IB: My Abusive Boyfriend

Every so often, I reflect on how much I have changed. I make a mental list of new experiences, knowledge, and mistakes. During one of these reflections, I was trying to count how many all-nighters I had pulled as an International Baccalaureate student. Then I had an epiphany: IB is an abusive relationship! The more I extrapolated on this metaphor, the more I was surprised how well it fit. IB puts us through so much work and stress; we’re always threatening to leave or IB’s threatening to kick us out. We stay in this relationship because we believe that, one day, we will get married! We will get the IB diploma!

But until then, we have to take care of our lovechild, named EE. And though our parents and Advisors criticize the way we raise little EE, we insist that can do it. We can feed EE to grow into a healthy 3500-4000 word paper. And though we still have to work endless hours at CAS (a job that pays nothing), we can raise IAs too.

And all the while, our friends tell us that IB isn’t worth it. That what we have is an unhealthy relationship. But we say they are wrong. Despite the battle scars and droopy bags under our eyes from sleep deprivation, we still believe IB is fantastic. IB will take us places, send us to college, and allow us to experience the world.

Our friends tell us we should date the nice guy: AP. He’s not demanding. He gives us choices. Multiple choices. But we don’t want AP. He’s boring. Unexciting. Doesn’t like change. He’ll want to stay in Tallahassee. Settle down and start a family, go to soccer games and dinner parties. Fuck that.