Camping
The 13th of September could not have come any quicker. To finally receive my Junior Cert results and go on the long awaited Camping Trip in Lough Dan. I was delighted with my results and everyone was in great form as we crammed our many bags underneath the bus before we set off to Lough Dan. When we arrived there was obviously a mad rush to claim the prime real estate as far away from the teachers as possible.Luckily we grabbed a fine little spot right down the back, as we put up our tents I slowly began to realise that our supposed ten man tent was nowhere near as big as we imagined and we would struggle to fit all eight of us. Our tent was thrown up within minutes and we all trudged off to devour our first of many Koka noodles.
That afternoon we began our 6km walk. I loved every minute of this first walk despite it raining majority of the time. About half way through our walk Steven leaped into a huge puddle drenching myself and others, this was the start of a long and hilarious mud fight that left everyone destroyed and in great humour. Every hour in Lough Dan I could see new relationships forming and everyone as a year group becoming closer as one. Dinner wasn't a problem that night as everyone brought more than enough food. Sitting around the fire that Wednesday night was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had during my time in St Gerards. Everyone mixed and it was nice to witness everyone having great craic.
I woke early Thursday morning still tired but not half as bad as I expected. All the chat that morning was about the 22km hike that was rapedly approaching us. As myself Ken and Jake walked walked out the gates linking arms a joke was made of us staying connected through all 22km. That however is exactly what happened. We kept our arms linked over gates and boulders, through bog land and rivers all for the sake of it being “blog material”. This was actually very difficult but a laugh all together.
When arrived back from our hike we were greeted with a rare bit of sunlight. This was in perfect time for a swim down in the lake. I was really looking to the swim as my legs were stiff and sore after the long hike. The water was absolutely freezing and I was surprised that just about everyone got in for a swim even the Spanish students who loved the chilling water.Day two ended with dinner and another night around the fire.
The next morning we reluctantly began to pack up our belongings and disassemble our tents. Before our departure we cleaned the campsite from top to bottom leaving no trace of us ever setting up camp there. As we packed our belongings under the bus there was certainly a glum atmosphere associated with our oncoming departure. When I arrived home I was absolutely exhausted and slept for hours.
I truly enjoyed the camping trip and hope to have more opportunities and experiences similar to it throughout my TY year.
Aidan Long
That afternoon we began our 6km walk. I loved every minute of this first walk despite it raining majority of the time. About half way through our walk Steven leaped into a huge puddle drenching myself and others, this was the start of a long and hilarious mud fight that left everyone destroyed and in great humour. Every hour in Lough Dan I could see new relationships forming and everyone as a year group becoming closer as one. Dinner wasn't a problem that night as everyone brought more than enough food. Sitting around the fire that Wednesday night was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had during my time in St Gerards. Everyone mixed and it was nice to witness everyone having great craic.
I woke early Thursday morning still tired but not half as bad as I expected. All the chat that morning was about the 22km hike that was rapedly approaching us. As myself Ken and Jake walked walked out the gates linking arms a joke was made of us staying connected through all 22km. That however is exactly what happened. We kept our arms linked over gates and boulders, through bog land and rivers all for the sake of it being “blog material”. This was actually very difficult but a laugh all together.
When arrived back from our hike we were greeted with a rare bit of sunlight. This was in perfect time for a swim down in the lake. I was really looking to the swim as my legs were stiff and sore after the long hike. The water was absolutely freezing and I was surprised that just about everyone got in for a swim even the Spanish students who loved the chilling water.Day two ended with dinner and another night around the fire.
The next morning we reluctantly began to pack up our belongings and disassemble our tents. Before our departure we cleaned the campsite from top to bottom leaving no trace of us ever setting up camp there. As we packed our belongings under the bus there was certainly a glum atmosphere associated with our oncoming departure. When I arrived home I was absolutely exhausted and slept for hours.
I truly enjoyed the camping trip and hope to have more opportunities and experiences similar to it throughout my TY year.
Aidan Long
The Guiness Storehouse
On Friday the 29th of September me and my friends Luke, Jack,Cillian,Jake,Josh and Steven visited the Guinness Storehouse on St James Brewery Gate in Dublin, which is Ireland's most popular tourist attraction. Since opening in 2000, it has received over four million visitors and I was pleased to be part of that group of people. We left Bray at 10.30 greatly awaiting the learning prospects of the day. When we arrived at the Storehouse we were informed by a tour guide that the Storehouse covers seven floors surrounding a glass atrium shaped in the form of a pint of Guinness.
My favourite floor was the first floor as it contained the most information and was the most interactive. This floor introduced us to the beer's four ingredients water, barley, hops and yeast. On the second floor we learned about the brewery's founder Arthur Guinness. On this floor I learnt that Arthur is one of a handful of Irish people commemorated twice on stamps, in 1959 and 200. I also learned that In 2014 a series of pathways were created beside places from Arthur's early life by the Kildare County Council, known collectively as "Arthur's Way". Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin.
I enjoyed every minute inside the Guiness Storehouse and found the day to be very productive and interesting. I would recommend this attraction to everyone.
My favourite floor was the first floor as it contained the most information and was the most interactive. This floor introduced us to the beer's four ingredients water, barley, hops and yeast. On the second floor we learned about the brewery's founder Arthur Guinness. On this floor I learnt that Arthur is one of a handful of Irish people commemorated twice on stamps, in 1959 and 200. I also learned that In 2014 a series of pathways were created beside places from Arthur's early life by the Kildare County Council, known collectively as "Arthur's Way". Other floors feature the history of Guinness advertising and include an interactive exhibit on responsible drinking. The seventh floor houses the Gravity Bar with views of Dublin.
I enjoyed every minute inside the Guiness Storehouse and found the day to be very productive and interesting. I would recommend this attraction to everyone.
Eagles Flight
On the morning Thursday the 22nd of September a small group from my year took part in a workshop called Eagle’s Flight. We assembled in the H Block were he explained the rules. The leader of each group received an envelope including many things inside such as many small laminated cards. There were about five different types of cards, they had different uses such as, fuel, supplies, tents and spare tires. The second envelope contained many sheets that were very helpful. The man then explained what was going on in further detail and we were soon ready to play.
The objective of the game was to get to an allocated point on the map we were given, known as the ‘gold mine’, as quickly as we could and use our fuel and supplies to do so. The overall aim of the game was for all of the teams to work together and collaborate so as a whole group of twenty-eight we could collect as much gold as possible and get the highest score as a big group as well as winning as a small group.I really enjoyed the Eagle’s Flight workshop as I feel it brought all of us closer as a group and we learned to work together much better.
The objective of the game was to get to an allocated point on the map we were given, known as the ‘gold mine’, as quickly as we could and use our fuel and supplies to do so. The overall aim of the game was for all of the teams to work together and collaborate so as a whole group of twenty-eight we could collect as much gold as possible and get the highest score as a big group as well as winning as a small group.I really enjoyed the Eagle’s Flight workshop as I feel it brought all of us closer as a group and we learned to work together much better.
Kairos Communications
On Thursday the 12th of October my class attended the Kairos Communications programme in Maynooth. Kairos Communications has functioned for more than 30 years as a media production and training facility. The idea of the trip was to film a short piece of with the entire class involved. Our class decided on filming an I'm a Celebrity,Get me out of here, Murder Mystery containing interviews with each contestant.
My Role for the day was to be a presenter for our TV program alongside Luke Kenny.We began the show introducing our contestants and I couldn't help but laugh at our extremely poorly rehearsed humour. I enjoyed being on camera and as the day progressed I felt more and more comfortable on set. I had many lines and often had to improvise at times when plans were skewed.
Overall the day was very enjoyable and I relished the idea of being a camera man and a TV presenter for one day.
My Role for the day was to be a presenter for our TV program alongside Luke Kenny.We began the show introducing our contestants and I couldn't help but laugh at our extremely poorly rehearsed humour. I enjoyed being on camera and as the day progressed I felt more and more comfortable on set. I had many lines and often had to improvise at times when plans were skewed.
Overall the day was very enjoyable and I relished the idea of being a camera man and a TV presenter for one day.
DCU Open Day
On the 17th of November, I visited the DCU campus in Glasnevin for their open day. Throughout the day I had the opportunity to attend various lectures on Health in Society, Business and Athletic Therapy and Training. Personally I enjoyed all of these lectures but found Athletic Therapy and Training to be the most interesting. During this talk I learned about the course but also about the necessary points and specific point reductions for sport. All of my lectures were filled but I was lucky enough to get a seat each time. I had a great experience to get to know the campus walking around in between lectures. I overall enjoyed my day in DCU and would consider it as an option in the future.
Legally Blonde Musical
This year our entire TY year group participated in the production of Legally Blonde for our Transition Year Musical. I had never engaged in anything regarding drama or music before but like the majority of people I decided to do my best and enjoy the experience.Before Christmas everyone had to audition four times to allow our directors Aishling and Jackie to pick the suitable roles for each person. I was quite impressed by everyone during these auditions as most people such as myself had to leave their comfort zones to take part.The roles were announced just before our Christmas break and I was delighted yet surprised to be given the role of Callaghan.
When we returned from our break everything became musical related with us rehearsing every day. The dancing that everyone found hilarious at first soon became drilled into our minds and my own song “Blood in the Water” which I never believed I would be able to learn off began to replay constantly in my head. As the musical approached tensions were certainly raising with the smaller more important details being straightened out among the cast. Our first matiné show in front of the junior school was rough around the edges and clearly there was room to improve, leaving us still rather nervous but knowing we could put together a great show. The next matiné show was in front of the Senior School. This was by far the most nervous show. I was delighted to see this show go smoothly and received really positive feedback from the rest of the school. I personally felt quite confident before our first premiere show although I'm sure the same couldn't be said for everyone. This show went perfectly and I was thrilled for my whole year group. The second show on the Wednesday even topped the one before. The atmosphere was brilliant backstage before the final show, the night where are performance would be recorded. Luckily enough everything went smoothly and we were delighted to present Aishling,Jackie, Ms Owens and our pit singers with flowers as a thank you. Overall I really enjoyed the musical and found it to be my favourite experience of Transition Year.
When we returned from our break everything became musical related with us rehearsing every day. The dancing that everyone found hilarious at first soon became drilled into our minds and my own song “Blood in the Water” which I never believed I would be able to learn off began to replay constantly in my head. As the musical approached tensions were certainly raising with the smaller more important details being straightened out among the cast. Our first matiné show in front of the junior school was rough around the edges and clearly there was room to improve, leaving us still rather nervous but knowing we could put together a great show. The next matiné show was in front of the Senior School. This was by far the most nervous show. I was delighted to see this show go smoothly and received really positive feedback from the rest of the school. I personally felt quite confident before our first premiere show although I'm sure the same couldn't be said for everyone. This show went perfectly and I was thrilled for my whole year group. The second show on the Wednesday even topped the one before. The atmosphere was brilliant backstage before the final show, the night where are performance would be recorded. Luckily enough everything went smoothly and we were delighted to present Aishling,Jackie, Ms Owens and our pit singers with flowers as a thank you. Overall I really enjoyed the musical and found it to be my favourite experience of Transition Year.
Scuba Diving
On the 27nd of November 2017 I visited the National Aquatic Centre to experience what it would be like to scuba dive. We departed the school at 9 o’clock in the morning and headed on a bus towards the centre. When we had arrived, they divided us into 2 groups so that everyone could get a fair amount of time experiencing what it would be like. I was in the second group at 12 o’clock. When it was our time to walk down towards the pool, where I eagerly awaited my instructions. Everyone told to get straight into a fitted wetsuit and find a pair of goggles and fins. I then sat by the edge of the pool and waited for the supervisors to place the tank on my back. Then they showed us what buttons to press then descending down into the water and rising up to the surface and we also learned the hand signals. Once trying to figure out what button was what, I finally got the hang of it. I really did enjoy the experience at the Aquatic Centre and would definitely recommend it to everyone.