Wednesday 28 March 2012

3 weeks till what?!

It is so scary that in three weeks we will be going to the A.I.B Build a Bank NATIONALS! :O

It feels like other day when we got through from regionals!

We have put alot of work in and now I just dont want it to end :(

Did you guys hear Bressie will be there??! That is why you do the bank. He is 6 ft 4 just saying..

I'll keep you posted on more Super €uro news ;)

- Aoife xoxo

Shake it out!

Tonight is our schools Music Night! We are singing Florence & the Machines "Shake it Out" with the other Transition Year class Banba! We juts had our first rehearsal and with a few adgustments we should be okay! Loads of students are performing from different years and I love these events cause we never get to see everyone else who is not in our year perform and some people are just so amazing! Lets hope we will be allowed watch the show and not be stuck backstage :/

Lets hope it all goes well!

Talk later ;)

- Aoife xoxo

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Who is on the Internet...?

Last week, we had a member of Child Watch Safety come into us to talk about Internet Safety. He actually freaked me out loads about professional hackers & who is actually on the Internet. So when I went home I double checked my privacy settings, just to be sure.. and put a sticker over my web cam.

I think from that talk loads of girls including myself will think before they put stuff on the Internet because remember If you put something on the Internet it stays there for ever...

- Aoife xoxo

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Best week ever! :O

I had the most amazing time EVER in The Irish Times! It was such a great week <3
On the first day I was a little  nervous but mostly excited cause I didn't know what to expect! But thank god there was a group of seven of us & they were all so nice so I knew it would be a great week! I got the bus in everyday so I was super early but I just chilled in a nearby cafe so it was all good! :) I worked from 10-5 every day. Our lunch break was from 1-2, all the TY's would go out to O'Connell street and have lunch together :)

We were in two different departments so we learned every different aspect of the newspaper

Monday: Newsroom
Tuesday: Advertising & Sport
Wednesday: The Ticket & Marketing
Thurday: Pre-Media, I.T & Irishtimes.com
Friday: The Ticket & Finance

We also were given talks from loads of different popular journalists which was so interesting & we were allowed to sit in on the midday conference with all the important editors to discuss which articles were going to be featured in the next days paper which was really cool!

My favourite part of the week so when we were in The Ticket. This was when we were given the opportunity to write a film review, we went to see Chronicle & we were given a deadline on when to e-mail it to the editor for her to read and edit it. The next morning she had them all printed out and they looked so proffesional and she gave us constructive critism about each of our articles!

To get into this work experience placement you had (as well as writing e-mails & letters) write an essay on why you wanted to go to The Irish Times. I know it was such an effort but to everyone who is reading this it completely made up for the week!

I met so many lovely people from this experience and learnt alot! Already I miss it so much :)

One of the best experience from TY so far :)

Talk Later

- Aoife xoxo

Friday 9 March 2012

SUPER €UROS!

Hey Guys!

I am so sorry I haven't blogged in what seems like forever but I promise I will make up for it! But anyway yesterday our school bank Super €uros went to the Regional Final of the A.I.B Build a Bank competition in Lepordstown! It was such an amazing day & we all had so much fun!

When we first arrived and sussed out the competition, we soon realised the standard was so high! We thought out idea was creative? Then we saw Alice and Wonderland, Where's Wally, & Carnival themed banks and we knew we had to give a pretty good presentation to be with a chance!

We were super nervous! The judging went well cause they were all so nice :) After Lunch an FM104 presenter announced the top 10 shortlisted banks for the competition! We were delighted when they called us out third! Our amazing manager Caitriona had to talk about our bank for exactly two minutes, once the buzzer went off you were literally pushed off the stage!

Then the judges went out to deliberate & the FM104 crowd created a flash mob with us to randomly surprise the judges with! Even though we were having fun dancing around in our Super hero costumes we were all so eager and nervous to hear the results!

They informed us that the top four banks will be getting through the the National Final! The first finalist they announced was... SUPER €URO BANK!! We were all so happy and proud of our team! We each won a 100 euro voucher and 250 euro for the school! Now were going to work so hard until the final, but were not expecting anything just cause the standards so high! But were so proud of ourselves for getting so far!


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Talk soon ;)

- Aoife xoxo

My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult- Novel Review

I brought my copy of “My Sister’s Keeper” to several different places with me; on the bus, luas, dart, at a cafe and even on an airplane, but no matter where I was, or even who was paying attention to me, I still emotionally responded as if I was at home all by myself, which yes including me trying to cover up my tears to a waitress who was trying to take my order. The incredible thing with “My Sister’s Keeper” is that Picoult manages to utterly draw you into the dramatic family life of the Fitzgerald’s and no matter where you are or who you are with you become totally engrossed in this novel that your surroundings disappear and the Fitzgerald’s household replaces it.

This intense family drama is based on the life of the Fitzgerald’s but the main narration of the story is told through the youngest child eyes. The novel begins with the narrator Anna explaining how she was born for a “specific purpose”, she was genetically conceived to save her sister Kate’s life. Kate was diagnosed at the age of two with a rare form of Leukaemia (APL), and since their other child, Jesse isn’t a match, strong willed parents Sara and Brian decide to have Anna as a perfect genetic match in order for her to become a donor for Kate. Sara explains to Anna “We loved you even more because we knew what exactly we were getting” From cord blood to lymphocytes to bone marrow and now to her own kidney, it isn’t surprising when Anna seeks lawyer Campbell Alexander advice in order for her to sue her parents “for the rights of her own body”

 Jesse the rebel of the family seems to be constantly in trouble with the police, as a reader we empathise with this character as he tries to get any form of attention from his parents who are constantly focused on Kate. Once Anna gets in contact with Mr. Alexander, Jesse warns “Don’t mess with the system Anna, we’ve all got our scripts down pat. Kate plays the Martyr. I’m the Lost Cause. And you, you’re the Peacekeeper”

But for Kate’s respect, love and loyalty to all the family and her bravery towards her disease, she makes in my opinion my favourite and most inspirational character

A particular scene which impacted me in the novel was when Sara was trying to convince Kate to go to the Mall with herself and Anna, however Kate being greatly worried about how people will stare at her and think of her as a “freak” In an attempt to show Kate that personal appearance does not matter she shaves off all of her and Anna’s hair. The three of them go hairless and simply care free to the Mall. Sara states “We are beautiful, times three”

“My Sister’s Keeper” is beautifully written. It is expressed simply in order to get through to all readers, which leaves a strong impact. The use of dramatic dialogue is carried out throughout the story, which makes this novel a page turner. It is as if we dying to hear what different characters will say and react, “Why won’t you realise that Kate is dying?” A technique worth mentioning is in each chapter, a different character is the narrator. We get to hear their thoughts, views, and insights into life which makes the reader feel as if we know each character personally.

I feel that Picoult is an optimistic and pessimistic writer. I feel she is optimistic when she writes about the unbreakable bond the two sisters share but however severely pessimistic in relation to Kate’s life long illness and the dramatic twist in the end.

Even though it is a tear-jerker and at sometimes extremely hard to read, I would recommend this novel to everyone because it will make you appreciate your life even more and have a deep impact on how you think and feel.