Joanna Kawaa’ – Amman, Jordan

Why did you choose the MYP?

I chose the MYP because my parents always encouraged me to sign up and I grew up watching my brothers graduate as IB students.

What did you like most and what was most memorable about the programme?

What I love most about doing the MYP is that you can interact with the environment around you and it encourages self-confidence and self-expression. So, I would imagine in any other programme you would have to memorize the textbook and then arrive at the exam but in our exams, we have levels which are one to two, three to four, five to six and seven to eight. Seven to eight is usually unfamiliar questions that are interconnected with knowledge you learn in class, so you have to apply that knowledge to answer that question that you are unfamiliar with.

I would say my most memorable experience would be the interdisciplinary units between chemistry and biology, where we had to initiate a project where we planted fruits and flowers in recyclable water bottles. We used fundraising techniques inside the school to raise funds for the project and then we went around the city to gather all of the plants and the fruits to plant in the garden, and then created the pots from the empty recyclable water bottles.

What was your favorite MYP subject?

My favorite subject would be math since it challenges your way of thinking and how you approach questions. Also, they teach us in school how to apply math like trigonometry and algebra to real life situations. For example, using a parabola, a graph parabola, to calculate the maximum height and the maximum time needed when you throw a ball in the air and then let it come back down.

Would you recommend the programme to other students? Why?

Of course, I would recommend the programme to other students because the programme focuses on the individual himself or herself and it allows you to grow and prepares you for the future.