Curate, connect, and discover
a/n: look, i know i said i wouldn't make reactions/headcannons and stick to fics but as a former ib kid (2020 cohort woot woot) i feel like i have every right to talk about this. anyway enjoy lovelies <33 also @hyuckworld we talked about aerospace engineering jake and now i can't get this entire thing out of my head ;-;
warnings: lowercase and bullet points; mentions of food
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mfer is smart he'd def take 4 HLs
HLs: maths, physics, chemistry, english
SLs: korean for second language (group 2), economics for humanities (group 3)
trust me, every stem kid i knew took economics as their group 3
also, every international school kid is obliged to take an english hl course. like, the only sls i knew were fresh off the boat (fobs)
definitely would use his hls to apply for oxbridge/ivys because he probably has the money to pay for the tuition
if not, then he'd work towards doing co-op engineering at unsw or umelb
alice headcannoned him as an aerospace engineering guy but i see him more towards civ eng or mech eng
either way engineering is the goal for jake, and his subjects perfectly align for him to get into his desired program
now, let's talk about his study ethic
surprisingly, he's not a procrastinator
idk he was very hardworking in i-land, and as relatable as he can be, i just don't see him as someone who leaves work last minute
trust me i’m an s tier procrastinator so i would know
anyway, jake would be one of those kids who actually does their work one step at a time
i also feel like he has a good balance between maintaining a social life and studying, but when exam szn or ia szn comes he just... disappears
he'd definitely be the type of guy to email the teacher for a meeting to check his ia and reports
would probably (most likely) stay after school to finish his ias since he's a stem kid
like, trust me i took chem sl and even i had to stay after school to finish my goddamn ia labs it was absolute torture
out of all the subjects he takes i feel like he'd whine about economics a lot
would surprisingly do well in english, because i can see him as a bit of a reader
like, he'd obviously not pay attention in school but once he goes home he'd just go like "hey king lear is actually really interesting"
his extended essay would definitely be about physics
idk he'd probably go a bit nuts on the research and do smth like airplane design or the brachistochrone problem
i mean, ngl every boy always has that airplane phase and if we're going with the aerodynamics route he'd probably look into a lot of that !!
i can see him lurking on the ib disc or ib reddit, constantly shitposting memes to cope with the workload or panic about his uni applications
for uni apps, i'd say he's mid. by this i mean he won't apply too early, but he also won't apply too late
there's a certain indecisive factor about which school he'd want to go to, and i feel like because he's such a family guy he'd want to stay in aus for a bit before branching out and going abroad
however, considering how he took the bold move to train in korea with a meager grasp of the language, i can also see him going to the uk/us right after he graduates the diploma program
hAbiTat foR hUmaNiTy
speaking of cas (creativity, action, service), he would probably struggle to find enough activities to get credit because his academic workload is just too much
like, we're talking about the stem kid taking 4hls of course he'd not have time to do extracurriculars
for action, he'd continue with the soccer club and i kinda see him doing swimming
creativity is his worst category. i'm sorry i really don't see jake as a creative guy
when i did the ib, it was the other way around and i had too many creative projects (photoshoots, editorials, short films for advertising, etc)
with jake, i think he'd do just fine with being part of the string section in his school orchestra
other than that i really don't see him doing anything artistic
for service i can see him volunteering a lot for dog shelters like cmon
of course, every ib kid has to be a part of h4h, and i can see him taking the trip to vietnam/cambodia/wherever to build a house he'd forget about
he'd probably bs something like "this experience falls in line with my career path because i want to be an engineer in the future. building houses allowed me to demonstrate my skills in maths and physics, and the hands-on experience with construction work made me learn about the importance of the subjects i'm taking."
he would also tutor kiddies on math and science!! that's like, the easiest way to gain service points!!
his portfolio would be shit but hey he'd definitely get more than enough cas credits to graduate and keep his pg
now that we got the basics out of the way let's dive a bit into tok
he would hate tok
this is the one class (apart from econ or Korean) where he'd just... sleep
let the melatonin take over and catch up on the zzzs he missed because he had to write up like three ias in one week
we're talking about maths, physics, and chemistry reports!! yikes jakey....
obviously the teacher would get mad all the time and pick on him
but because he's smart he'd usually give a general, correct answer and then go back to take his nap
nonetheless i feel like his tok score would bring down both is pg and his final grade
like he wouldn't do terrible at it, he'd just do decent enough
like say, a b
i feel like his tok essay would be better than his presentation because have you seen his belift audition video?? man is a nervous wreck before getting the idol training and ego boost /j
he'd be a stuttering mess in his tok presentation and his groupmates would have to cover up and answer the questions, which would further bring his score down
his tok essay would be really interesting though, like he'd def write something about ethics in science or aritifcial intelligence and sentience
doesn't show it but can get really existential in his essay
alright now let's talk about his pg
40+
that's it
this kid is smart and a hard worker, and i feel like the inner east asian in him would sigma grind his way into getting past the 40 cutoff
would definitely panic after his pg goes down for a bit and go straight to the diploma coordinator like "WTF WHY IS MY PG A 38 NOW?!?!??!??!"
would probably end up getting a 41 final but bc it's the ib i honestly don't know
if jake gets lucky with a nice marker he might get upwards to a 42/43
but anyway tok would screw up his mark and he'd under up with a solid 40 or 41 i'd say
now that we got the grades away let's talk about jake as a classmate
solid group of friends taking a variety of subjects
i feel like he's the type to make more friends outside of his discipline
like, he'd have a few people he's tight with in physics, and then most of them would either be in bizman or glopol
i reckon he'd have a few friends taking art just so he can chill in the art room
overall a very friendly person despite the stress
100% shitposts memes as a cope
would definitely stalk his physics teacher on instagram and keep in touch after he graduates
i can also see him as the guy who lightens up the mood in every class, cracking jokes with the teacher or showing the bare minimum levels of enthusiasm to keep the class from turning into a zoom lecture void with 0 cameras on
like, he'd try his best to raise his hand and engage at least once, then shuts up the entire class
double period jake is where we see him go from 100 to 0
like, imagine double period physics and double period chem? yikes.......
like, he'd be so energetic then he'd just sleep after an hour
anyway because of this i feel like some of his teachers would allow him to bring snacks to class
like, say if his physics or maths class is right after recess, he'd rush to the canteen to buy food and eat them during class
he'd def be the type of guy to bring his wholeass laptop to lunch, typing up his ia while eating
ia szn also means jake spends his entire lunch breaks in physics/chem classrooms to finish up his ias
i feel like he'd be a teacher's pet
like who can hate him
i just can't see him as an asshole
he'd probably be the classmate who says "we're all gonna go to hell anyway!" when mock exams come up
like he's that kind of funny, yet wholesome person that makes you instantly feel better even though you know damn well that your pg is going down down down
he's the student that creates the inside jokes of the class
like, he's that much of a trendsetter
probably saw a mascot during one of his econ trips to the bank and started dancing with it, so now, everyone does the dance that jake did
he'd also be very supportive in class
by supportive i mean typing up notes and handing them to people who were absent by sending them emails of it
at the end he'd always have a meme or two
i don't think he'd run for student council, but his class would probably nominate him as class rep
ofc he'd turn down and say "guys i'm really busy"
which, ofc, understandable. 4hls + stem is rly hard to manage as a teenager
i have a good feeling he might be salutatorian
but hey, who knows?
anyway i think i've covered enough about jake being in the ib
tldr: he's a nice, hardworking stem kid who stresses out over his pgs and makes photoshopped memes of his teachers
the end!!