaeology, and maybe work my way up to a PhD if I can afford it. I know I want to carry on living in Devon after I finish, get a full time job etc. I would love to work towards a career either as a lecturer, an osteoarchaeologist, or within the military. I have considered travelling or doing some more volunteer work, possibly take a TEFL course so I can teach English. Either way I want to keep my options open, and just take life as it comes.The main difference I find between the IB and Uni, is the practically empty Uni timetable! Even though I still have a fair bit of work to do, it is mostly reading and I only have 8 hours of lectures a week, most of which aren’t until the afternoon and evening, which I have to say is the only real downside to Uni. I loved the IB mostly because there was always something to do, and every week was so structured, and unfortunately I have been abusing the fact that my timetable this year is so relaxed in comparison. This is something that I would warn all IB students heading to Uni about, especially if they take a course which is reading based: that they need to be motivated enough and to have some self- discipline to do your work and reading, and to turn up to lectures, and hand everything in on time (Unis tend to be less forgiving and lenient when it comes to deadlines), and be able to do this without having someone stand over your shoulder the entire time. It’s strange to think that I’m here at Exeter, considering that when I started the IB I didn't even want to go to Uni. However I am glad I worked as hard as I did, and got to go to my 1st choice Uni. If I had not have taken the IB, I don't think I would have accomplished everything that I have within the last year, or even the past 3 years really! So it really has opened door for me and given me chances that I would not have otherwise been offered. I would really love to go back to my first college in Daventry, who gave me a U for AS History, and show them where I am now and what I managed to achieve with a decent qualification and the help of the fantastic tutors at Warwick :D that probably sounds really cheesy but I don't care haha!

Anyway thanks a lot, can you say hi to everyone for me?

-Sam Salisbury 2008 graduate

• 
  
  My current situation is that I have just completed my second year of Advertising at the Pittville Campus in Cheltenham of the University of Gloucestershire. I work in a team of two, I'm the Copywriter and Mel is my Art Director; we have recently found out that we have been commended for a brief we submitted work for and are through to the next stage of the competition, but are already in the exhibition and book to be published. Very exciting!Future plans are to concentrate on my 3rd year where we work solidly on our portfolio of work, competitions and dissertation. We have so far completed work experience at TMP Worldwide, have another week at Radioville and hope to get some experience at McCann Erickson and Publicis.Without doubt the I.B. has had an effect on my thinking, the way I work and myself as a person. After the I.B. I was conscious to complete an Art Foundation Year to cover all academic and artistic bases before progressing to University. Straight away upon attendance in class I realised how my way of problem solving and general academic abilities developed by the Baccalaureate gave me an advantage in class through lateral thinking and angle of problem solving. I will always attribute this to the style of teaching and educational process of the Bac. Many Thanks everyone

Kind Regards

James Follows 2006 Graduate

• 
  
  I'm starting my third year at Swansea University in September for a BA in History and Politics. I've just returned from a study abroad program in the US in June having been there since January in Virginia in a city called Fredericksburg and hour south of Washington DC.Plans for future:Not really thought about this in terms of career wise, some interesting avenues would be to work with civil service, UN, large intercontinental NGO (these would all be political affairs type of work), or I may look into setting up my own business that would be related to outdoor work or pursuits.On the 5th of July I'm going off with one other guy to do a sixteen day bike, hike and kayak around Wales covering a distance of around 628 miles. Although it is a bike, hike and kayak, I won't be doing the Kayak sections as I don't have the required skills to do it safely and so could put the safety of both of us into serious danger, so I will cycle these sections. I'm hoping to raise money for a hospice where a couple of family members have beenIB's influence:I suppose the IB has encouraged me to look beyond a situation and question the status quo, and to think that there are other ways around problems or at least to attempt things in a different way than what is though of as the norm. I think it has also helped me look at different cultures and by doing this has helped me think that there are other ways to live and think, this being for every aspect of our lives.

Ed Palmi - 2007 Graduate

• 
  
  I currently finished my first year at Nottingham Trent university, which was a lot harder than expected.My plans for the future are to change course next year to Pharmacy at Nottingham University, as this was my initial idea.IBO has helped me to study independently which is a great help at university, as well as exam preparation. I found that they structure of exams were very similar. IBO makes you think outside the box.

Gurpreet Matharu – 2007/8 Graduate

• 
  I am currently studying Psychology at the University of Exeter and have to say I'm loving it. The course is quite hard work, but I'm currently looking at finishing the first year on 2:1 which I will be extremely happy with. I have no idea about future plans yet, but still have another two years left here so have a little while to work on that one. A career in psychology would be great but quite difficult to come about so we shall have to see. Not sure I have any interesting anecdotes, but I am really glad I did the IB and made some great friends through doing it. I feel the IB had a huge influence on my studies in particular. I know that a lot of my fellow students found it difficult in the first term to adjust to the different style of teaching, but I found it much more of a natural transition. It gave me the skills to multi-task to a further extent than those people that completed A levels. My email address is acr210@tiscali.co.uk. Hope everything is going well with the IB and that there are lots of students set to come next year.

Amy Richardson 20008 graduate