Seniors scramble nervously throughout the day as the infamous Individual Oral Commentaries (IOCs) continue. Held in the AHS Neighborhood Center next to the modular, the IB English oral exams are completed by students during an assigned block in which they analyze a piece of literature. The IOCs began on Jan. 18 and will conclude today, Jan. 25.

“Before, I was extremely nervous. I spent almost 99% of my time in classes studying, but once I was there it wasn’t that nerve racking,” senior Tamera Demessew said.

Before beginning their IOCs, higher level (HL) students must pick a passage or poem to analyze from one of 30 folders, while standard level (SL) students must choose one of eight. Each folder contains a literary work, which include poems from Sylvia Plath and Seamus Heaney and excerpts from Beloved, Hamlet and Woman Warrior: Memoirs from a Girlhood Among Ghosts for SL students or An American Childhood for HL students.

Students then have 20 minutes to read and analyze the literary work they select, which they read earlier this semester. After analyzing the work, students move into a different room to give a ten minute recorded presentation concerning the work. Their English teachers, who listen in to the presentations, then ask follow-up questions.

“It was sort of stressful beforehand, but afterward it was relieving. I think I did fairly well,” senior Anthony Young said.

The IOC will count towards one third of students’ midterm grades and 20% of their IB grades.

“Thinking about it, it was really stressful, but [English teacher Courtney] Dearinger made it chill,” senior Jessica Hotter said. “The cookie at the end was good too.”