And that sweet city with her dreaming spires,/ She needs not June for beauty's heightening

As I sit here typing this post, I realise this is the second day of respite I’m enjoying this weekend; we were let off school on Friday. I have about 407 people to thank for granting me this three-day weekend that only ACSians would experience: it is thanks to the incredible results of the ACS(I) IB graduating class of 2008 that I’ve a priceless 24 more hours to study Jack Gray’s book on modern Chinese history, re-read Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, finish the first draft of my TOK essay and work on the seemingly unending list of IB-related tasks.

The Year 7s must have stunned IBO; with 62% of the cohort scoring 40 and above, 26 44-pointers and once again, 9 hitting the divine 45, the Year 7s’ results were truly stellar. “They really owned our a**es,” one Year 8 friend of mine pointed out to me. I don’t disagree; the overall results were good enough to frighten the Year 6 cohort that I belong to.

I remember looking very much forward to Tuesday, the 6^th of January. It wasn’t because I’d pre-empted the release amazing IB results; I don’t quite know what the reason behind my excitement was.

I met a couple of my Year 7 friends in the SAC prior to the results release. Some of them were very, very anxious (e.g. Bhupinder [44 points!]), and some were absurdly unruffled, unflustered, composed and cool (e.g. Gen [42 points!]). Inevitably I pictured myself returning to school, twelve months on, reuniting with old classmates, commenting on their hideous new dyed hair, bringing up old jokes that never seem to die out, re-enacting classic, immortally memorable moments and rushing around the school looking for teachers.

Sitting with my classmates, we naturally began discussing the outcome of their own Language B exams taken in November last year. Would the entire cohort secure the first 7 points of their IB Diploma, or would this “free 7″ elude them? I was confident that a 7 would be what my classmates would see on their result slips, but some of them insisted that “anything can happen” and predicted a 6 for themselves. (I was right and they were wrong. Congrats, everyone of you!)

As we took our seats in the auditorium I really was a bundle of nerves. Results! Finally! I couldn’t believe my seniors were collecting the results of their IB exams; everything just happened far too quickly.

My classmates chided me numerous times for being nervous. “You aren’t even getting back any Chinese B results!” they cried. But I think my impatience to find out how the Year 7s did translated into fear because I couldn’t help but think about my own future, my own IB exams, my own IB results.

I was nervous beyond words. Yet all jitters quickly vanished and were replaced by mirth, relief, happiness and yes, ecstasy.

I gasped when I saw the figures projected on the screen. Some figures showed how rigorous the IB programme can get (4 out of 92 7s for English HL! AH!) and some other statistics showed how possible it is to emerge from IB knowing everything in the syllabus like the back of your hand (MSG of 6.8 for SL Math and SL Physics). But on the whole, the results stunned me in a most pleasant manner.

Though the number of 45-pointers hadn’t increased from the first batch of IB graduates from ACS(I), I had extra reason to celebrate the academic excellence of the Year 7s because I had friends amongst the Year 7s. I only got to know my Year 8 friends after the results release, so the announcement of the results didn’t have as great an emotional impact as Tuesday’s announcement.

Time for an anecdote:
My French teacher was sitting near the exits to the back of the auditorium when a parent quietly made his way in, finding himself a seat close to my French teacher. Sensing the tension in the air and hearing the excited cheers and applause, he asked my teacher, “Who are all these people on stage?” “Top students,” she replied. “WHAT?! SO MANY?”

Indeed. So many of them. It was unbelievable; our principal said only the names of those who achieved 41 points and above would be announced because “there would just be too many of you [Year 7s] if we [school administration - represented by the Year 6 year director] read out all the names from 40 and above.”

Non-ACS people who haven’t witnessed the spectacle would not entirely understand what it feels like to see a few seniors on stage, being joined by another, and another and another, until finally the number of people soar above a hundred, until the sheer number of them warrants the use of the word “crowd”.

Post results announcement, I took advantage of the fact that I didn’t need to return to class to collect any result slips to circulate myself among the Year 7s. It was lovely seeing everyone again, and it truly was an enjoyable reunion; congratulating my friends was a wonderful way to spend that rare, mass get-together.

Of course, at the end of any endeavour – grand or not, surprises are inevitable, and there were, amidst the prevailing glee, some upset souls. I hated the atmosphere to be marred by these disappointments; I found it difficult to alternate between congratulating and comforting. But I hope being “below average” in ACS doesn’t deter anyone from pushing for the best tertiary education deals possible, and although I can’t say I myself will be able to cope with disappointment very well, I hope those who are disappointed manage to find some element of cheer in their achievements.

I don’t know what next year’s IB results release in ACS(I) will be like; no one knows. I definitely look forward to ending my IB life on a high. The trepidation and stress that comes with that high is unavoidable, and I know some trade-offs have to be made this year. To all Year 7s, I offer you my sincerest congratulations. To all Year 6s taking the IB exams this November alongside me, I wish you all the best for this academic year, and may we emulate the success of our seniors before us.