Kelly Stellmacher
I always knew that the junior and senior years of my education at the Telluride Mountain School were not going to be easy. I am now right in the middle of this hectic time and I find myself looking back and thinking, “Well, am I as overloaded as I had thought?” The answer is yes and no. The work is definitely more than it had been in past years. Despite this, I don’t feel the weight of the different responsibilities all the time, and I don’t feel very stressed at all. I think this is due to many different factors I had failed to appreciate when I was younger. One, not everything needs to get done in a month. Two, each subject taught in school is guided by a teacher who will always try their hardest to support and assist me. Three, I have other students who are taking this trek alongside (and ahead of) me. This has been the greatest gift I could ask for when approaching and facing the daunting task which is the IB Programme. Knowing that I am not alone in this endeavor has been a great and uplifting feeling for me.
A major example of this was my HL Mathematics exploration. Because I am only a junior, I was unable to submit any of my work in math to the IB this year despite having taken the class for both required years. I was, however, able to complete all of the work and make sure it was ready to submit next year. I completed the classwork as well as individual exploration. The Exploration involved a 10-page paper that is an organized outline of my process in solving a particular question. The question I chose to investigate was in regard to the optimization of the flooring area of a house given a limited amount of materials. I was curious to see how large of a volume I could make given a budget of $30,000. I combined modeling a real-world situation with elements of calculus to find the greatest possible floor area.
Click here to view the current version of my exploration
I truly enjoyed completing my exploration and I was glad to have done it this year so I wouldn’t be responsible for doing it next year. I was also grateful for the advice and guidance I received from Jamie Hozack regarding suggestions for where I should direct my models to how to formulate equations to solve for different variables. I can also say that I was excited to see the work that my fellow classmates were completing. From modeling different brand logos and ballet positions to measuring the melting weight of candles to modeling the Fibonacci sequence in nature to analyzing the Collatz Conjecture, I was fascinated by it all. Through this study, I learned how to express my thought process and the different steps I took to try and solve a problem. I learned to ask for advice from people more knowledgeable regarding the subject than myself. Finally, I learned the value of simply having other people with whom I could share my findings and be able to learn from them as they share their own.
This project was intended to begin my much larger endeavor to one day build my own house. I know that I will be tasked with responsibly spending a set amount of money. I am beginning to draw out the possible plans for my house and writing my ideas on paper.
