road safety talk

Last Thursday, two members of the gardaí came into talk to us in school. they talked to us about road safety and showed us clips of car crashes. we learned about how dangerous it can be on the road in the wrong conditions. they showed us how speed is a huge factor. you have an 85% chance of dying when hit by a car at a speed of km, but you have a 45% chance of death when hit by a car going at 50km. that 10km can make a huge difference, and thats why you can get penalty points for going over the speed limit. They showed us why we need to wear a seat belt, even in the back seat. though some of the videos were hard to watch it really has made me more cautious even of crossing the road. your life can be changed within seconds, or you could change someone else's life,and you have to respect that.
below find the link to the road safety authority website.
http://www.rsa.ie/

my hobby

As part of the November blog challenges, we have to write a post on our hobby. The hobby i picked is reading.

Many teenagers dont like to read, or just dont say that they do. but many people do actually read - whether they admit it or not.

i have always loved reading, even before i was able to myself. My family would read to me when i was young, and i saw them constantly buying books and reading - it runs in the family. my aunts gave me the first books i ever properly read myself, Jacqueline Wilson ones i admit, but they got me into reading myself. i was about seven then, and i soon started reading Enid Blighton novels, Roald Dahl, and many others avidly. i went to the library and read The Twins at St.Clares, Malory Towers, the Trebizon books, all the books my mam and aunts passed down to me. When i was in about fifth class i got into fantasy books and went through six books a week. I began reading classics when i was around twelve, starting with A Christmas Carol and going through to Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. more recently i read the Game of thrones novels, and The Green Mile, by Stephen King.

reading has always been something important to me as its a way of escape. i have lived a thousand lives as the characters in these books, i have done thousands of things alongside them. Youre transported from your home and swept up in romance, mystery, adventure, violence - whatever it is that you want. Reading was something I did if i wanted to escape from an uncomfortable situation. for example if i was away from home and felt homesick i'd read a book in which the main character felt homesick. it was something to reassure myself that i wasn't alone in feeling that way, and i still do it today. 

walk in my shoes

on Friday 10th October we had a non uniform day to raise money for 'walk in my shoes'. walk in my shoes looks for ways to fundraise to support people struggling with mental health problems. We decided to help by having a non uniform day but specifically it was a 'funky shoes day'. you wore your strangest shoes to school and paid €2 that went towards the charity. Mental health issues are affecting many people - 1 in 4 people in Ireland experience problems. young people in their teens and twenties are particularly vulnerable.suicide is the leading cause of death among men aged 18- 25 in Ireland. 75% of mental health problems begin before the age of 24.
but early intervention in illnesses such as depression can prevent deterioration and aid recovery, which could make a huge difference in a persons life. this is why our school got involved- to donate money that could go potentially towards saving someones life.
you can learn more about how to get in contact with walk in my shoes here.

millennium development goals

promoting gender equality and empowering women 

In our religion class, we were all assigned a millennium development goal and told do to a project on it. my group got promoting gender equality and empowering women. 

1. 'The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that were established following the MillenniumSummit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration'
2. the millennium development goals cover different aspects of life, from severe poverty to maternal health. the date set to have these goals complete is 2015 - only a year away. 
3. in our project we explored different cultures were women aren't allowed dress as they like, or go out without their husband. we discovered that most of the world leaders are men, and that while women work 2/3 of the worlds working hours they only earn 1/10 of its income. 

so what is being done to help women around the world? 

• Female farmers are being supported in countries such as Tanzania, Malawi and Ethiopia.

• The Global Partnership for education is working to help girls attend school.

• Healthcare for women is being improved

• The Inter Parliamentary Union is working to help women to have equal participation with men in political and economic decision making.  

What is a digital dossier?

It is the accumulation of all the digital tracks you leave behind.
Many people don't even realize that they have one, or what it is. It begins before you are born- sonograms may be forwarded through email or text message, pictures are taken of you as you grow up, and maybe shared online. Websites such as Google save all your search details, Facebook tracks your activity, and all of this is filed under your name. People can know what type of person you are, through pictures, your history, all you interests and hobbies you post about online, even the things you buy. Your personality is saved in a file consisting of all this information. Even your relationships with other people are known, through messages and pictures and adding someone as your sister or aunt of Facebook.
People aren't aware they are leaving this trail of crumbs behind them every time they send a text or use the internet. I think that teenager in particular are vulnerable here, as they may not be mature enough to think of consequences in later life. I didn't know what a digital dossier was until researching for this post. To me it is an important thing to know, especially when you're young and make mistakes that are recorded forever, without you even realizing. as you grow, your life will be recorded through photos, posts, and updates.
This was really interesting to me as i knew nothing about my digital dossier before this. watch the video here

Carlingford trip

The trip to Carlingford :)

so last week our school took us on a trip to carlingford adventure center, and it was amazing.

After being dragged from my bed at 6am, I made my way to the Esso station, where we were meeting up. We got on the buses and left by 7am. I didnt wake up properly until our first activity- which started at 9am. 

Kayaking was an... experience. My partner laughed so much she dropped her paddle, and we went in circles before managing to join the rest of the group, reaching the shore just in time. We played a lot of games that made us all look ridiculous and I'm still finding sand in my shoes from them. 

                   We all ate our lunch quickly and moved on to laser tag. After our instructor, Martin, gave us overalls to wear (making comments like 'you look fab in green darling' to us as we collected them- he was english) and then we proceeded to climb a steep slope that had my legs screaming for relief. My thigh muscles must have doubled in size by the end of the climb. we broke into two teams- the red team and blue team. Martin gave us an inspirational quote before each game started - 'if your ship doesnt come in, swim out to meet it', and the classic 'aint no party like an S Club party'. 

                     that night we went on a walk up the side of the mountain called a nightline. we were blindfolded and placed on a path, holding onto the girl in front of us with one hand and grasping a rope in the other for dear life. One girl, the leader, was elected 'lady of the woods' and led us all through the forest in the pitch blackness. When we arrived back, we were all hyper on lack of sleep and too much sugar and we had a party in one of the common rooms.

           The next morning no one had gotten more than a few hours sleep and everyone was grumpy. We complained as we made our way to canoeing, but once i got in the canoe i realized how fun it was. we paddled over to a pontoon while the other groups took turns on the trampoline. Instead of just waiting, we all jumped into the freezing cold water, but it was worth it. The boat I was in was the loudest. our instructor was very, erhm, enthusiastic, and we were all allowed to jump in and mess. we 'attacked' the other boats, paddling beside them and splashing them all. another instructor was going around us in his speedboat, purposely splashing us. as he went by the last time, he stopped beside my boat and i splashed him with my paddle, getting him right in the face with water. he jumped out of his boat, and into my one. my friend started splashing him in panic, and he pushed her into the water before picking me up and throwing me out. he threw all our paddles after us and jumped back into his own boat. i'm still holding a grudge. by the time i managed to get on dry land i looked like a wet cat.

Carlingford was an amazing experience and i would recommend it to anyone. I became better friends with a few girls, had great fun doing the activities and talked to people i never usually would have.  

whoever said TY is a doss year was lying. 

I never thought I would be so busy this year- it's only TY, right? Except that by week two of school i have five projects on the go and have already completed three workshops, not to mention a trip to carlingford adventure center.

So far we have had an etiquette workshop, a 'positive party' and have had basic first aid training. Walking around in six inch platform heels is not something I thought I would ever do in school, but i found myself doing just that down a red carpet no less. Our instructors corrected our posture and fixed the way we walked in our heels, all while blasting dance music in the middle of the second year mall. We learned things like dressing appropriately and how to take care of our hands and nails as well. 

The positive party was just what it sounds like-an hour and a half of dancing with underwear on our heads and wearing plastic flowers around our necks. 

First aid training is something i found interesting, as it is something that is essential to have. We learned basics like what to do when someone is choking, how to preform CPR, how to deal with someone suffering from a seizure and how to recognize the signs of a stroke. 

Its been a bit hectic, but i think we are all beginning to settle down in our new classes, named after princesses - Ariel, Aurora and Belle. I'm looking forward to beginning work experience next week, a bit nervous as well, but overall i'm excited for it.