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The Busiest Time of the Year

“You can’t think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block.”

-John Rogers

 

At some point in my education, a teacher told me that when you face a writing block, the best thing to do is to just keep writing. That is what I am doing now, so we will see where this goes. Many times when I am writing a blurb for the Weekly Howl, I have a clear idea of what to write about. Today the problem is that I have too many ideas. There is so much going on, that it is difficult to select one. This might ramble a bit, but I believe it will be worth a read.

 

Today was the last day of exams for the grade 12 students. The exam schedule is set by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO); all IBO schools must follow the exam schedule precisely. Exams began on April 24, and students had up to 17 different exams across 6 subjects. It is a herculean task for students to focus and give their best on each exam. Well done seniors! 

 

This year there was a kerfuffle regarding a leaked exam. The globe is “cut” into three “IB” zones and within each of those, students take the same exams, but these are different exams for time zone one, two, and three. For example, the math exam that students take in North America is the same as the math exam students take in South America, but different from the math exam students sit in Europe. However, due to the many time zones within each IB zone, students sit the exams at slightly different times in the day. So, a student sitting the math exam in Lisbon will take it earlier in the day than our AAS seniors. This year, a student or students who sat the European version of the math exam made a copy of the exam with answers from memory and then shared it via social media. This is called “time-zone cheating”. This had no effect on our students, except that social media then blew up with a bunch of additional “leaked” exams, which were all fakes. It certainly added stress to the students; it also highlighted the importance of being wise consumers of social media. 

 

During lunch today, the CEESA HS Girls and HS Boys basketball tournaments were live streamed  in the Red Cafe. This weekend, we are hosting HS Girls Tennis. Last weekend, the MS Girls and MS Boys Volleyball tournaments were held. Tonight is the MS Dance. Next week is Bulgarian Culture Week. All this to say, there are multiple events coming up in the next several weeks – both celebratory (proms, graduations, sports, learning showcases) and sombre (saying goodbye to friends is always hard). 

 

As I close these rambling thoughts, I’m cognizant that this time of year is always an emotional roller coaster, for children and adults alike. Knowing that, we can all use the reminder to be kind, toward ourselves and each other – to foster our connections and “belonging”. There is ample research showing that when : “our sense of belonging is threatened, even momentarily, we’re more likely to feel worse about ourselves, perform below our potential, behave impulsively, see others as hostile, and lash out defensively when provoked. On the other hand, even fleeting experiences of belonging, such as glimpsing pictures of people who care about us can have far-reaching benefits. They raise our sense of well-being, improve our performance, lessen our defensiveness and hostility, increase our tolerance of outsiders, and make us more compassionate. We become more humane” (Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides, by Geoffrey L. Cohen). 

 

I wish you kindness this weekend.

 

I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. 

I’ll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else.” 

-Roald Dahl

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