Submitted Photo | Valdosta High School Valdosta High School juniors in the International Baccalaureate program visit Valdosta State University’s Odum Library. 

VALDOSTA — Every year the International Baccalaureate juniors take a field trip to the Odum Library on Valdosta State University’s main campus where numerous resources are available for the in-depth research projects assigned. 

IB students have to write many different essays and complete research projects for the program, such as an extended essay and multiple internal assessments. For the advanced essays, the use of progressive resources and college material are highly advised.

Odum Library offers a wide variety of books, newspapers, articles and other resources that can be used for many requirements. 

During this trip, the juniors learned about what type of resources are available throughout the library as well as learning about citations. 

Citations are a main part of the major IB essays, and they need to be cited correctly.

“An easy way to cite your sources is to use a database (Google Scholar or Galileo) that includes the citation along with the source or use websites like EasyBib or BibMe to create citations in a bibliography,” said Christopher Vietas, a senior mentor. 

Last year, I attended this trip as a junior, and it was very beneficial for me because I was able to tour the library and learn where to find resources that I will need for my specific essay topics. 

Also, I was able to grasp the concept of citations and how to cite properly. Personally, this was useful for my extended essay because I used multiple citations, which included books from Odum Library.

This year, I had the opportunity to be a senior mentor on the trip. 

Senior mentors help guide the juniors in the right path for their Extended Essay and the various internal assessments. Additionally, mentors use their student experiences to tell the right and wrong areas.

I was able to talk to everyone in my group about their individual extended essay topic and give them feedback. I also answered questions from my personal experiences with junior year classes. 

Likely my most valuable tip — write, study and don’t procrastinate.