When the Personal Project is first introduced to all those innocent little year 10s there is one fact given to soothe their worries. The IB recommends you spend about 25 hours on the entire project. Hold on, you might think, that's not too bad. That’s just over one full day. I can manage that, you might think.
So, with that information, you try to set out a plan for how you will fit everything into this 25-hour window. During this time you must meet with your supervisor, and spend time waiting for your supervisor to respond to show up for your meeting, make your product and spend time second-guessing your idea and write the final report crying yourself to sleep the night before its due at 3 AM still missing half of Criterion C. In one day’s worth of time. Super Do-able.
But imagine, out there somewhere in the void, there is probably someone who did everything in that amount of time and will get perfect grades on it. The question is who? What super student works like that, making the rest of us feel bad for taking an ungodly amount of time to write each sentence? Well according to the IB that could be anyone with a good amount of time management and a general can-do attitude. We can all find that inside ourselves, deep down, right? Yeah, you keep telling yourself it could have all been so easy if you had really tried.
If you are a year 10 or younger you might be thinking you can still get through this project just fine. Ok, you think, this might take a bit longer than 25 hours, but I can still fit everything in. It’s not like all of this needs to be recorded on the most archaic, broken-down, apocalyptically bad website in existence, right? Welcome to the fiery abyss that is ManageBac.
Someday, I’d like to meet a ManageBac employee to ask them some very simple questions. Why, for example, is everything so impossibly difficult to find, hidden behind some vague label that says, IB Manager or Classroom? At that point just put everything in one big folder, label it ‘stuff’ and leave it at that. Such a system has been working for chronically unorganised people’s desktops and drives for decades. Additionally, why is there no submit button, leaving everybody in the dark as to whether the examiners will ever see the cough beautifully crafted final reports we have laboured upon for all of one night?
But maybe, you, through some pact with a power of a higher being, are immune to the struggles of ManageBac. You think you can get through all of this just fine. Because all the important information will be distributed in one simple, easy-to-reach place, right? Not spread, seemingly at random, across emails, google classroom, presentations, supervisors and advisors. That would just be silly and INFURIATING.
Deep breath. For us Year 11s, it’s over now. Everything turned in. Nothing to worry about. Because I’m sure that, based on everybody's track records, the Extended Essay will be managed just fine. Oh god, wish us luck. Please.