DCU Open Day

 At 9:30, we crossed the city to go to the bright and modern DCU campus.

We had read the list of the various lectures on at different times, and chosen the ones we wanted to see. First, it was to what is called the Henry Grattan building. I willingly went inside to the labyrinth of corridors, classrooms and lecture halls. After seeking help from a student, we promptly got to the Law and Politics talk. An interesting lecture, the head of department told us what to expect if doing the degree in DCU; the coursework, job opportunities and class sizes etc.

 Soon it was 11:30, and time for the talk on 'Global Business'. We heard about the great variety on the course, DCU's partner universities around the world. What interested me about this degree was that you spent two years in another country, achieving fluency in the local language, and spending 6 months completing a work placement. Then, it was back to Dublin for two years, where you would study and complete a two year work placement. An interesting degree that has many practical elements to it.

 After lunch in Spar, I split off from the group to pursue my interest in journalism. Unfortunately, I only caught 15 minutes of the lecture, but I learnt a lot. Including the impressive pupils who have passed through the course over the past 30 years. A sample of whom are shown below:

Ardal O'Hanlon

Laura Whitmore

Kevin O'Sullivan

RADMUN 2014

  For anyone who doesn't know, Model United Nations is a programme run all around the world for teenagers to get a feel of how the UN works; how resolutions are passed, how topics are debated and how delegates relate to each other. One of the largest competitions in Ireland is RADMUN- Rathdown Model United Nations.

 It was a first for all of our team, we had never done anything like it before. After a number of meetings with Thomas, Ferdy and Cameron (part of the St. Gerard's MUN 'Dream Team'), we we're set to go.... well, only sort of.

 Suited and booted, we went to Rathdown on Friday evening after school. We got a welcome pack complete with lanyards, placards and information on writing resolutions. Soon after, we went to our committee rooms. I was part of the Disarmament and Security committee. Armed with my speech, and a Bic four-pen, I was ready for battle. Over the two hours following we debated, amended, questioned and defended each others' resolutions. If your resolution was passed through the committee, you would have a chance to discuss it in General Assembly, with all of the delegates.
As darkness set upon the leafy Dublin suburb, it was time to head home.

 Well rested, I headed across to the school at 9am on Saturday. We spent tireless hours debating, voting and amending. Unfortunately, my resolution was not debated. Nonetheless, I still got hours of enjoyment out of critiquing the other delegates presentations. After lunch, we joined together in GA, where we could collaborate, debate (again) and question.

 In spite of the serious and formulaic nature of the tournament, it was a great experience. We made new friends, built up our confidence and learnt more about problems facing the world today.

 Well done to the fifth year team, who won Distinguished Delegation for their contribution, and to Shane Keneally for getting Distinguished Delegate!

Public Access to Law

 On Tuesday, I attended the 'Public Access to Law' course.

 In the morning, the group discussed different aspects of being a lawyer, and different cases in criminal law. After this, we watched a documentary on solving crimes. We then reviewed the two cases, which were both murders.

 Next, we held our first mock trial. The case was about an assault in a bar, in which a man was knocked un-concious by a woman with a pool cue. Barristers were chosen, as were witnesses, the victim and the accused. The rest of us acted as a jury. After the prosecution and the defence had made their case and interrogated the witnesses, we came to our decision. The verdict was that the defendant was not guilty, and had lashed-out at the attacker in self-defence.

After lunch, we began our second trial. The case featured a man who had been accosted by airline staff on a flight. Unfortunately, the prosecution (for which I was barrister), lost the case.

Altogether it was an enjoyable day, where I got to learn more about the legal system in Ireland.

Web Summit

I was delighted to hear that the school had 50 tickets for the Dublin Web Summit 2014, prized as one of the worlds largest technology events.

I arrived back at school at 6pm on Tuesday, eager to see the wide range of guests at the conference. Following a 45 minute bus journey, we had reached the RDS. The event was held in a gigantic hall, with seating for around 1000 people. There was a large stage at the front of the auditorium, in front of two large screens. After a 10 minute wait, it was time to see the first guests.

 The audience was introduced to CoderDojo, an organisation that runs courses around the world teaching children how to create apps and websites. This Irish-born movement is currently spreading across the globe, and now has over 27,000 members internationally. It was something that I had heard about before, but unfortunately never had the chance to do. Onto the stage came the CEO of the organisation along with three kids who had attended the courses. One of whom, was only nine years old and had already created her own series of websites!

In my opinion, the last guests were by far the most impressive speakers on the night. We had a woman from Google and the founder of Indiegogo, the online fundraising site. Full of charisma and passion for their work, they told us about the future of technology.

The lady from Google (who's name escapes me), told us about the internet of things. This is a concept in which many of our devices are connected and in communication with each other. For example, the heating can be turned on by your mobile, and you can boil the kettle with an app! This is the future - and by that I mean the near future. In two or three years, we could be experiencing connected homes.






Danae Ringelmann is an American entrepreneur, and the founder of Indiegogo, the online fundraising site helping millions to raise cash for their causes. She discussed some of the success stories on the site, how groups of teenagers had raised over $100,000 to build a new library, American school kids had raised thousands to help the families of those affected by a recent school shooting.

Danae's ideas were about being a social entrepreneur. She talked about providing services to the world, creating solutions to the many problems we face today. It was this message that struck a cord with me. Business is as much about ethics and ethos as it is about profit.





 I thoroughly enjoyed the event. It got me thinking about how people my age were using technology to shape the world.

Dublin Zoo

 Bright and early, we ventured forth across the Liffey to the Phoenix Park. After about an hour, we reached Dublin Zoo.

 Until mid-day, we could do what we wanted. So, without further ado, we headed straight for the penguins. From there we ventured around the African plains where we saw hippos, giraffes, orang-outangs and gorillas. Next, it was straight to the reptile house - which provided warmth, and shelter from the rain. The small but deadly inhabitants were camouflaged by their green surroundings. But admiring these discrete creatures was for me, probably the highlight of the trip .

 At twelve sharp, we arrived at the 'Education Centre'. Huddling under a tree, escaping the cold rain, we were introduced to our tour guide. In spite of the horrible weather, we continued to the 'South American House' where we saw monkeys, sloths and tortoises. Our tour guide explained the significance of each animal. After the rain had gone, we headed to the Elephant House. There, we were told about the daily habits of each animal - how they ate for 18 hours a day, and how many elephants preferred sleeping outside to inside. Our tour guide then told us about the steps we could take to encourage animal conservation.

 It was back to the 'Meerkat Cafe' for lunch, while we watched the playful creatures mess and fight. After taking numerous pictures, we went across to the lions, tigers and wild cats. There, we got up-close and personal with these vicious animals. Members of our group even managed to disturb the tiger so much so that it growled at them in disgust! - But there wasn't time to apologise, as we hopped on to the buses to go back.





In most households, going to the zoo is an annual occurrence. But I wasn't brought-up that way. In fact, I had only visited Dublin Zoo about three times in my life before today! - But I think this was what made the zoo so enjoyable for me. As the Irish proverb goes; "what's seldom is brilliant".

Eagle's Flight Workshop

 On Friday, I attended the Eagle's flight workshop. This was a 3 hour session in which we improved our teamwork skills.

 We played a game called 'Gold of the Desert Kings'. The objective was to cross a desert, get as much gold as possible from the other side, and get back home within 25 days. Sounds easy?! - Not at all. We had limited resources (ie. food, water, shelter). These were necessary to stay alive during the trip. But you could only access these resources in certain parts of the desert. The game took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete. Luckily, we managed to survive our desert-crossing, but we came in third place overall.

 After playing the game, we reviewed our every move. Soon enough, we realised that we had jumped to many conclusions, assumed different things and had not fully understood the objective of the game. So, all together, it was a huge learning curve. We were able to apply sections of the game to real-life situations. This made it a very tangible exercise.

 Big thanks to Ger who did an excellent job of explaining the game to us, and moderating the workshop!

I would highly recommend the workshop to other students and to workplaces.

Here's a short promo video about 'Gold of the Desert Kings' (albeit slightly hyperbolic - it is only a board game):

Kairos

 So, off we went to Maynooth bright & early! We had a rough idea of what we were trying to achieve - a sort of Sky Sports-esque program. Roisin who was our teacher for the day, gave us some helpful advice which gave us a clear idea for the program. Eventually it was decided that we would do a magazine program with numerous guests and up-to-date sports commentary.






  Roles were given out, and I was tasked with being the producer. My main role was to assist in pre-production and help the actors/presenters decide on their segments. I assisted them in scripting and produced a running order. We had various contributors to the show including a very convincing Roy Keane (Tony Cullen), an obnoxious horse-rider (Kirsti Connole) and a dopey celebrity (Harry Cameron). We did two rehearsals before recording the program. During these I stood in the gallery area, taking notes about how to improve the presenting and giving Joshua Cameron (our director) cues. After each rehearsal I would brief the actors on what they needed to work on and improve.

 At 2:15pm we went on-air. The final take was recorded in about a quarter of an hour. It was excellent. Everyone from the cameramen to the news readers, from the sound engineers to the director, did an outstanding job. Well done everybody!

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and would like to thank our Head of Year for organising the activity. Also, thanks to Ms. Roy and Jason who patiently sat through hours of takes, edits and adjustments!