International Creativity Month on January, 2025: Information about the IB ( International Baccalaureate) from an IB student?

January, 2025 is International Creativity Month 2025. International Creativity Month Custom Challenge Coins International Creativity Month

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If you're an all-rounder and you don't want to narrow down your options just yet, the IB is probably a good option for you. Just bear in mind that it is a LOT more work than A-levels.

I don't know if you know this already, but for the International Baccalaureate you do 6 subjects; maths, English and a foreign language are compulsory, then you can do a humanity e.g. history or geography, an art (like Drama), and a science. You can then choose to do each of these subjects at either Standard level or Higher level. Standard level is pretty much equivalent to an AS level, and Higher level is about the same as an A-level. You will have 3 Higher level subjects altogether. You can choose to do 4, but it isn't recommended because the work load will just be too much.

As well as your 6 main subjects, you then have Theory of Knowledge lessons. These are to "enhance your critical thinking skills", and depending on your teacher and the other students in your class, will either be really fun or really boring. They basically just teach you not to accept everything you see and hear at face value, and you discuss things like medical ethics. You are graded in Theory of Knowledge on a 1500 word essay you write in your second year, and on a 10 minute presentation you make on a subject of your choice. Personally, I quite like Theory of Knowledge, but I do know a lot of people who hate it.

Another part of the IB is CAS, or Creativity, Action and Service. During your 2 IB years, you will have to complete (during your own free time) 50 hours of creativity (so if you like Drama, you can volunteer to be in the school play) , 50 hours of action (being on a sports team counts for this) and 50 hours of service (volunteering to help out in a soup kitchen, or joining a local Amnesty International group). 150 hours seems like a lot, but you can complete them surprisingly quickly. You also do an "18 month project", where you do something CAS-related for an hour a week for 18 months.(If your school puts on a play every term, you're sorted. ).

The last main part of the IB is the Extended Essay. This is a 4000 word essay you write on pretty much whatever you like as long as you can tie it into one of your IB subjects in some way. I know someone who wrote their extended essay comparing Twilight and "Romeo and Juliet". I also know someone who wrote theirs on the best kind of shielding for nuclear reactors. Take your pick! When it comes to the extended essay, it really is a completely free choice, so it's a good chance to study something you're really interested in.

I'm just going to mention this as a kind of side note, but as you're good at maths, I thought I'd better mention it. Every subject has a Standard level and Higher level, but maths is slightly different. For maths you have the option of Maths Studies (nothing harder than GCSE stuff), Maths Standard level (slightly higher than maths AS-level), and Higher Level Maths (where you learn some UNIVERSITY LEVEL MATHS, and other things that the rest of us mere mortals can only wish to understand. It is NOTORIOUSLY HARD, but if you are really good at maths and you enjoy a challenge, then there's no reason why you can't do it.) I don't know if Higher maths will really be your thing, but I thought I'd better mention it just in case.

as for IB schools, I don't really know what kind of school you're looking for, but if you go to this website, there's a list of every IB school in the UK, and a link to their websites.

As a general rule, don't go to a school that has only just started teaching the IB, because you'll be the "test run", the school will still be ironing out all the kinks, and the teachers won't be used to the new syllabus yet.

I hope this has helped you!

I want the article on MSN that says ARE Creativity and Mood Disorder Linked?

How creative genius and mental disorders are connected.

By Hara Estroff Marano for MSN Health & Fitness

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Bipolar Disorder Triggers Severe Mood Swings

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Q: Is there a link between creativity and mood disorders?

A: There may be, but probably not the one you think. There is a widespread, highly glamorized belief that madness somehow heightens creative genius among artists, writers and musicians. And that may be because we romanticize the idea of artistic inspiration. As with mental disorders, there is something mysterious and unexplainable about the creative process.

To be sure, some forms of emotional distress are more common among writers, artists and musicians. Serious depression strikes artists 10 times more often than it does the general population. The link, however, is not creativity. Artists are more likely to be self-reflective and to ruminate, to mull things over. And that thinking style—as opposed to creativity itself—is a hallmark of depression and commonly leads to it.

Evidence that madness does nothing to heighten creative genius comes from a study done by psychologist Robert Weisberg. He meticulously studied the creative output, along with the letters and medical records, of composer Robert Schumann, who was known to endure bouts of manic depression that drove him to attempt suicide.

Indeed, Schumann wrote a great deal of music during his manic intervals. But quantity is one thing and quality is another. There’s more at stake than simply producing novelty; truly creative people must have the ability to tell a good idea from a bad one. Weisberg found that Schumann’s compositional output indeed swelled during his manic years, but the average quality of his efforts did not change. To judge compositional caliber, Weisberg relied on an objective measure: The number of recordings available of a given work.

When mania struck, Schumann wrote more great pieces—but he turned out more ordinary ones, too. Mania “jacks up the energy level,” Weisberg points out, “but it doesn’t give the person access to ideas that he or she wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

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It’s entirely possible, Weisberg notes, that the elevated rates of mental disorders among artistic geniuses comes about as a result of the creative lifestyle, which hardly provides emotional stability. Many artists struggle against poverty and public indifference in their lifetime. And if they do indeed produce acclaimed works, they often succumb to the overwhelming pressure to live up to their earlier successes.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, best known for his work on flow, has spent four decades studying the creative process. Creative people’s openness and sensitivity also can expose them to pain and suffering, Csikszentmihalyi says.

And yet few things in life bring more satisfaction and fulfillment than the process of creation.

ore on Mood Disorders on MSN Health & Fitness:

Is My Husband Bipolar?

Are Alcoholism and Bipolar Disorder Related?

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Hara Estroff Marano has been the editor at large of Psychology Today since 1991. Hara has written on many aspects of human behavior including love, infidelity, bullying, depression, sleep, appetite, domestic violence, the value of play, gender differences and beauty, among many others. She also writes a regular advice column for Psychology Today called "Unconventional Wisdom," and an advice column for an international edition of Marie-Claire. (Read her full bio.)

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