Serena from the Wicklow Enterprise board came to talk to us on 20th September about our mini companies and how to succeed in this competition. She gave us a presentation about previous winners and their ideas. Each idea was very creative and unique. We participated in a game to see how many different ways we can use a paper clip or many paperclips. My group reached 11 different uses such as a hair clip and tie clip. This activity was to make us think outside the box for our mini company idea. She told us about the rule sod the competition and what the prizes were if you won the county enterprise or the national enterprise.
Serena taught me that it is advised to make your own product to achieve the maximum amount of points. She also pointed out that we had to be aware of copyright and intellectual rights to go far in the competition.
Eagles Flight Workshop
The eagles flight workshop took place on the 22nd September. This is a workshop that teaches us that planning and organising is the most beneficial at the start, before you begin your project. He began by making us play an adventure game involving a lot of planning and organisation. We had to complete the journey within 20 days but by collecting as much gold as possible from the mine. There were many different ways to complete the journey but only 1 way would've been a success. None of the teams in my group fully successfully completed the game, but 1 group came very close. The whole point of the game is to make TY students understand that planning and organising your work before you begin is the most beneficial way to approach the work. In my opinion. this adventure journey game and workshop made it clear to me that planning and organising is most useful if completed before you begin your task.
IT Isn't Just for Geeks
On the 29th of September, we had a talk from Marie and Aidan from Dell the IT company. They came into talk to us about their company and other IT companies around Dublin that are known to be only associated with IT, which as they pointed out to us, isn’t the case. They wanted to let us know that there are many other roles within their company that don’t necessarily involve IT to a certain extent. Aidan explained to us what his role within Dell involved and how he got that job. He told us about what courses he did in college and what subjects he chose for the leaving cert which made him applicable for the job he has with Dell today. Marie explained to us that if you like to travel and want to see the world and get paid for it at the same time IT and companies like Dell are well suited to that because of the amount of branches of their company around the world that need visiting is a necessary task involved in her job, she explained that her job involves many trips abroad to interesting countries that she has always wanted to visit. They pointed out that to work with a company similar to Dell you don’t have to be overly smart all you have to have is an interest, the personal skills and the right attitude and personality in that sector to be able to excel in what you do. In my opinion, this talk was beneficial to the people who believed companies like Dell were only for really smart people and that they would never succeed in a job like that, this talk would’ve provided them with a new perspective over the whole IT job and maybe have given them a new interest in a career involving computer science or IT.
WELLBEING WEEK
Simon Harris
On Monday, November 6th, the Minister For Health came to visit us to teach us about his job and what is involved in his job. It was a honour having Simon Harris to our school. He talked about why he foes his job and how he got his job. This talk was very interesting to listen to because, we learnt about the background of his life and what inspired him to become the Minister For Health. He showed us the new and improved food pyramid which excludes the top shelf to prevent people from thinking they have to eat those foods and they swapped the 1st and 2nd shelves to emphasise that eating fruits and vegetables are more important. I really enjoyed this talked and I believe it was very beneficial.
Alison Canavan
On Monday, November 6th, the ex-model Alison came to talk to us about her life. She began talking about her teenage years and how she didn't know what she wanted to do. She told us about how she never behaved in school and that she got a bad name for herself. At age 15/16 she began modelling, which turned out to be a bad idea. She explained that getting involved in the modelling industry involved missing school, travelling and partying, which all sounds fun but had a major impact on her mental health and wellbeing. Explaining all of this to us teenagers was beneficial to us to let us know and feel that we are not alone and we aren't the only one who has suffered from bad mental health. She taught us how to meditate and breathe properly to fully relax and to help clear our minds in time of stress. The breathing technique really helps with slowing down your heart rate which makes you relax. In my opinion, hearing about Alison's life and all of the negatives impacting her and how she turned it all around was very inspiring and gave me a new perspective on how to go about difficult situations. I really enjoyed this talk.
Nutritionist
On Tuesday, November 7th, a nutritionist came to talk to us about how we eat and what we eat. She began by explaining that our 'feel-good' hormone is 90% stored in our gut. Which means when we eat healthy, more serotonin is released into our bodies. This was an interesting fact to learn. She showed us all the different healthy foods people eat in various cultures, such as Japanese and Asian. This talk was filled with a lot of interesting information that will definitely be important in everyday life and in the future.
AWARE 'Beat the Blues'
On Thursday November 9th, Steve from AWARE came to talk to us about depression and how to overcome it. He talked about why we develop depression and bipolar disorder. He explained that eating healthy is the most important and useful factor to prevent developing depression. He introduced us to a correction tool for depression, this tool involved a triangle including thoughts, feelings and actions. You had to add your thoughts on whatever your upset about, then describe your feelings towards it and finally, say what you would do to correct your emotions. This tool seemed very useful and would definitely help correct your emotions and make you understand why you feel the way you do. This talk was very helpful and I understand a bit more about why we feel the way we do on a daily basis.
Careers Evening
On Thursday, November 16th, I attended a careers evening in my school to learn about the careers I have an interest in. these people were either college students, studying for the career or students parents who have been in their career for many years, who have a lot of experience. First, i went to a college student studying Physiotherapy in Trinity college Dublin. She explained to me that it is a 4 year course in all colleges and it is around 500 points on average in all colleges. She told us about the hours she spends in college in each year she has completed and how interesting each year has been. This is something i'm very interested in and hearing about it from someone experiencing the course in college was really interesting and good to learn. Second, i went to a woman in her last year of college for Montessori and Primary School teaching. This was something I thought I wouldn’t be that interested in but I was pleasantly surprised by how she described what the course includes. Lastly, i went to a solicitor. I’ve always been interested in Law and listening to a professional speak about her profession was really good to hear and learn about all the different ways you can attend law school and what you can do with your degree. This evening taught me many different things and would definitely recommend it to the younger years.