How to spend your IB post-exam summer

Congratulations! IB exam season is now over (thank goodness!), and a very well-earned summer can now begin. It’s still a while before results get released, so it’s time to think about how to best spend your summer, and your potential options going forward.

Properly de-stress

The first step after exam season should be to put it behind you. You might feel positive about your performance, or perhaps you’re a bit anxious for results. Either way, de-stressing is highly important. Take a look at last week’s post for some inspiration on how to relax the ‘correct’ way.

Earn some extra money

The IB is a very intense course, so it’s no surprise there isn’t much time to get a job on the side. The summer after exams is the perfect time to get started (if you haven’t already). Many places will be looking for additional staff over the summer holidays – and there’s plenty of choice.

What’s available is, of course, dependent on where you live. If you can’t find anything on job sites such as indeed.com, take a look at local Facebook groups for short-term jobs, and make sure you ask around with friends and family! You’d be surprised how many employees are initially found via word of mouth.

Plan, plan, plan!

Don’t underestimate the importance of planning over this summer! Even if you already know where you’re headed next year, make a list as early as possible of the things that need to happen.

If you’re going to uni, have you found your accommodation yet? How do you plan on financing your studies? Keep a post-it note on your desk of all the important deadlines – it can be very easy to lose track of time during the summer break.

A ‘Plan B’ is also a must – stay optimistic about your results, however sometimes things don’t quite go our way. Plan for this accordingly. If you don’t get the results you needed to get into uni, what will you do instead?

Consider a gap year

A gap year won’t be a viable option for everyone, and it’s important to do it properly. Many will use their gap year as a year of travel, others will stay home and work for the year to put money in the bank. Whichever way you would rather do it, planning is (again) important.

Even if you’re wanting to travel the world, how are you going to pay for it? Many pick up small, short-term jobs on their journeys to keep the money ticking over.

If you don’t properly think your gap year through, it might amount to a waste of time. So, if you are considering it, think very carefully about what you’ll gain. The IB is a long, strenuous course, so perhaps a simple summer holiday abroad might be a better option than an entire year of travelling.

Ultimately, you should reward yourself generously – not everyone is able to make it through the IB!

Think to the future

However you feel exams went, an optimistic attitude towards next year is a must. Take the proper time to reward yourself for your efforts, and calmly think to the future. Part of this will be having a Plan B, just in case things didn’t go to plan, and a Plan C might not hurt either.

We at Lanterna encourage you to relax, and go and enjoy your summer! 🙂