Last TY Trip of The Year: Xtreme Activities

May 20th, Wednesday was the last day out with the whole of TY. For our last TY trip we went to Xtreme Adventure Centre in Balbriggan. As soon as we got there we were divided into groups and started our activities. Our first activity was the Aerial Trekking obstacle course level 3 and I'll be honest, I was petrified at first but half way through the obstacle course it started to feel easy. At first my heart started to beat so fast, thinking that I was going to end up falling 14 metres down. 

My favourite activity was the obstacle course because that was the only activity I feared to do and I'm glad that I made it through the whole activity. My second favourite was the archery even though I'm not so great at it but I found it really good. 

It's sad to think that's it coming near to the end of TY. It has been a great year and I made lot's of new friends. The year gave me a lot of opportunities to experience some things that I have never done before and it gave me the opportunity to improve on some skills. I strongly recommend Transition Year and I can guarantee you that you will have the best year. 

                   

RETREAT: Weak or Strong

On the Wednesday of May 13th, the whole of TY went to a retreat in Maynooth University. The retreat was held in a seminary. Firstly, we formed a big circle with our seats and we were then given an introduction, and met our supervisors. We were told that it's our decision to choose to have a good day or not so they advised us to participate as much as we could.

Our first task was to link arms and sit while still linking arms with the people beside you, this shows our strengths and weaknesses. The first four people that fell were chosen to be "dentists" for a game that still shows strengths and weaknesses, to do so we were to sit down and link arms with the people beside you and hold onto them as they get dragged away from the four dentists.. Now you decide what role we played. The second game that we played was to get into groups of whatever number was called out.

After our 10 minute break, we got in to groups of 10. Each group was given a piece of paper with a question and discuss about it with the group we were in. The question that we got was, 'If you were to change one thing about one or both of your parents what would it be?' After discussing with our small group we then had a huge discussion with the rest of the groups about each of the questions from each group. The discussion became serious with a bit of laughter of course.

In honesty, I thought I wasn't going to enjoy the retreat but as it started I ended up having a good time and I enjoyed myself throughout the whole retreat. I definitely recommend it and I would love to go back again.

                                        

Break Freeeeeeeeee!

The past few Thursdays we've been doing hip hop for P.E. These past few Thursdays we've been learning and practicing a dance for our TY Night and the songs that we're dancing to is, 'Break Free' and 'Run The World,' the dance routine is pretty easy to learn. Dancing is one of my favorite pastimes and I'm enjoying it so far. We have two weeks left of hip hop and I want to make the best of it, and have fun. I look forward to TY Night and can't wait to show our parents what we've learned and what we did during the past few weeks of being a Transition Year student.

                                                        

Gaisce Hike

To complete our Gaisce bronze award we had to accomplish a 25K hike and 37 participants headed out to Kippure Estate in Wicklow on April 24th and stayed overnight.

Day 1:

We left school at around 2 pm and arrived at Kippure Estate around 3 pm. When we arrived at our destination we were all put into our houses and we got 10-15 minutes to prepare ourselves before we headed for our hike. We had to accomplish 15K on this day which took almost 7 hours. Three professional hikers came along with us. We went on top of four hills which was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo exhausting. I really enjoyed it although it was tiring and luckily the weather was great on the first day. 

Day 2: 

I got up at 7:30 am to get ready, have breakfast and to clean the place. We had to be out of the house before 9 am so we could get started on the activities such as abseil wall, leap of faith and archery. Afterwards we then headed back to the mountains. Day 2 of hiking, the day that I will never forget. Why? The weather was gruesome. To complete 25K we hiked for another 10K in terrible weather. It started off with hailstones and as we got higher the weather got worst and the temperature dropped which felt like -20 degrees. I couldn't feel a thing and I couldn't move a bone which made me feel like giving up completely. This hike took almost 6 hours, 6 hours of torture. We then made it back to Kippure and headed back home. After I got home, I went to a party and lucky me most of the adults there were nurses and I got spoiled with hot food, drinks and comfort. 

The hike was a great experience and I'm proud that I have accomplished 25K in such horrendous weather.  

Drive or Dive

April 13th 2015

Class Ariel went to Leinster Driving Campus in Maynooth for driving lessons which was a great opportunity and experience. We arrived there at 9:30 in the morning and were divided in two groups both with groups of three or two. 

The group that I was put in went in for the theory while the other group went driving around the track for driving lessons. During the theory test I found out that you can be 15 years old to do the theory test and that's one thing I did not know about. After the theory test we were given three road signs and we were to come up with something funny about the signs which was a great laugh. We then tried out the beer goggles which were goggles that made you feel you were on drugs or drunk. We each got the chance to wear the goggles and while wearing the goggles we had to put a cone on top of the other cone and give our instructor a high five which gave me a headache after wearing the goggles. 

After our 15 minutes break we swapped around and we got the chance to drive around. It was my first time driving and I thought I was going to crash and end up in the small lake but thankfully I didn't. 

SciFest

March 6th 2015

This day was the day of SciFest, the day we all worked hard for. All of TY students participated in this event which is a secondary school science competition. We all put in hard work since the beginning of school year. There were a lot of great and interesting science projects. 

My science project was called 'Potastic,' and it's about making plastic from potatoes. The purpose of this was investigating a better and safer way to develop plastic and making our environment much better because plastics are originally made from petroleum oil which can be found beneath the earth's surface. Digging petroleum oil can cause disadvantages such as;

• Affecting the greenhouse house effect.
• Non-renewable and we are running out of oil.
• Drilling can be difficult and expensive. 

It was a great and successful day. We didn't get through but what's important is that we enjoyed ourselves and learned new informations. I'd like to congratulate the girls who got through! 

                                     

Selma

March 10th 2015

On this day the whole of TY went to VUE Cinema in Liffey Valley to watch the movie 'Selma,' as part of our history. The movie was based about Martin Luther King and his actions towards civil rights. 

The movie was really inspiring and it's a good source for our history. I now know a lot more about Martin Luther King and the civil rights, I'll be honest.. watching the movie made me tear up. I really did enjoy the movie and it's a MUST see movie. 

                                     
       
                                          

Briery Gap Grand Finals

Two groups 'Change' and 'Speak Up,' went through the Grand Finals in Cork and these two groups were from Class Ariel. 

February 28th 2015

We left Celbridge around 7.30am or later and made our way down to Macroom, Co.Cork. The journey was nearly four hours and we arrived at Macroom at around 11.45. 'Speak Up,' was on stage at 12.30 and the other group 'Change' performed at 2pm and after their performance we got the chance to watch one drama and we left right after it was finished because we had a long journey ahead of us. 

Before performing on stage I was nervous out of my wits, and this included shaking. There was not much people watching but I pretended that there was no one there and I did my best. It went really well but I feel that I would've done better but out of everything, everyone was AMAZING. 

During the journey home I was wrecked and tired so I slept through the journey even when the whole class was singing out of their lungs. I really enjoyed the day and its's one great memory made that I will never forget. 

Briary Gap Drama Competition

27th January 2015 was the day when all of Transition Year headed out to Mullingar to participate in a Drama Competition. In honesty I wasn't as nervous as I usually would be and I thought it helped me build up my confidence. I've never had a main role in a play and this was a good experience. Our play was about child abuse titled, 'Speak Up.' I play the role of a girl named 'Olivia,' who's the friend of the main character (Evin) who gets abused by his mother. 

We were one of the first schools to arrive at the theatre and we were second on the list to perform. After our performance, we talked to the judge and he told us some things that needs to be worked on which would be helpful for the future. I think we did really good and everyone did a great job. 

After seeing some of the plays, we went to McDonalds to have something eat and went back to the theatre to watch one more play before we headed back to Celbridge. I certainly had a great time and it was a great experience. 

Work Experience 2

11th Febraury 2015:

This was my first day at my second work placement. My second placement is at a primary school, St. Patrick's Primrary School. I will be working with the Junior and Senior Infant Classes as they need more help especially the teachers. The first person I talked to was the secretary and I then got to meet the principal of the school who is also my supervisor. 

I helped one of the junior infant classes and my first task was to photocopy some homework and I then helped the pupils with their art. For their art they were to make eskimos and I helped them with that, then it was time for my first break. I met some of the staffs and they were really kind. After my break, I went out for my yard duty. 

I continued helping the pupils with their art and then my supervisor gave me a task to do after helping the infants with their art. Afterwards, I did the task I was given which was to stick some photographs on the walls of the school hallway. The clock struck 2.40 and it was then time for me to head home. I emjoyed my first day and I'm excited to come back in for the next few weeks. 

BT Young Scientist

Transition year and 2nd year students went to the BT Young Scientist, the event was held at the RDS just like every year. We had students from our school who submitted their science project and took part of the event, and we were there to support them. There were many schools from all over the country that participated the BT Young Scientist. There were many different science projects from different schools and I had the chance to look at some. My favourite project was the one where electricity can flow through fruits.