Written by Sophia Hesse and Natasza Stawirej
The Davos Trip – the ZIS annual tradition and the core of the senior spirit. A final opportunity for our senior to connect before they depart for their journey to adulthood. In 3 days, students will take part in a relaxing retreat, including outdoor activities, exclusive adventures, lip sync competitions and bowling. But how relaxing can this retreat really be? With an Extended Essay deadline awaiting and university application coming up, our very busy IB seniors are nothing but overwhelmed.
To better understand the student’s opinion, two seniors were interviewed to share their perspective on this controversy. When asked how they felt about the trip, both students shared an unhappy view: “I was excited at first, until I heard about the evening activities” one of the students mentioned. Another student voiced his concern over the trip, stating he was worried about the Extended Essay deadline, suggesting the trip couldn’t have been at a worse time.
When asked if they were looking forward to the trip, both students were mutually disappointed: “I am looking forward to going to Davos to be with my friends for 3 days, but I am disappointed about the activities and the lack of freedom we will have on this trip.” The other student communicated his displeasure about the extended essay deadline: “I am not looking forward to going because of the EE deadline.”
Grade 12 Level Leader, Mr. Samuelson, gave us good insight into why he thinks this is a great opportunity for our students: “I am very happy that you get to do something else, than just being at the school”.
A lot of students are happy about this too, but one of the main concerns is still the EE and the post-Davos deadline. When asked about his thoughts on the trip’s impact on the Extended Essay, he asked us: “Did you have two EE days at the end of last year?”, which yes- we did, “and now you’re going to have another EE day. That’s more than we have given any grade at any time in this school”.
Despite the upcoming trip, we still have a big advantage, in terms of time. But, is this enough to convince the IB Year 2s that this trip will be as relaxing as promised?
Overall, many students are excited to go on this trip, however, most can agree that this will be a stressful time for the IB Seniors. But, will the Year 2s enjoy this trip and not stress? We will have to find out in the following week.