Carlingford Bonding Trip.

PAAA-DDLE, PAAA-DDLE! (Big toe..)*
Carlingford was really something different. Although we were only there for two days and one night, we did so much. High ropes, challenge courses, 3-in-ones and pier diving made the experience something completely different from any school trip we'd ever been on.

We met up at the petrol station near our school at seven o'clock (I was late because I thought it was half seven; whoops!*) The journey up to Louth seemed to last forever, perhaps because we were all so excited to get there and time could not move fast enough.
Once we got there we were broken into groups 1, 2 & 3; 4, 5 & 6. These were the groups we were to do our activities in. The group I was in (4, 5 & 6) started on the challenge course. From falling into the water and working together to "change the water pump", the challenge course was great fun. Chips, chicken nuggets and beans for lunch. From there we dived straight into the water sports. We were provided with helmets, buoyancy aids and wetsuits. Six canoes were taken from the stack, then three were joined together. We learned how to paddle together to make the boat go faster (the other team needed a tow back to the pier. Disgraceful..*) We then took turns in jumping off the pier (in gale-force winds, might I add.) I jumped off with Stephbob first, then by myself the second time. Stew for dinner, ice-cream for dessert. We were given two hours of free time before heading out on a hill walk, up a hill. Those of us who wanted to climbed through a tunnel under the town, no bigger than a small fireplace. I began with my knees bent and completely dry, I ended up crawling and completely soaked. It was scary but really fun!
After an interesting night's "sleep", we awoke to an announcement on the intercom. We were asked to tidy our rooms and strip our beds, pack up and come down to breakfast (all to be done in half an hour, which was almost impossible). From breakfast we ventured to the high ropes (http://www.carlingfordadventure.com/html/images/HighRopes.jpg) which were my favourite. I was the first one to climb up the massive pole (that shook, on purpose!) of four. Stephbob was afraid of the high ropes but I helped her up with me. Ellen and Niamh went up to the fifth step of Jacob's ladder while Katie was the first one to do the incline challenge.
All in all, Carlingford was amazing.

*joking, sarcasm, to be taken lightly

First impressions are lasting..

…and my impression of TY so far is certainly a good one. Do we have to do subjects that we didn’t do for our Junior Cert? Yes. Do I mind doing these subjects? No, not really. TY is supposed to be a year to find new talents and things about yourself that you didn’t even know about. How can you do that without taking part in projects or tasks that you wouldn’t have even considered this time last year? No problems with my new class, I’m with most of my friends and there’re plenty more to make.
The transition from summer to school was a lot smoother than I had anticipated. Perhaps it’s because TY isn’t like any other year in school, it’s a lot more enjoyable and makes the getting up at 7:30 a lot easier. Here’s hoping it stays that way!

I’m excited about my Young Scientist project with Orlaigh Kennard (http://orlaighh.blogspot.com). We first thought of three projects:

1. Cravings; your body or your brain acting?

2. The Science of Sports

3. Cosmetic Science

We decided to choose the Science of Sports one because we both play hockey in the school and do ballet outside of school. We’re going to pick three techniques from both sports, and compare their relationships with Physics, Geometry and Biology. According to Ms. O’Callaghan this is called ‘Biomechanics’? It’s handy because she’s our science teacher, tutor and PE teacher… She also happened to study Sport Science in college so we already have ourselves a helper.

Niamh Mc :)

TY will be the best year ever in the history of the world ever.