Swim A Mile

On Wednesday our year took part in Swim a Mile in the National Aquatic Center. We were raising money for The Ian Daly Foundation, who work with children affected by cancer, and had had a few talks beforehand on what the organisation does. The charity is named after Ian Daly, a young boy who died of cancer age 11. To find out more about the charity and the work they do, visit http://www.mycharity.ie/event/the-daly-family-event/

A few days before the swim, I went around to my neighbours and friends asking for sponsorship. I had managed to raise 40 euro, and was excited to do the swim. On Wednesday, we arrived at the National Aquatic Center at around ten o'clock, then got changed into our swimming gear. Me and seven other girls had originally planned to split the mile between us, but when we got there we decided to do it in groups of four and rise to the challenge. I was in a group with Laura, Kathleen and Molly. We were all really excited to start.

We had planned to do sixteen lengths each, but when it came down to it, we had completed the mile well within the time limit and decided to do a second one. I was really happy with myself afterwards, and it felt great to have raised money and contributed to such a worthy cause. I'm definitely going to do it next year!



We got out of the pool and were given special t-shirts. We had our photos taken and ran back inside to get dry. Afterwards, we went to Blanchardstown for some food and shopping time. I enjoyed my day so much- it was definitely one of the highlights of the year.

Next week is a busy one- we've got Sports Day on Monday, Sci Fest on Tuesday and our TY Retreat on Wednesday. Our science group have been putting the finishing touches on our project this week. We had to develop it more as we had already entered it into the Young Scientist, so decided to find out in which type of music First Years learn better. Our Science teacher Ms Ward taught two lessons to her First Year class, one with rock music playing in the background and one with classical. She then made up a short 14 question test for them to answer on the lesson. Needless to say, they all did a lot better with the classical music! It was really interesting to see how they reacted to the tests, as it is unusual to have music playing in the background of a class.

:)

Another Week...

My last day at work experience was a great one. I start properly working there on Saturday, so Debbie, my supervisor, was showing me all the little things that have to be done in the morning and evening when the restaurant opens. I got in at nine thirty as usual and put my apron on to start work. I washed and sliced potatoes to make chips, as I usually do in the mornings. I really like this job as its not too difficult and a good skill to have. Afterwards, I washed dishes, sliced tomatoes and mushrooms, cleaned the kitchen units and the ovens, and helped prepare the food. At lunch Alan the chef made me lasagna, and I went out the front to eat it.

In the afternoon I spent most of my time waitressing,cleaning and organizing out front. Debbie told me how things were run on the weekends. She was also telling me that a lot of famous people seem to come into the cafe, as many of them fly their private jets into the airport! I cleared tables, took orders and made sure the customers were happy until four. I'm looking forward to going in on the weekend, as the staff there are so nice, and I'll have a chance to meet new people.

On Tuesday evening, me and a few other girls from my year participated in a Spanish quiz in Dublin. I had only found out about it at Tuesday lunchtime, so didn't really know what to expect. We got the bus from the school at five and Ms Macken, who came with us, brought lots of treats for the bus. We picked up King's Hospital on the way who had won the year before. They brought a very intimidating trophy with them onto the bus! 

We arrived at the school at around half six, paid our entrance fee and were led into the main hall where all the tables were laid out. We were all kind of nervous, as we didn't know what to expect. The quiz was on Spain, and there were questions on geography, history and culture. I think we all enjoyed ourselves a lot, even though our team didn't do amazingly (...) We even got refreshments in the middle, so that definitely made the night for me!

Kings Hospital won again, so on the bus on the way home we all ordered pizza and stopped off at Apache, I had a great time and will definitely go again next year, although I might prepare myself more next time!

:)