T.Y.

Looking back over my experience of Transition year, I can say that it was without a doubt, the busiest year yet. Whether it be projects, dramas, competitions or group trips, we were always kept busy and our efforts certainly did not come without success :)

As a whole, the year group really did themselves proud, winning awards in Scifest, Mini-company, Drama and so much more. The highlight for me was definitely the Mini-company competition - after a rather stressful few months of carrying out market research, designing prototypes and contacting manufactures, our efforts eventually paid off when we came runner up in the regional final.

Through different activities and assignments throughout the year, it has enabled us to gain so much more confidence in ourselves, acquire new skills and break away from the typical academic work in school.

Whether it be group work within the school or conversing with other schools during the competitions, we have all become a lot closer as a year group and made a great deal of new friends, which perhaps, would not have been plausible otherwise.

All in all it was a great year, I have no regrets and I would recommend it to anyone interested in exploring something a bit different :)

- Emma

Geography Project - Links

Post 1 - http://emmaknox.blogspot.com/2011/04/geography-post-1.html

Post 2 - http://emmaknox.blogspot.com/2011/05/geography-post-2_05.html

Post 3 - http://emmaknox.blogspot.com/2011/05/geography-post-2.html

Post 4 - http://emmaknox.blogspot.com/2011/05/geography-post-4.html

Post 5 - http://emmaknox.blogspot.com/2011/05/geography-post-5.html

Book Report - My Sister's Keeper

The novel which I chose to read was "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult, a controversial yet engrossing tale of a family's fight for survival in the midst of both physical and emotional unrest.

At the mere age of two, Kate Fitzgerald is diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, a rare form of blood cancer with a survival rate of only 20-30%. After discovering that neither Sara, Brian (Kate’s parents), nor her brother, Jesse, were a match for Kate, Sara and Brian grasped at the only opportunity of prolonging Kate’s life – a genetically engineered child, who would be a perfect match for Kate, thus suitable for donating whatever necessary, such as cord blood, lymphocytes and most recently, a kidney.

Ultimately, the novel outlines the heartbreaking story of a family torn apart by the tormenting question of morality vs. legality. At the age of thirteen, valiant and incorruptible Anna files a lawsuit against her parents, seeking medical emancipation – the rights to her own body and the ability to make her own decisions regarding her medical well-being. With highly established solicitor, Campbell Alexander on her side, Anna embarks on a journey which would, through a series of unexpected twists and turns, alter the lives of her entire family in years to come. Sara, a former lawyer, decides to represent herself and her husband Brian in the trial and despite her best efforts, fails to convince her daughter to drop the lawsuit and succumb to her wishes. During the trial, the truth behind the formerly nebulous origin of the case was reluctantly offered - it was Kate's wish to die. The highly anticipated verdict of the case ruled in Anna’s favour, declared by Judge DeSalvo and Campbell is granted medical power of attorney for her until she reaches the age of eighteen.

The phrase “Even if we win, we do not win” which was adopted by Anna throughout the length of the lawsuit, proved truer than anybody had previously expected, when she was left brain dead following a collision en route to the hospital. The young girl who was finally free of obligations towards her sister, finally enabled to lead a life independent of her family, found herself once again saving Kate's life. It is at this point where the irony in the novel really shines through; after a life-long battle, striving to prolong Kate's deteriorating health, it is the wrong sister who's life has been stolen without consent, the wrong sister who was swallowed into the abyss. After the surgery, Kate remained in remission for eight years, while a once audacious and insolent, Jesse, graduated from police academy. The Fitzgerald's maintained their strength by thinking of Anna as a gleaming gold star, watching over them with proud eyes.

The book is set in modern day USA and is composed of various anecdotes, intertwined into the main plot. I thought that the book was very uniquely and effectively written in the sense that the chapters were divided up into the mindsets of the main characters – Anna, Sara, Brian, Jesse, Campbell and Julia (guardian ad litem in the case). The novel was structured like a spider's web; out from the main storyline of Kate's struggle with her illness, spun countless other predicaments, individual to each character, weaved together into a mesh of dishonesty, misunderstanding and animosity. One example of this would be Jesse's pyromania, perhaps because of his parents subconscious neglect, resulting in his unyielding need for affection. One other thread in the tangle I enjoyed was the love-hate relationship between Campbell and Julia. As the story progressed, we watched in anticipation as the feelings they had been repressing for so long, slowly unraveled and they relight an old flame; rekindle their love. This allowed us to delve completely into the personal lives of the characters and come to a better understanding as to the why they turned out the way they did. These episodes enabled us to develop relationships with the characters and although in most cases, unable to empathize, feel some semblance of sympathy for each one of the characters.

Although unquestionably contrasting, all character's share one common quality - their need of a voice; their deep need of love. I found Jesse and Campbell to be the two most intriguing characters; both put up such a tough barrier and withdrew themselves entirely from the rest of society. Both men, whether unable to, or perhaps in order to preserve their pride, did not express this longing for affection and were perceived by those around them as delinquents, apathetic or simply insensitive to the feelings for others. In reality, all they ever wanted was to be given a chance, to not be judged, to be listened to. It has proved a sad truth that in the midst of leaving the inviolable cocoon of childhood, we get so caught up in our own problems that we become ignorant and oblivious to everything happening around us, we lose that zest for life that had once been so prominent. The majority of the time, children are treated as inferiors, seen as unintelligible or infantile, while in fact, it is them who hold the capacity to look at the bigger picture, to always remain optimistic & believe that anything is possible. "Kids think with their brains cracked wide open; becoming an adult, I’ve decided, is only a slow sewing shut" - Anna.

The novel emphasizes the reality that nobody comes without fault, that nobody is indefectible, that perfection is not attainable. Whether it be as simple as facing a lost-love and watching helpless as you are thrown back into the realm of the unknown, somewhere you never thought you'd return, or coming to terms with the death of a loved-one...behind every door, every fake smile, every confirmation of strength, is a person falling apart.

Geography Post #5

From Ireland, I moved on to Sweden, home on modern-day author, Stieg Larsson. I choose Stieg because I wanted to include an established writer of the modern era and his series have developed into a phenomenon today. Yeats can be directly linked to Sweden as it is where the Nobel Prize, which he won in 1923, originated.

Karl Stieg-Erland Larsson was born on the 15th August 1954 in Skelleftehamn, Sweden. Due to that fact that Stieg's parents both were too poor to raise him themselves, Stieg grew up in a small town with his grandparents. He looked up to his grandfather and admired his views regrading politics and morality. Severin (Stieg's grandfather) was strongly against fascism and was even imprisoned in a work camp in Storsien for rejecting the teachings of society and speaking out for equal rights and democracy. Stieg himself adopted these policies, angered and appalled by the treatment of his grandfather.

Stieg's real name is actually "Stig," however he changed the spelling to avoid confusion - his friend, also called Stieg, also had the hopes of becoming an established writer. However, both names are pronounced the same.

When he was only nine years old, Stieg moved back in with his parents & younger brother, following the death of his grandfather. It was soon after this, at the age of 12, when his passion for writing emerged. Stieg was given a present of a type-writer and stayed up till the early hours of the morning writing. At the beginning, his main interest lied with science-fiction and became chairman of the Scandinavian science fiction society. In 1971, he co-edited his first fanzine with Ruth Forsgren.

When Stieg was eighteen years old, he met Eva Gabrielsson at an anti-Vietnam War convention in Umea. Eva later went on to become his life-long partner until his death on the 9th November 2004 following a heart attack outside his apartment.

Both Stieg and his partner, Eva lived the last fifteen years of their lives under constant fear of attack. In 1999, a labor-union leader was murdered in his apartment by a group of Neo-Nazis, and the police found information about and photos of Stieg and Eva in the perpetrator's apartment. From then on, they never left their apartment together, removed mirrors in the hall and kept all their blinds down permanently.

It wasn't until after Stieg's death that he became an international icon. The Millenium Series - a series of three detective novels, that were completed but never published. Stieg wrote these novels after work, to relax and hoped to complete a total of ten novels, however never got to pursue this dream. The books are "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest."

Vasterbotten County is a province in the north of Sweden, bordering Angermanland, Lapland, Norrbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. With a population of 210,679, Vasterbotten was historically divided into two cities - Umea and Skelleftea - birthplace of Stieg Larsson.

Skelleftea is said to have been inhabited from around 100 AD by the Sami people and perhaps Finnish people, in parts. Today, Skelleftea has evolved into an industrial and mining city - for gold. As a result of this, the town is often referred to as "Goldtown."

Despite it's northern latitude, Sweden as a whole has a very much temperate climate, consisting of four distinct seasons and mild temperatures throughout the year. The South of Sweden has an oceanic climate, Central Sweden has a humid continental climate & the North has a subarctic climate. Overall, however, Sweden is much warmer & drier than most countries of similar latitudes.

"Nobody can avoid falling in love... They might want to deny it, but friendship is probably the most common form of love."

- Stieg Larsson

Photo origin

Larsson Quotes

Youtube

Geography Post #4

From Paris, I ventured on to Dublin, Ireland, home of poet & playwright William Butler Yeats. Yeats soon became one of the primary figures of literature in the 19th Century, and remains so today.

Yeats was born on the 13th June 1865 in Sandymount, Co. Dublin, to John Butler Yeats and Susan Mary Pollexfen. John B. Yeats was an established lawyer, however his passion always remained with painting - portraits in particular, while Susan was the daughter of a wealthy family from Co. Sligo. Susan's father had very strong political views and wanted Ireland to remain under the control of the British crown, while her husband, John, expressed his sympathy for the nationalists and those in favour of Home Rule. Despite his "hostilities" toward the English, John moved the family to London to study art at Heatherly's Art School. Though immensely interested in all aspects of creativity and culture, it was in fact Susan who first introduced William & his two sisters (Susan Mary & Elizabeth Corbet) to the Irish folktales, that would later be reflected in his poetry.

While in England, Yeats attended the Godolphin School in Hammersmith, prior to moving back to Dublin. He was educated in both England & Ireland and spent his summers in the serene west coast of Ireland.

In 1884, Yeats enrolled in the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and studied there for two years. It was during this time that some of his first poems were printed in the "Dublin University Review."

Throughout Yeats' early life, he was actively involved in movements to bring about an Irish literary revival and acquired a deep interest in religion, politics literature and art. Although generally shy in the presence of women, Yeats did develop close friendships with women such as Katharine Tynan, Madame Blavatsky and in particular, Maud Gonne; a poet, feminist & actress with whom Yeats fell madly in love, whoever it remained unrequited. After several failed proposals, Yeats also asked Maud's daughter Iseult, for her hand in marriage. Ultimately, Yeats ended up marrying Miss George Hyde-Lees.

In 1894 Yeats and developed a friendship with Lady Augusta Gregory and in 1899 founded the Irish Literary Theatre (now called The Abbey Theatre). Yeats' play "On Baile's Strand" was one of it's first productions and Yeats remained the leading playwright for the theatre until John Synge joined.

Yeats' plays are usually based around legends and reflect his interest in spiritualism and mysticism. The play "Deirdre" in 1907 would be one of his most famous plays. Yeats' poetry, however displays his deep love of nature, his unrequited love and political matters. Some would include:

-He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

-The Lake Isles of Inisfree

-The Wild Swans at Coole.

In December 1923, Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.

Sandymount, Yeats' birthplace, is a coastal seaside suburb in Dublin 4 - on the Southside of Dublin. The town is situated approximately 3.5-5 kilometres south east of Dublin City and is served by the DART commuter rail system. The area contains many large Victorian style houses, as well as some more modern developments, mostly dating back from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Located next to the village is Sandymount Stand, which is a prominent part of the south side of Dublin Bay & expands to Merrion Gates.

Sandymount is also the birthplace of John S. Beckett and the home of Gay Byrne and Mary Harney.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

- W.B. Yeats

Picture Origin

Yeats' Quotes

Youtube - Poetry Reading

Geography Post #3

The next country I visited was France, home of Voltaire. Voltaire was a very important enlightenment writer in the 18th century and encouraged an action that would go on to start a revolution spreading throughout the whole of Europe - the Reformation.

Francois-Marie Arouet, more commonly known as Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, born in Paris, France on the 21st November 1694. Voltaire began studying law, however much to his father's disgust; abandoned this to pursue his passion -writing. Although today, he is universally acclaimed for his writings in philosophy, religion & politics, Voltaire is also acknowledged for his tragedies and continued to write for the theatre all his life. In addition to this, Voltaire was a very much established poet, so much so in fact that every rising poet submitted their attempts to Voltaire, seeking advice.

Throughout the 18th century, Voltaire became a voice of reason amongst the heinous teachings and practices of the Church. By the time he was forty years old, he was a very well-known writer and a wealthy man. Using his wit, charm, intelligence and sound common sense, he set about to inspire the people of Europe and encourage them to rebel against the injustice in society - the overruling power of the Church. However, this courageous act did not come without consequence.

Voltaire lived most of his life in constant fear of being jailed for speaking out against and criticizing the way of the King and the Church - an action simply not tolerated in this period. He was imprisoned in the Bastille on two occasions for his "slanderous" teachings. It was when he was exiled to England in 1726, that his philosophical interests deepened.

After returning to France in 1728, Voltaire composed the poem "La Henriade" which became very popular. However, other tirades regarding religious prejudice and the political system, such as "Lettres philosophiques" in 1734, were not so well received; they were considered offensive and caused great havoc in the community.

In 1754, after spending time in both Berlin and Geneva; he settled in Switzerland and went on to write other tales such as "Zadig", "Micromégas" and "Candide."

Voltaire died on the 30th May 1778, aged 83.

Paris is the capital and largest city in France and is located on the River Seine in Northern France. With a population of about 2,193,031, today Paris is one of the worlds most influential and leading business & cultural centres, focusing in on politics, education, entertainment, fashion, media, science & the arts. In both 2009 and 2010, Paris was named one of the three most influential and important cities in Europe.

The city includes two islands; the Ile Saint-Louis and the Ile de la Cité. These island together form the oldest part of the city. Consisting of most flat land, Paris does contain several hills such as Montmarte - which means "mountain of the martyr."

Paris has an oceanic climate - mild and moderately wet; generally Paris does not suffer from extreme heat of extreme cold.

Paris is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with around 24,448 inhabitants per square kilometre.

"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices." - Francois-Marie Arouet.

Picture Origin

Voltaire Quotes

Geography Post #2

My next destination was England; home of William Shakespeare, a playwright and poet born in the 16th Century. I choose Shakespeare as my next person of interest as he is universally regarded as one of the greatest vernacular writers - all of his poems, sonnets & plays are written in English.

The exact date of Shakespeare's birth is unknown, although it has been confirmed that he was baptized on the 26 April 1564 in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church - where he was later buried. He was born and raised in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire to John & Mary (Arden), and attended a local grammar school there, studying subjects such as: Latin rhetoric, logic and literature.

In 1582, when Shakespeare was only eighteen years old, he married Anne Hathaway, who was 26 at the time. Just six months after their marriage, their first daughter, Susanna was born, followed by twins Judith & Hamnet in 1585. Hamnet, unfortunately died in 1596, at the mere age of 11.

There is a great deal of uncertainty as to happenings in Shakespeare's life between his early life and his move to London; this period is often referred to as the "dark years." It is reckoned that he left school at the age of 15 and sought employment in a local company - perhaps working for his father.

Soon after his marriage to Anne, Shakespeare moved to London to pursue a career in acting and writing. There was a mass of theatres in London, as the Queen, Elizabeth I, loved drama. When Shakespeare began his successful career with A London theatrical company, he also learnt to sing & dance and perhaps even played the parts of women - who were forbidden from performing in this era. It is believed that Shakespeare wrote & acted in "Pembroke's Men" and "Strange's Men."

When the plague struck in 1592, all the theatres in London closed down and Shakespeare began writing book-length poetry and sonnets to fill up his time. Some of his most famous poetry includes "Venus and Andonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece." During this two-year span, he also began writing sonnets, totaling to 150. According to some records, his sonnets are dedicated to a mysterious "dark lady" - whom was not actually his wife, however other speculation indicated that his sonnets were more signs of the time's fashion rather than confessions of his own love. In 1594, the theatres re-opened and Shakespeare reverted to composing plays & published no more poems. His plays are very popular today as they deal with personal problems such as love, hatred & jealousy. Some of his most famous would include "Romeo & Juliet" "Hamlet" and "The Merchant of Venice."

In 1599, Shakespeare founded the Globe Theatre, built by a group of established actors, known as The Chamberlain's Men. Shakespeare later purchased another theatre, called the "Blackfriars Gatehouse." The Globe bruned down around 1613 and he moved back to Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Shakespeare died on the 23rd April 1616 and although never short of money - never found much fame until after this date.

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in the south of Warwickshire, England and lies on the River Avon. This river served as a trade route for the town. It is both the largest and most populous town (25,505) in the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which consists of four wards: Alveston, Avenue and New Town, Mount Pleasant and Guild and Hathaway. The town of Stratford is in close proximity to Cotswolds, which was a major sheep-producing area up until the late 19th century & regarded Stratford as one of it's main centres for the slaughter, marketing & distribution of sheep and wool. As a result of this, the town also became an important centre for tanning (process of making leather which will not decompose) during the 15th-17th century.

The town experiences a temperate maritime climate, much like Ireland, where sunshine is scarce and rain widespread & evenly distributed. The highest temperature recording for the town is 35.7 degrees Celsius.

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

- William Shakespeare

Picture Origin

Shakespeare Quotes

Geography Post #1

I decided to base my geography project around the history of printing/books & the impact it had on society up to the present day. It is an invention widely taken for granted in the modern world, yet probably one of the most important of the 15th century.

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, was a German goldsmith, publisher & printer, that began the Printing Revolution. He was born in Mainz in 1398 to a patrician family and unusually, considering the period, was taught to read at an early age - which perhaps is where his passion for literature originated.

Growing up, Gutenberg showed great interest in the mechanical arts however, the precise date of his first attempts in the art of printing are unknown as no record was taken. Despite this, it can be confirmed that Gutenberg invented the first printing press in 1439, designing characters made from a combination of tin, lead and antimony. In the same year, Gutenberg also developed a printing press made entirely of wood.

Gutenberg's movable type, however, was not the first means of printing. It is believed in fact that it was an art originating in China, using ink and carved wooden blocks late in the second century (woodblock printing). The earliest known printed book (year 868) was a 16ft scroll of the Diamond Sutra, created using woodblocks. The book itself was discovered by Sir Auriel Stein in 1907 inside a sealed cave in north-west China. The Chinese later developed a system of copying documents in 1041, using hardened glue and clay.

In order to set up his printing press, Gutenberg entered into partnership with a wealthy goldsmith named Johannes Faust. It was Faust who provided the capital to establish the first printing press on which the first Latin Bible was printed. It was this financial aid that would later cause the dissolving of the partnership. When Gutenberg refused to refund Faust's money, the matter was brought before a court of justice and ultimately, Faust was given rights to the press.

Later, with the help of Conrad Hummer, Gutenberg set up another press which existed until 1465 in Mainz. It is believed that Gutenberg died on 24th February 1468.

The development of the printing press started a revolution - books were now cheap and plentiful which enabled more people to learn to read. It also allowed ideas to spread rapidly throughout society, which began a period of questioning the ways of the Church and the power it held in the community. Enlightenment writers such as Rousseau and Voltaire also played a huge part in the rebellion against the Church.

Mainz, Germany is both the largest and the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate and is located on the west bank of the River Rhine. With a population of approximately 196,784, the city is made up of fifteen districts in total: Altstadt, Neustadt, Mombach, Gonsenheim, Hartenberg-Munchfeld, Oberstadt, Bretzenheim, Finthen, Drais, Lerchenberg, Marienborn, Hechtsheim,Ebersheim, Weisenau, & Laubenheim.

Following the last ice age, sand dunes were deposited in the Rhine Valley...the western edge of the city. The sand dunes in Mainz are today, a nature reserve with a very abstract landscape and rare steppe vegetation for the area.

According to legend - Mainz is the birthplace Pope Joan, the first and only female pope. She achieved this by disguising herself as a man & she served for two years.

"It is a press, certainly, but a press from which shall flow in inexhaustible streams...Through it, God will spread His Word. A spring of truth shall flow from it: like a new star it shall scatter the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light heretofore unknown to shine amongst men"
— Johannes Gutenberg

Picture origin

Museums

Last Thursday all T.Y.'s went into Dublin to visit the national museum, national library & national gallery. While on the bus, everybody got rather excited after sighting a group of foreign exchange students waiting at the traffic lights. After waving frantically, demanding a response, they finally smiled back...looking quite confused. They either went home with the notion that all Irish people were surprisingly friendly, or just completely insane :) We split up into two groups at the gates (Emnet & Amina) and we went into the national museum, while the rest went into the national library. After making our way through the ages...starting with the stone age, moving into the Mesolithic period & onto the bronze age...we were given the opportunity to look at some "bog bodies." These were bodies which were thousands of years old, perfectly preserved deep within the bog. It was amazing to see how realistic they were...you could see fingernails, ears and even their hair was fully visible, although it was died a rustic red colour due to the length of time it was buried within the bog. Some people found the bodies quite disturbing and didn't want to look, but I thought they were fascinating, definitely my favourite part of the tour! I'd recommend anyone to visit the museum, even to just to see the bodies :) Next we moved onto the national library to look around the Yeats museum. Although it was really interesting to find out about his life and personal problems...I had been to the same exhibition a couple of times prior and so it wasn't as exciting as the bog bodies. I would suggest going though if you haven't before :) After lunch in Eddie Rockets (during which, we almost got run over countless times), we went to the national gallery. I really enjoyed this part of the day, I would have liked more time to look around at the art, independently however :D In the gallery, there was a permanent Jack B. Yeats exhibition where we could clearly see the changes in his style of painting. I definitely preferred his later work, it was much more abstract and thoughtful...challenging xD

Drama

Recently, we took part in a drama performance in the Holy Faith Convent in Glasnevin, where we acted out the plays we had been working on since September. This time, we decided to connect all the TY plays into one big performance, linking it back to the primary message..."If Margaret Aylward was alive today, what would she do to assist the people suffering throughout the country." Despite our nerves early on in the day, it was nice to spend the entire day with all TY's, I suppose it helped us bond in a sense...over a mutual feeling of boredom :) We had two practices on stage, one soon after we arrived & one later on in the day, soon before we were due to go on. We also got the opportunity to look at the other school's rehearsals, which were very good as well. I really enjoyed the performance from the school in Finglas, they managed to obtain a very modern dramatic style, while never wandering off topic. I enjoyed walking around the beautiful grounds of the convent in the mountains of free time we had. There's something really mysterious, yet alluring about the place. Even though the practices did not go as well as we had hoped, in that we weren't projecting our voices enough & we had some pretty horrendous problems with our music, our actual performance in front of the audience went brilliantly. Everybody was so friendly, congratulating us on our way out; it really made me feel welcome. All in all, there was a really nice atomosphere & it was a great experience :)

Percussion Workshop :)

Today, David from the "Jabba Jabba Jembe" came into school to do a percussion workshop with us, using various types of African-style drums & other smaller percussion instruments. The first thing we did was take a drum each (I took the jembe drum) & learnt a simple rhythm to get us used to the instruments.

We then went on to both copying Dave's and composing our own rhythms both with the drums & other instruments such as the cowbell. I really enjoyed this part because the whole class had to concentrate and work completely in sync with each other to generate the desired effect. I must say, it sounded pretty amazing when the entire class was playing their specific rhythm; I don't know what it is about playing these drums, but it really releases all your energy; you just can't play them & not be cheerful :)

Just to give us a better insight into the origins of the drums & the style of music, Dave showed us a quick 10-minute video on youtube, where people living in West Africa explained & showed us, how their whole lives go on a rhythm, no matter what they're doing...like farming/cleaning/cooking, etc. I thought it was fascinating to learn about such a traditional, unique culture.

I would definitely recommend anybody to take up the drums as a hobby, it's very therapeutic! I had a great day overall & I think Dave did an excellent job at orchestrating the whole thing; I reckon next years TY classes would thoroughly enjoy it as well :)

Mini-Company

On Monday, 14th March, the groups in the final of the Kildare Enterprise Boards, attended the semi final in the Osprey Hotel, Naas. We were really excited to set up our stall & see what the other teams had to offer. Although it was good fun designing the stand & putting up decorations, it was also quite stressful completing it on time & running around fixing things up.

Once this task had been completed, we headed either up to the cafeteria or down to the local shop for lunch. This free time gave us the opportunity to converse with some participants from schools in the surrounding area. It was great to hear about their ideas and their struggles throughout the project...some consolation for ourselves & the problems we were faced with :)

Then we all headed back to our individual stands, were introduced to the three judges & waited in anticipation for our turn to be interviewed. Finalizing what we would speak about and contemplating possible questions which could arise, was quite nerve-racking, but paid off in the end...we were able to make some last minute decisions on what we should & shouldn't include & the order of who would talk & when.

The three interviews were fairly challenging, but I think we tackled them very well as a team, everybody got to say their bit & as far as we could see...the judges were impressed...well at least we hoped so.

Many awards were given out, including a judges prize for "Just Desserts" and our group "Knot a Problem," came runner up in the semi-final. It was a great victory for the whole of transition year, and ultimately, the whole school community.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the project; both the ups and the downs. I believe it has really helped us all to grow in maturity, confidence and independence, both as a team, and as individuals. The skills we learned throughout the course of this mini-company project, are so unique & so critical in all aspects of every day life & ones we will carry with us through school life & far beyond. It really was one of the most challenging, memorable and satisfying activities in the TY syllabus.

Work Experience

For my work experience this time, I decided to chose something completely different and applied to Peamount Hospital in Newbridge. On the first morning, I felt sort of "out of place" and lost, but quickly learned my surroundings and began to feel more comfortable. After being introduced to Joan, the head of the nursing department, I was brought down to St. Ciaráns ward, where I was met by my supervisor, Caroline Kane. Each morning from then on, I made my way down to this ward and began my work. At 9am, I brought some the patients down to the dining room in their wheelchairs, for breakfast. I then served patients their usual breakfast of porridge & toast...with some exceptions for those with different dietary needs, eg. diabetes/coeliac. Once I had fed some patients, I brought them back to their beds or to the sitting room area, where they could watch television if they felt up to it. This became routine for the week I was there. I had a long gap in the middle of the day (between breakfast and dinner), and often found myself at a loose end, with not much to do. The first morning, since I wasn't very well acquainted with the staff and patients, I felt awkward about doing activities without being told to do so. However, as the days went on, I knew I had to keep myself busy & so took the initiative to ask various nurses or patients if they would like some assistance. The patients, I noticed often got quite lonely, being stuck in the same place day-in-day-out, without having perhaps to sit down to talk to them. I enjoyed this part of the work experience...listening to the patients telling me their stories, what life was like when they were kids, their families, their first jobs, etc. I felt a strong connection with one patients in particular, she would always stop me and talk to me about life & her kids. I felt sorry for her, she had so much energy, yet was stuck in the hospital, potentially for the rest of her life, due to a lack of home-care services. The first afternoon, I attended another ward...the recreational unit, where activities such as art, music, etc for patients took place. I really liked this part as I got to talk on a personal level with a young female patient, as I helped her make decorations for St. Patrick's Day. I spent my other afternoons from then on, doing odd jobs around the hospital, for example: making beds, putting away laundry, folding clothes, collecting equipment for the nurses, watching how you update a patients file, and observing various procedures, such as relieving a pressure sore on a multiple scleroses patient & taking blood pressure. Although I did enjoy the interactions with several of the patients, their visiting families & staff members, it was quite a solemn & unhappy environment & I found it hard to constantly keep myself busy. One thing I did find quite interesting, was how the patients were suddenly energized, upbeat & laughing when their husbands/wives/children, came to visit them. Looking at their faces when they recognize a loved one, really did bring a sense of happiness into an otherwise quite a monotonous, morbid career choice.

Mini Company

The first mini company competition is this coming Thursday (3rd March), so it will be a pretty hectic few days. We handed in our report the Friday before midterm & I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Myself and Mia made "Knot a Problem" stickers in technology to go on the front of the Report. As of now, we are just trying to organise our stall for Thursday. We have managed to get three bunches of helium balloons as a form of sponsorship, for decoration. We are also planning to place fairy lights around the stall and use knotted fabric as decoration also.
The judging will start at 10:00 in the morning. I am nervous about it. but I'm excited to see the products or services students from other schools will present. Apparently there will be some tough competition this year as the standard is increasing rapidly.

Cáca Milis

Today we watched a rather...disturbing short story in Irish class. During the film, although it was clear that the female main character was a bit cold and distant, but I don't think anything could have prepared us for the ending...
The main storyline was a woman travelling on the train, reading quite an ...explicit novel, when a blind man (Brendan Gleeson) joins her. Unlike her, he was an extremely talkative character, revealing his entire life story to the woman. Obviously frustrated with his ramblings, she began to play tricks him, like telling him there was a giant lake outside and that there was a worm in his cake.
...This particular fib caused Gleeson to have an asthma attack...however his inhaler was nowhere to be found...or so he thought. The woman on the train had taken it as a "game" and walked off, leaving him dying in his seat.
It was quite a brutal story to choose for a school study :)

Baby Cakes Cake Sale

I'm just back from the bake sale that we held at lunch to raise money for the mini-company group "Baby Cakes." All the teams are struggling at the moment to conjure up the money to fund our projects and so we decided to help each other out with fundraising.
I spent yesterday evening baking chocolate-chip buns to sell. All in all, we had quite a ridiculous amount of food to sell, but somehow managed to get rid of most of it....with good old fashioned bribery :)
I'm not completely sure how much money we made yet but it seemed a considerable amount (:

The Desert Flower

So we've just finished reading a shortened version of the book The Desert Flower & it truly was an inspiring & horrifyingly graphic novel about a young girl's journey (Waris) from the deserts of Africa to the catwalks of the world.
In my opinion, the main theme of The Desert Flower is ignorance. Upon reading the first few pages of the passage, I was absolutely stunned at the standard of living in Somalia and countries of similar wealth and tradition. Although it is universally acknowledged that the residents in countries such as these, live in extreme poverty, constantly being undermined and Miss-treated by the prosperous western world or even by their own people, I was not aware of the extent of their suffering prior to reading this passage. Women, despite the fact that they do most of the work throughout the day, are treated as insignificant peasants, confiscated of any semblance of self worth and dignity "Women are the backbone of Africa; they do most of the work. Yet women are powerless to make decisions. They have no say, sometimes not even in whom they will marry."
Since the beginning of time, women have been idealised, seen as worthless inferiors with no capacity to reach as high a level of "intelligence" as the almighty male species. Men, on the other hand, were seen as impeccable in the eyes of society, thus all the wealth, power & freedom of the world was bestowed upon them alone. This extract gives an unnerving and horrifically realistic insight into the role of women in third world countries today - for example, the brutal routine of female circumcision, the absolute mutilation of a young girls body, is accepted as a social norm - in order to keep them "clean" and pure for their future husbands. To me, it is hard to comprehend how these society's conjure up the strength to allow their young, defenseless daughters, be so barbarically maimed - an action confirming them a lifetime of physical and emotional agony. "The operations are usually performed in primitive circumstances by village women using knives, scissors, even sharp stones." In these areas, women have no place in society - in a sense, no identity. Even the prospect of finding love later on in their otherwise monotonous, trapped lives, has been stolen from them. Love is seen as a delusion, a fabrication one can only dream about because in reality, you marry for wealth and security. As long as a man can provide for you, physical or emotional connection are irrelevant. "That's the best kind. He's too old to run around. He's not going to leave you. He'll look after you. And besides - he's giving me five camels."
In my opinion, the book portrays the theme of ignorance & disregard very well. Once Waris was brought over to London, it was clear to her that she had arrived in a whole other world. Suddenly she was immersed in a community of white people whom spoke a different language, ate different foods and lived very different lives. Everything Waris had become accustom to - running through the golden desert sand surrounded by some of the earths most exotic creatures, drifting to sleep under the stars & moonlight under the watchful eye of her father - had disappeared, evaporated into the abyss.
It was when Waris began her career as a model and was rapidly moving her way up the social spectrum, that the two extremes really became evident. Waris was no ordinary supermodel of the modern world; she had character, had experienced true hardship & suffering, so much so in fact that it seems almost impossible - how could life in another continent be so contrasting? The sad thing is that these people accept these practices, after all - how would they know any different? Despite being completely held captive by their lack of money & their own beliefs, they somehow find the strength to persevere - live a life of devotion to their culture, taking nothing for granted. Although the majority of them are starving, desperately clutching at their rapidly deteriorating health, that is the world they know, they are apparently content to carry on in this manner. This is displayed frequently throughout the novel, particularly when Waris' mother refuses to move to London and live a life of luxury. "Besides, I can't just sit around. If you want to do something get me a place in Somalia that I can go to when I'm tired. This is my home. This is all I've ever known."
The reason why I enjoyed the book as much as I did was because of it's brutal honesty; it bared no false pretences, left no room for misconception. From the very beginning, the harsh realities of today's world comes crashing down on the western audience, leaving us overwhelmed in emotions of anger, sympathy and in some cases - guilt. The book brings the quote "Ignorance is bliss" under intense scrutiny.

China :)

We've started a home ec project recently in which we have to research the culture, cuisine, geography, etc of one country. Myself and Jessica picked China to study.
As an additional part of the assignment, we have to cook three dishes from that country - 2 savoury and 1 sweet or vice versa. Last Thursday during our double class, we cooked sweet & sour chicken with rice. Although we had no red food colouring to make the dish look authentic, it tasted delicious in the end.
We had planned to make spring rolls this week, however there are a lot of unheard of and unavailable ingredients necessary. Instead, we have decided to make honey shredded chicken. Hopefully if will turn out as nice as it did last week :)
I'm not sure yet what we will decide upon for the sweet dish as we're not too familiar with Chinese desserts...

Drama Competition

Last Tuesday we went out to the theatre in Mullingar to perform the dramas we had been working on since the start of the year. The drama that I was in was called "Driving under the Influence" and followed the lives of five teenagers after the death of a fellow classmate. My character was called Kate, who was an unmotivated & lazy student, oblivious to the dangers of the world.
Our school was the first to perform so the other schools had not arrived yet...which I was quite relieved about - it didn't feel so pressurized. Noughts and Crosses was the first group to take the stage, followed by Time of Your Life, But you Didn't, and finally DUI. Everybody from the school performed excellently, despite some problems with the music and lighting,
Once this was all behind us, we went to McDonald's to grab some lunch, before making our way back to the theatre to watch the rest of the plays. I really enjoyed them...even though the themes were pretty strange & far-fetched. The first one was performed by a school from Killkenny & staged the life of a human ant - Zartan. Next up was a drama which told the story of a boyfriend meeting his partners family for the first time. The final play was about the inequality that exists within a school community.
All of the dramas got great feedback from the adjudicator & I am looking forward to finding out the results :)

Scifest Project

After our venture to the RDS for the Young Scientist competition on Friday, myself, Mia & Clara went into Trinity College to carry out some practical work for the upcoming Scifest event. Our project idea is very similar to the one we prepared for the Young Scientist, in that we still tested various every day items for bacteria, however instead of then testing them for immunity to anti-biotics, we will break them down into different categories of bacteria.
The first part of the experiment which we carried out on Friday afternoon involved taking 60 samples:
20 samples of money
20 samples of money
20 samples of random items, eg Mobile phones & pens.
Once these had been gathered using cotton swabs, we placed the swabs into test tubes containing PBS.
These samples were then spread onto agar dishes & places in an incubator for two days to allow sufficient time for bacteria to grow.
The final part of the project involves counting the number of bacteria on each of the agar dishes & breaking some of the unusual ones down further to see how many different types of bacteria exist on the items.

Young Scientist

Well we're just back a week after Christmas break and not much has been happening except the normal project work.
Last Friday all T.Y. and second year students took a trip to the RDS for the BT Young Scientist competition in which schools from all over the country competed. We arrived in town at about 10:30 and made our way into the arena.
While there, we walked around with our friends, looking at the different projects on display. Two groups from St. Wolstans were competing; one TY group and one 5th year group. Some of the stalls offered interactive demonstrations to show us how their project worked eg. there was one group controlling a robot. Overall the projects were very impressive; covering a vast range of scientific areas.
One project which I found particularly interesting was one which researched the deterioration of the blind spot with age. As this is a common problem which most people have to deal with at some point in their life, I thought it was very appropriate and topical.
Throughout the day, we saw various shows in the BT arena, such as: one which was presented by an Australian man and was about the different types of plants and dinosaurs which existed in the past and at present. Another performance which I found fascinating was a fire show demonstrated by two men. This involved creating fireworks, explosions and tornado's using a flame and different materials such as magnesium ribbon and iron filings.
All in all, I had a very enjoyable day looking at projects and talking with students from other schools around the country.