Welcome to the SISS Alumni YouTube Channel!

Hello, dear viewers! I would like to welcome you all to our newest addition, our YouTube channel! My name is Diyon, and I will be running this channel on behalf of the SISS Alumni Network! However, before we start to post on there, I want to answer this question: What is the rationale behind creating this YouTube channel? First things first, it is worth mentioning that I just graduated from SISS in the Class of 2025. If I think about the main thing that I should have done better, it would be my preparation. When I started the IB, I was, in no way, prepared for the huge hike in difficulty and workload. To be honest, it took me the greater part of a year to understand what systems I really needed to have in place, in order to take value from the IB. However, I was not able to implement it fast, because I always felt like I was behind. What I would like to highlight here, is the sheer amount of time, which it took me to grasp what I needed to be prepared for. I struggled to figure out what was objectively effective, and what suited my personal preferences. While doing my own research on preparing for the IB, I figured out that the genuinely good advice and strategies are very difficult to find. Instead, most of us find the mostly superficial advice from some high-profile students, which don't consider the fact that we are completely different people to that student, with completely different learning strengths and weaknesses. It's no wonder that the majority of IB students have a hard time adjusting to the IB - they do not have the tools and the know-how to create their own systems! Out of this motivation, as well as my personal drive to make a different in my community, the idea of making free, high-quality content, teaching the skills to build your own personalised systems to deal with the IB, was born! Now that I have covered the background behind this venture, it's time to speak about the next steps forward! Over the last couple of weeks, I have identified five core areas, for which systems should be built: Time Management, Learning, Mindset, Organisation and Support System. While these core areas are not finalised, I will start basing the first videos around them. For each core area, there will be an in-depth video, leading you through the process of understanding the component of a system in that area, as well as how to adjust these components to fit your personal preferences. These videos will be supported by a range of resources, which will go into the nuances and offer practical tips, which cannot be covered in the actual video. While the five core areas are the main skills that will be taught, further videos will lead you through secondary skills, which are much more IB-specific. Finally, this YouTube channel will be accompanied by a blog, running parallel on the SISS Alumni website. During the downtime between videos, these blogs will tackle smaller issues and encourage thinking about certain aspects of the IB and beyond. The future of the SISS Alumni Network, and its ability to cater to students all around the world and in SISS, is exciting! Although these massive changes will take multiple weeks/months to undertake, I am focused to deliver on my promise of creating high-value content! While all these changes are progressing, I will keep you updated through these blog posts! Until that time, I wish you all the best! Cheers! Diyon

That'll be me in a bit :)