Around the World in Six Days

Every summer, IB students from all over the world come together for the IB World Student Conference (IBWSC), a six-day seminar in a university setting where students get to know one another, collaborate, and tackle significant global issues with the help of engaging speakers and thoughtful inquiry discussed in small sessions. Each student is part of a Global Action Team (GAT) built around a theme and a specific activity. GATs work together to problem-solve and develop solutions to issues posed by conference leaders in the form of Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) projects. After attending the conference, students return to their schools armed with new areas of expertise, leadership skills, and theme-based action plans ready to be implemented in their communities.

As Katie Biela, a 2014 GAT leader and ToK/CAS Coordinator/Extended Essay Coordinator at Uplift North Hills Prep, mentioned, “The IB has created a safe environment that brings together young people who are on fire, passionate, and active. As a GAT leader, I got to see the world getting fixed, no passing the buck.”

Exploring Human Rights in Canada and Empowering Diversity in Australia

Zoya’s Canadian adventure began with an IBWSC poster. She says she hadn't seriously considered it until she saw the theme of the conference, to be held at McGill University: “Human Rights in the 21st Century.” Zoya’s application was accepted with a full scholarship in honor of Roshan Thomas, a Canadian optometrist who founded an early childhood development center (Sparks Academy) in Kabul, Afghanistan, and was killed in a terrorist attack earlier this year.

Once she arrived at McGill, Zoya’s biggest concern was her fasting schedule – Zoya is Muslim and the conference was held during the month of Ramadan – but conference staff was very accommodating, which cleared the way for an amazing learning experience among IB students who truly wanted to alleviate global suffering: “At the conference, everyone cared. Our world will be better because our generation does care. We will convert social outrage into social change.”

Despite early awkward moments due to not knowing anyone at the conference and finding it hard to communicate with others who spoke different languages, students came together in their GATs to listen to inspiring leaders and work towards common, actionable objectives. Zoya was inspired by like-minded individuals and experiences that cemented her interest in being the first person in her family to study something other than engineering or medicine. Her choice? International relations.

At the end of her six days in Canada, Zoya and her GAT developed a website meant to spark action to help child soldiers and promote education. For Zoya, the pivotal takeaway was realizing that “you should do whatever you’re passionate about no matter what. There are opportunities out there.” Zoya’s father had once told her that her generation only cares about their iPhones – she returned from her trip ready to prove him wrong.

Becca’s Australian adventure proved to be just as exciting as Zoya's: the theme to be explored at the University of Queensland was “Empowering Diversity: Exploring Ways to Make an Impact in all Communities.” She was moved by presentations that tackled the neuroscience of prejudice and by presenter Bobby Whitfield, a community leader who raised his five younger siblings in a refugee camp and is the first Liberian refugee to graduate with a Masters degree from the University of Queensland.

In Becca’s GAT, students discussed the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course and complex philosophical topics. Their final project was a “Mixing Bowl” cookbook developed for Facebook that celebrates differences and cultural backgrounds while bringing people together. “The conference was a life-changing experience. My favorite part was the people I met… all stereotypes were shattered,” says Becca.

To learn more about the IB World Student Conference (IBWSC), please visit the IBWSC conference page on the IBO website.