The Time Has Come...

As much as we all felt like it wouldn't happen, TY is coming to end with a bang. The past week has been all about preparing for our TY graduation and also unfortunately tests. Everyone has been practising hard to make sure our night goes well. We are all performing a mash up of 'Never Forget' and 'Wavin' Flag' to showcase what we have done in music. We are also doing a few hip hop dances that we have been learning for the past few weeks in our hip hop classes. The french students are singing 'Summer Paradise', in french of course. I'm really excited to perform all of these, we have put in a lot of work and I think we have all improved a lot, especially in hip hop we were all a bit clueless at first. My drumming skills for the music performance have also improved woo! Jack are you proud of your first drumming student? 

                                           

Looking back on TY now, it was definitely an unforgettable experience, that really helped to shape us all and I think most of us grew as people from what happened this year. I have to be honest and say it wasn't the best year ever for me but the good moments overshadow the bad ones. So my advice to future TY students is to really just let go and take part in everything without taking on more than you can handle (It doesn't work trust me you just end up not being able to do anything) Talk to people you usually wouldn't talk to because it's true what they say, Ty really is the year you make incredible new friends and keep the just as incredible old ones. Goodbye Ty, you were pretty damn great.

Swim A Mile With A Smile :)

On Wednesday out year participated in Ian Daly Swim A Mile With A Smile 2015 in the National Aquatic Centre. We were raising money for the Ian Daly foundation who help children and the families of children with cancer. It was set up in honour of a little boy, Ian Daly died at age 11 of a brain tumour. We all got sponsor cards and collected as much money as we could for the cause. You can read more about it here: http://swimamile.webnode.com/ 

When we got to the National Aquatic Centre we split up into groups of swimmers and lane counters, I was originally going to be in a group of 8 but we decided it would be a better sense of achievement if we were in a group of 4. I was in a group with Emily, Kathleen and Molly, at first it was hard because I hadn't swam in ages but once I got into it, it got easier. We had to swim 16 lengths of the 25 metre pool each to make a mile but after we finished we decided to swim it again because we still had energy.

After everyone had finished their mile, we all got t-shirts and took a picture, then we went to Blanchard's town shopping centre and had a well deserved break. It was a great day and I would enjoy doing it again next year since it is for an important cause.

Driving

On Monday our class went to the Leinster school of driving for a deriving lesson. When we got there we were split into two groups and one group was doing a mock theory test first and the other group were driving first. My group were driving first and we all split into groups of either 3 or 4, I was with Ciara, Olivia and Liveta. Olivia drove first (well done bro) then Ciara, then me and lastly Liveta. I think we were all better than we thought we would be, I thought I was going to crash and none of us did so that was great.

After driving we had lunch and did the mock theory test, we did it in groups like a quiz and had time to get bonus points and correct our answers. When we first did the test we only got 34 marks so we didn't pass oops... We got 36 marks after we corrected some answers though and then in the bonus round we got two more points for thinking of funny meanings for road signs. If you count those then we got 38 points and we passed woo! Then we all went outside and put on beer goggles which were designed to show us what it is like to try and drive if we were very drunk. We had to pick up a cone, put it on another cone and high five the instructor after. Some people were great at it and others struggled a little... I think I was somewhere in between.

Graduation Preparation

This week has mostly been spent getting ready for our Ty graduation at the end of the year. We are performing different things for different subjects to showcase what we have been doing and we are also making things to put on display. We are running out of time so everyone is trying to get it all done so there is no last minute stress.

In music we are performing a mash up of Wave your flag and Never forget, it's not perfect yet but it's getting better. I will be playing the djembe drum, because my brother has one that I now have to convince him to let me use. In Irish we are singing It's Time by Imagine Dragons, the lyrics are in Irish of course and Ciara is playing guitar.(Slay bro) Then in French we are singing Summer Paradise in French and making a sideshow for the background. We are also finishing our clay tiles in art and starting paints to display at the Ty graduation, mine isn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

For the past 2 weeks we have had hip hop classes instead of PE and we are learning a dance to perform at graduation. We have nearly finished the dance and I'm really enjoying it. I think we all actually look pretty good so I'm excited to see how it turns out. There's not long left in Ty, it went very fast and now the summer countdown has begun. 

Disconnected Dancing

Yesterday was the day of the schools annual music night and I was performing along with Ciara, Emily, Michaela and Emma. I spent half of the day helping to set up the hall for that night and practising with the rest of the Ty band. .

Our group or the Ty band were singing a mash up of Disconnected and Chocolate, Emily played the piano while Ciara and Michaela played guitar. We all sang which was terrifying to say the least, especially when I had to hold the mic because I was so worried I would drop it and deafen everyone. In the end though the performance went really well and it was really fun. 

Today we had the first of four hip hop classes instead of Pe, I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it because I'm so used to ballet but I actually ended up really enjoying it and it wasn't as hard to do as I thought it would be. Although I do still find myself looking too balletic but I'm getting there. I'm excited for the next few classes and possibly performing at the end of the year. Here's hoping I become a hip hop queen?

Lucid Drumming Dreams

On Friday we had the first round of the science competition scifest, we all set up our projects in the hall and waited for the judges. After staying up very late to finish my project I was finally finished and able to put my project up. My project was a study of lucid dreaming, which is any dream that one is aware one is dreaming. To do my project I surveyed students about lucid dreaming and compared my results to previous studies to try and find connections between lucid dreaming and factors such as hobbies and sleep disorders. 

Each project was judged at least twice, but the judges can go back and judge projects again so my project was judged four times in total. Turns out this was a good sign but I was worried.After lunch we were all dying to know who had gotten through, around 15 projects got through and then there were additional prizes like 1st place, 2nd place, highly commended and best communicator. I wasn't sure if I would get through but I did in the end and much to my surprise, I won the best communicator award. Emily's group won first place (slay bro) and Ciara also got through (also slay bro) so we are all going to the next round together woop.

On Thursday we had the drum workshop so we spent the day in the library playing african drums to different beats. We also spoke to the man who organised it about traveling and his experiences in different countries which was really interesting. Fun fact: He nearly died on a volcano. We watched a video about Africa and its music culture to show us that not all of africa is very poor and that there is more to it then we know. 

At the end of the day we got into groups and made up our own drumming performances, which was both hilarious and interesting. My group wasn't very good at coming up with an idea so we just followed what Anna was doing and hoped for the best. It didn't end very well but it was funny. 

Mini Company & Pancake Party

This Thursday we had the school round of the mini company finals. The night before was full of stress and last minute work but we managed to get everything together on time. The competition was being held in the hall so we all set up there in the morning and waited for the judges. I had to bring in a mannequin for my friend's mini company group, called Seem. We appropriately named the mannequin Deirdre Judy. For most of the day we were just waiting to be judged so Emily, Ciara and I used spare material to find ways to have fun like skipping and spinning, we are getting better at both of those things now.

After we had all spoken to the judges and tidied the hall, we were told who had gotten through to the nest round and who had won smaller categories. Our mini company Casevana unfortunately didn't win anything but we still had a good day.

Today we held a pancake party in aid of The National Children's Hospital Tallaght. I was on the pancake committee so I had to get more people to sell the pancakes and I helped to set the 'party' up. The Home Ec classes cooked over 200 pancakes that we sold at lunch. We sold the pancakes for 50c or €1 if you had a topping. It was a great success and we sold out in 10 minutes. 

Staging Schizophrenia

On Tuesday the 27th of January after a lot of practise, writing, directing and stress it was finally time for the briery gap drama competition. My group had a play called Schizophrenia, which is about a girl who is struggling with the mental disorder of schizophrenia and how it affects her life. We were all excited to see our play come to life but we were also very nervous it would go wrong.
                  
When we arrived in Mullingar (The land of Niall Horan woop), we found a dance studio which of course meant Sadbh and I had to spend time in there dancing when everyone was getting ready. We quickly practised the play before we went on stage and then it was time for us to perform. As a director I was off stage making sure everything was running smoothly. Our performance went really well and we got quite positive feedback so I am excited to see if we made it through to the next round.