International Baccalaureate | extended version |

assalamualaikum :')

entry yang ini khas untuk 

cik IFFAH SYUQAIRA (bukan nama sebenar).

baca puas-puas. lepas ni kau cerita pulak pasal apetah AAJ kau tu, ek?

salin dan tampal dari blog senior kat KMB nama BELLA (nama sebenar ke tak aku tak tahu).

What IB is like at Kolej MARA Banting (KMB)?

First, I think KMB is more like a school rather than a college.

Korang ada lecturer, kitorang ada cikgu.

Korang ada assignments, kitorang ada homework.

Korang ada coursemate, kitorang ada classmate.

Korang ada baju cantik pakai pergi kelas, kitorang ada baju kurung kasut hitam T_T

Korang ada cafeteria, kitorang ada DS (Dewan Selera).

Korang ada hari yang takde class, kitorang hari3 pergi kelas 8am-2pm 5 hari seminggu tak miss T_T

Korang ada gap between classes, kitorang ada waktu rehat fixed 9.40am atau 10.30am.

Korang ada lecture hall, kitorang ada classroom.

Dan lain3. Pendek kata, memang sekolah habis lah. But that’s the beauty of KMB. Touching :')

Daily routine

Class starts at 8am, ends between 12pm-2.20pm. Biasanya kalau hari yang balik pukul 2.20pm tu hari horror. Dah la balik lambat, lunch lambat, kalau makan ayam kat DS sure tinggal yang taksedap je. Lagi tragis kalau lauk habis wuwuwu. Petang, usually free je, unless nak jadi kiasu datang class/libary (it’s called Learning Resource Centre, LRC), boleh jugak. Kalau ikut Bella, memang biasanya stay lah. Solat Zuhur kat surau lepas lunch, then balik class semula. Sebab dah tau kalau balik bilik sure tido. zzz. Stay sampai Asar, then solat kat surau and terus dinner. Nerd, I tau. Tapi kalau balik bilik memang confirm tak jadi keje weh. Malam plak, kalau rajin atau ada group discussion, pergi lah LRC. Kalau rasa nak menggedik, pergi KFC (KMB Food Court) lol. Itu je kot. 5 kali sehari, tak pernah miss. Ceh dah macam solat fardhu pulaknye. Khamis malam Jumaat pulak ada ceramah, wajib. Walaupun selalu je ponteng huhu tak berkat der. Weekends, kalau tak swimming atas katil, outing, tak pun balik umah. Tapi nak outing/balik rumah kena book, bagitau warden siap3. See, sangat sekolah kan? :’)

CAS

CAS stands for Creativity Action Service. It’s one of the vital elements in IB that you must do in order to obtain a Diploma (other than TOK huhu trauma der). Biasanya kalau cakap pasal CAS, memang sangat sinonim dengan volunteering charity work walhal benda lain pun boleh claim CAS hour. Trend kat KMB ialah bila Year 1 memang gila CAS hour, sikit3 ajak member buat service rumah anak yatim ke apa ke, tak pun hospital attachments, dapat jugak CAS hour. Tapi bila dah besar sikit aka Year 2, tak pandang dah semua tu huh. CAS ada banyak, External CAS, class-based CAS, entah apa3 lagi CAS lah. External CAS is what you do fortnightly at the assigned centre (mine was PDK Kajang) while class-based CAS is your class project.

Hospital Attachments

At first I was told that it is compulsory to do at least one hospital attachment while you’re at KMB. This applies to Medic student. But me, being a so-so premedical students, I had my attachment at Ampang Puteri Hospital. Amik kau, private siap. Memang takleh buat apa lah. Tengok je dokter, lepas tu bosan, mengantuk, tunggu pukul 6, blah. Wahahah sekadar ada record attachment sudah. But if you ask my friends who did it at government hospitals, especially teaching hospitals, memang terbaik cakap lu. Ada yang siap boleh masuk labour room. Kagum weh. Walaupun kalau diberi peluang I taknak pun huhu.

Co-curriculum

Tak cukup dengan CAS segala bagai, we also have extra curricular activities like JPAM where we had to kawad3 kaki tapi disebabkan sambutan kurang menggalakkan daripada student, program ini dibubarkan sebab kena boikot. Hahah hebat gila batch kitorang boikot JPAM wak lu. Then there were clubs and societies – tapi kena pandai pilih. Sebab tak semua pun cam jalan. And kat KMB clubs/societies bersepah. Pilih je mana nak. Memang sesuai untuk memantapkan masa anda.

International Programs

Dah nama lagi world school an, so apa lagi, jalan lah. I had the privilege to be in Fish for Life (a humanitarian project we did in Jogjakarta) and to Borneo Global International Conference held at Brunei. Other projects would be Cambodia project, so far that I can remember. Tapi kalau untuk yang kiasu dan manusia3 hebat, boleh la masuk Olympiad, boleh pergi Jepun free. Huuuu. Basically if it doesn’t involve academic much, then the ground rule is simple – you have the money, you go. Sebab tu kalau tengok kat KMB, sikit3 fund-raising. Semua pun cari duit nak sponsor trip pergi mana3lah.

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yang ni pulak salin dan tampal juga dari blog senior comel ni.

What is IB?

the IB Diploma Programme is designed as an academically challenging and balanced programme of education with final examinations that prepares students, normally aged 16 to 19, for success at university and life beyond. The programme is normally taught over two years and has gained recognition and respect from the world's leading universities.

Through the IB Diploma Programme, students gain rigorous and balanced academic preparation, an ability to draw on knowledge and understanding of various cultures and histories, and the experience of learning how to think critically and apply what they have learned in different contexts and across disciplines.

The IB understands that success in higher education and beyond involves thinking critically and creatively. The IB Diploma Programme’s challenging curriculum educates the whole student, developing the capacity for inquiry, research and problem-solving as well as essential skills for communication and collaboration

(http://www.ibo.org/recognition/)

To summarize, it means that IB is focused on more than academic achievement only.

If you're studying style is pretty much like SPM, A-Levels is a better choice cuz it is academic oriented and your subject combinations are focused on your field of choice. 

If you're looking to be all-rounded students and are interested in concerning yourself with more than just studies, than IB's just the thing for you.

class system:

the class system is Monday-Thursday, 8.00-2.20pm on CAS week or 8.00-1.30 for non-CAS week. Fridays is till 12.30. The system is a lot like school BUT do not mistaken the subjects or the teaching style or workload to be like SPM again. Paradigms have to be shifted, no matter how much this place feels like school, it is, in its essence a college, and thus demands more from you.

living in the college

Ex-boarding schoolers should have no problem. KMB's pretty great for boarding school standards.

Laundry service is STELLAR! The Ko-op and the Cafe and DS food provides enough sustenance for 2 years (ha, I hope!) There's a gym, excellent jogging track, 2 people per room....

If you're expecting private college comforts, this ain't the place to go. The key is to focus on why you've come and be thankful :)

The community is very supportive, especially spiritually. One of the reasons I'm most thankful for KMB.

No matter what you hear, if you do get IB, it proves you're tough and can withstand anything IB throws at you. 

I look at my seniors and I see heroes and warriors who've held strong and made it all the way to the very last hurdle. Drawing inspiration from them, I'm sure if you've landed in KMB, you're going to be a survivor too!

10 things I love About KMB

10. Breathtaking views during sunset and sunrise! And the rainbows....

9. Uplifting Usrahs

8. Doing class projects (G4, International Fair) when everyone's stressing out at the concourse, while setting up our boards

7. There's a different week all the time (Int. Fair, Mental Health, BM, Social Sc....)

6. When mak cik DS lets you take 2nd helpings of kuih if you ask her nicely :)

5. The way so many things happen in one week that last week seems like a lifetime ago

4.Co-Q class (terbaikkkkk cause we haven't had one this semester!)

3. The really nice Lab Assistants and LRC librarians (such sweet people)

2. Thursday night ceramah

1. The teachers who stay on till 5.30 just to help you during consultation. Really the most dedicated ones I've ever met. 

dditional Components
Lets just say, this can be pure pleasure or pain depending on how your outlook on life is.


CAS!
Creativity. Action. Service.
This would be your thing if you want to fill your college days with meaningful/creative/challenging experiences outside the classroom.
The best part of IB to me. I know 180 hours seems like a bulk, but it really isn't. Mr Latiff's favourite quote on CAS: "4-5 hours a week and continuous involvement!"


Who's Mr Latif? Come to KMB and meet him yourself.


You get to work with kids with special needs, teach Orang Asli kids, and help out people with Downs' syndrome fortnightly for External CAS (which is one school day where you go out and be help out the community!Wicked, no? I'm going to miss CAS day)

There are the usual sports clubs, with a few cool additions like lawn bowl, and FRISBEE (my current fave) and other clubs like GEM, Performing Arts, English Club, Creative Club, HOPE, Taska etc. If you're really enthusiastic, there's stuff like Fish4Life, Cambodian Project, Sehati Serumpun, Love Symphony and Smiling Soul which are different groups who organize their own service projects overseas (Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam) and locally (Sabah).

There are competitions, and activities organized by clubs, and you'll never have nothing to do in the IB. It will never leave you alone. Seriously.


TOK 
Theory of Knowledge.

Don't worry if you're first response to this was "Heh?!" I've been at it close to a year and it still never fails to make me go "HEH?!" often. It's basically like philosophy and aims to try to get students to THINK.


Which we're surprisingly terrible at. Reminds me of the joke that says Malaysian brains are the most expensive. Why? Because it's rarely used. =___=


You get to question knowledge, in all areas, and discover the ways of knowing and your perception of the world will change.


And your perception of the word "perception" will too.


You don't have TOK exams, but you have to submit a TOK essay on any of the 10 prescribed titles and you'll have to do a presentation which will be recorded and sent to the IBO. All this accounts and EE accounts for the 3 marks in your final IB exam.


EE

Extended Essay.
For all the ex-MRSM-ers, it's akin to Project SEM, only longer, more specific.
It's a research paper done in any subject that you take that analyses elements of that subject.


Like you could do research on Bio about the effect of acid rain on the growth of Mung beans. Gotta be more specific though.


Or you could do one in the languages, like English, and compare the syntax and diction of 2 magazines in Malaysia and how it appeals to teens.


(These are just examples of EEs done by seniors so no plagiarism here)


Your research has got to be 4000 words and has to be thorough and contributes to society in some way.


EE will introduce you to a handful of emotions you never knew you possessed. (And I haven't even gone pass the table of contents yet ...)


World Literature 


In Malay A1, you learn world literature novels in your 2nd sem so at the end of it you have to produce 1200-1500 words on a comparison of 2 of the novels you learnt.


I love learning the novels in IB, simply because it's like actual literature, where you're free to interpret and analyze without having to memorize the given themes and other aspects from reference books. The novels themselves are, well, matured to say the least like Madam Bovary, Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice etc. You really get different insights from all over the world as it stresses on Cultural Interactions.


There are other parts of IB but I can't expose too much for fear of allergic afflictions and premature panic. (I remember panicking myself when I first heard about IB...)

IB will give you plenty of moments to make memories. When you solat berjemaah, study berjemaah, stress berjemaah, you realize that you're not alone on this journey.


Any further questions, just drop 'em in the FB inbox. See you loves in June. Secretly, the would-be seniors are anxious to see which one of you guys will take our place and join us in this IB World School.

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thats all.

kbye.