Drum Roll, Please

Yesterday I had my driving test for my provisional licence and...I passed! All in all it was fairly straightforward, I drove around town (fortunately a small and quiet town without traffic lights or roundabouts) for about half an hour, doing a reverse parallel park (which I was quite worried about, but usually do OK if I don't mount the curb) and a kerbside stop, which is pretty easy. I was marked on speed management (for which I scored 25/25), road positioning (21/25), decision making (23/25), hazards & responding to hazards (3/3), and vehicle control (25/25). All up I scored 97/103. A pass is 90% or more and no failing conditions (eg not stopping at a stop sign, speeding, etc.) Yay - I am now an independent driver!

But of course, what you all want to know is, as Emma put it, “those pesky IB results,” which I found out this morning. They are good. Very good. I was aiming for 39. I scored 40. 40. This converts to an ENTER of 99.10, which is what I hoped I would be able to achieve. The marks I received in each subject are:

English A1 HL: 6
Spanish ab initio SL: 7 (guess my Spanish oral wasn't as bad as I'd thought)
History HL: 7
Biology SL: 6
Mathematics Methods SL: 6
Design Technology HL: 5
Extended Essay: A
Theory of Knowledge: B
EE/TOK: 3

I had hoped to score a 7 in English, but am happily surprised to receive a 7 in history. I’m also very pleased to have scored a 6 in Maths, which was probably my weakest subject, and I’m ecstatic to receive an A in my EE, since I worked so hard on it. Design Tech was one of the hardest sets of papers, and probably the ones for which I was least prepared. I feel that I’ve likely disappointed my biology teacher by only scoring a 6 – I think he believed I was the only person in the class who would score a 7, although I think he only predicted a 6 for me.

My family – aunts and grandma – have been ringing all morning, and they’re all so proud. With such a score, I think I should be accepted into the Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne, which is my first preference. Mind you, it’s not all over yet. I’ve also to be accepted into a residential college – again, hopefully my first preference – which I will find out next week, around the time I find out if I receive an offer from Melbourne Uni.

My parents are delighted; my father kept telling me I was aiming too high all year, since I set my sights on 39. He thought it would be far more realistic to aim for 37. And my IB coordinator was also pleased for me, when he gave the results over the phone this morning.

In celebration – and congratulations – my mother has given me a pair of shoes she bought me while I was shopping with her in the city in Sydney. They’re Hispanitas, a cute Spanish brand, and absolutely gorgeous.

So, I’d like to thank all of you for your support throughout the year, especially during exams because, believe it or not, you really helped me through. I hope that all my IB friends – and readers – did as well as they’d hoped, or better.

x
Just a girl