On Friday the 7th of March 2014 my class and another Transition Year class went to a talk about Irish Law. The talk was taking place in the independent college on Dawson street. The first speaker was a barrister discussing Irish criminal law. He did this by giving us multiple scenarios on a sheet that was in front of us and then asking if each scenario was a crime and if so who was committing the crime.
I believed this portion of the day to be very interesting as I learned a myriad of new things about our country's criminal law. We were then given a 15 minute break and were brought upstairs to a canteen area. Once the 15 mins was up we headed back down and the second talk began. This time we met a different barrister talking about copyright and our social media rights. I found this talk interesting too due to the fact that I had never known that there were so many copyright limitations and how hard it is for people to create new things without breaching copyright law. He talked about our rights online with social websites such as Facebook. I was shocked when he told us that they can use our photos for ads because once we put those photos up they aren't ours anymore. Finally we had a talk about becoming a barrister and a solicitor. Firstly we were told the differences between a barrister and a solicitor, and the speaker discussed the requirements for each occupation and how it was tough but rewarding. We were told to be back at the school for 2 so we had some time to look around town. Overall the day was a huge success as I enjoyed it immensely and learned many new things about the law. Living abroad for any period of time is a life changing experience. It helps people to grow in maturity and social skills. The people I met when I was living in Hanover in Germany are people that I will be friends with for a very long time. From the family I stayed with, to the friends I made, it was an amazing experience.
The family I stayed with were incredibly nice. They took me in as one of their own from the very first day. They helped me in anyway I needed, whether it be with school work or vocabulary or just food that makes you feel at home. The family organised activities for me based on the bio I wrote to them just before I arrived so that by the second day I was playing rugby with the local club which was amazing. The school I went to was really nice, they were accepting and constructive. The teachers understood my ability and pushed my abilities every day. By the first week they knew who I was and why I was there, they helped me with everything. The friends I made were my real teachers though. They help you as they make you part of their group, they teach you conversational German, the everyday language. They showed me the culture - whether it be Oktoberfest, a football game or a winter market. They made me take it all in and it was all brilliant fun. They are life long friends that I made over in Germany. To go abroad is an amazing experience and I would recommend it for anybody who gets the opportunity. I really enjoyed the ski trip, I liked pretty much every aspect but if I had to say what my favourite thing was it would have to be the skiing itself. Every day we did about 5 or 6 hours of skiing lessons and every single part of skiing was great - from the view to the pure thrill of speeding down a slope.Even though we all fell a lot it was quite easy to pick up and in one week of lessons we went from the nursery slopes to black slopes.
The highest point that we were at was 2,500 km above sea level; from there you could see all the way to lake Garda which was miles away. During the lessons we were split into different groups but everyone learned the same stuff, we learned how to parallel ski going down slopes, controlling our speed and how to do some small jumps. To conclude, I thought that the ski trip was really fun and I would definitely go skiing again if I ever got another chance to, I believe that it was an exhilarating experience and one that everyone should try if they can. On the 12th of November 2013 Connor Montayne and I went to an ISSU (Irish Second-Level Student’s Union) seminar as TY representatives for our school in the Department of Education and Skills.
We met at 10 am that morning outside the clock tower and signed in. Inside a presentation was set up for us and all the other students attending. At around 11am the seminar began with a few activities to help everyone to get to know each other. After this we were broken into random groups and we were given tasks to do in teams and the tasks were all about TY and how TY works in our own schools, they were interesting and fun to do. At around 12.30am we were given an hour for lunch, which was provided, and were allowed to relax. At 1.30pm we were given a presentation on what the ISSU was and what it did and how we should get involved with the student council in our own school. Then an election was held for places in the ISSU. One of our own students from 5th year was elected and he was very pleased. Then we were asked to make posters about the benefits of TY and by the time all of this was over it was 3 and at that stage we went home. Altogether it was an enjoyable and informative day. Text & Photos: E.P. O'D. |
AuthorEducation's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. – Malcolm Forbes Archives
October 2015
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