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The BT Young Scientist exhibition was one of the highlights of my TY. It took a lot of time and effort to complete our project but it was sooo worth it in the end. Myself and my friend Úna chose the topic “Is Climate Change Affecting Mental Health?” We had to complete a project diary, project book and poster. We're both interested in both the topic of climate change and the topic of mental health so we found combining these and looking for a possible link between them very interesting. I learned so many new skills such as communication skills when talking to the judges aswell and computer and research skills. I learned a lot of new information when researching the project. I got so much closer with the other students that went to YSE and made so much friends in my year aswell as making friends with people from other schools at the exhibition. I was reunited with some friends from Irish college at the exhibition who are from other counties and other schools in Cork, that I hadn’t seen in months. Me and Úna’s project was chosen to be presented to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. We were not expecting this at all but we gained a lot of confidence from doing this and we felt more at ease speaking to the judges since we had already spoken to the Taoiseach! We had great fun in the hotel in the evenings and Cormac and Alan winning is a moment I will never ever forget. It was an amazing moment we were all so excited for them and it really put the cherry on top of the weekend. It was an amazing experience that I gained a lot from.

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Myself, Úna and Cormac at myself and Úna’s stand.

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Another highlight of my TY was the show. We did the famous musical “Chicago” and performed show on 4 nights. Auditions started back in September and I had initially put my number 1 preference down as hair and makeup because I thought that cast would clash with school camogie, so I put down cast as my number 2. Ms Hutchinson made me do an audition because she thought putting cast down as your number 2 is “suspicious” because you half want to do it. I ended up being a core dancer and had the best experience and I was delighted Ms Hutchinson made me do the audition. I had to shop for a costume and found a cheap one online, and borrowed character shoes from my mom. We had to rehearse in the character shoes to get used to dancing in them and although our feet used to ache everyday, it was worthwhile as we were all more confident in the heels onstage. I made so many new friends from doing the show and I got closer with people I was already kind of friends with. I gained so much confidence and although I already did dance outside of school, I further developed my performance skills. However the rehearsals and camogie constantly clashed so I had to learn better communication skills to sort things out between the teachers involved in the show and our camogie trainer. We spent hours upon hours rehearsing for the show and it was so so worth it, even though I only got 3 nights because I was sick the second night. It’s another experience I will never ever forget and I was really proud of myself afterwards that all my hard work paid off.

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This year I played junior and senior camogie for the school and although we had a good campaign, we didn’t have the most successful year. In junior we had an amazing team and we all grew so close as the year went on. I feel that as TYs since we were the oldest on the junior team we learned leadership skills and communication skills in guiding the each other and the younger girls. We got to know the younger girls better and became closer with the other TYs we mightn’t have been as friendly with. Our skill level was improving the whole time and Hilda our trainer was a huge part in that. We got to the junior Munster and cork semi finals and we were drawn against the same team for both matches so it was combined into one game instead of playing them twice. There was 2 finals at stake in the one hour. We were completely asleep in the first half and although we woke up in the second half it was too late to come back and win it so we lost. It was definitely disappointing to lose out on two finals in the one day, especially since it was our last year of junior. We faced a similar type of day in the senior semi final a few weeks later. Without a full team, a few injuries and a fairly average performance we lost this game aswell. Although it was a disappointing end to the year, I made friends with the younger girls on the junior team and the older girls on the senior team. I also had to learn resilience throughout the year. Aswell as this I needed to communicate with the teachers involved in the show to see if I could work going to matches around rehearsals. I can’t wait for the senior season next year, if we get one at all.....

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Myself and Aisling had a tradition where we’d pick the highest number jersey out of the bag for the laugh. We do start I swear

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I signed up for Gaisce at the start of the year. I had to choose a community skill, personal skill and a physical activity skill to do for an hour a week for 13 weeks. I chose to do baking, camogie training and coaching the u14 camogie team as my skills. I chose to coach the u14 team for an additional 13 weeks adding up to 26 weeks of that skill. Although  this Gaisce trip was cancelled I thought that participating in Gaisce was a very worthwhile experience. I improved many skills that I otherwise might not have made the time for. It gave my week structure and I learned how to manage my time to fit everything in. I attended coaching workshops and learned so much from going to them. I built a relationship with the u14 girls and became so so invested in their success. They ended up winning the Muskerry League and I found it a different experience to be on the management team rather than being the one playing. I also improved my own skill and fitness playing for my own team. On top of that I baked and cooked more than I normally would and I got so much better at it. I definitely learned a lot about myself and I really enjoyed doing Gaisce.

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I did my first week of work experience in the sports department of CIT. I shadowed lecturers and participated in gym classes and lectures. I got an insight into what it would be like to work in the area of sport science. I did my second week in Cloghroe N.S., my old primary school. It was lovely to go back there and see the school and all the teachers again. I got a real feel for what primary school teaching would be like. In CIT I learned a lot about what is involved in being PT, a physio a dietician and many other sports related jobs. In Cloghroe I found it interesting to see a lesson going on from the teacher's point of view and I learned how to get the students to cooperate with you and with each other.

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One of the modules I participated in was yoga. This was a new experience for me as I had never done yoga before. I found it very relaxing and its like a form of mindfulness. I didn't think I would like it but it ended up being one of my favourite modules that I did TY. It improved my flexibility and agility and was a nice break from my usual classes. We also did breathing exercises. I did not realise that breathing techniques were a part of yoga so I found this interesting.

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