One of the requirements for an International Baccalaureate diploma is the completion of a 3500 to 4000 word essay. Known as the Extended Essay, this requirement appears to many students to be the most daunting obstacle between themselves and the completion of the International Baccalaureate program.

However, over the summer sixty IB students received the direction and help they needed. From July 7 to July 18, 2003, the Honors College at Florida International University hosted an Extended Essay Academy.

“It was a lot of help, and it really gave me focus,” said Coral Reef junior Susanna Chan.

The class was taught by Michele Patterson, the coordinator of the IB program at Coral Reef High School, and Sue Rodriguez, the coordinator of the IB program at John A. Ferguson High School.

Over the first few days of the program Patterson and Rodriguez worked one-on-one with students to select and develop an appropriate topic.

The next step was research. Luckily for the students they were meeting within the Green Library at Florida International University, and thus had available to them more resources than they could possibly want.

“The library was a great source of information, and it made life a lot easier,” said Coral Reef junior Monica Shapiro.

Once the writing process began, students were matched up with the graduate student most knowledgeable in the subject area of their essay.

In addition to having their essays polished by the course instructors and the Graduate Assistants, students often helped each other.

“The work environment was really great. Being able to work with friends was motivational and it made me work harder,” said Melissa Nuñez.

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