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.