Book Review Number Two !

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading another book by the bestselling author, John Green. This book is called An Abundance of Katherines. It is about a boy named Colin Singleton who has recently had his heart broken by a girl named Katherine. Colin has not only been in a relationship with THIS Katherine... there have been many other Katherines (18 to be exact). Colin is a 17 year old boy who can speak 11 languages and has a passion for anagrams. He becomes depressed because even though he has maintained his status of a prodigy, he has not yet become a genius. He wishes to become a genius by searching for a 'eureka' moment.

After graduating from high school, and before college, Colin's friend Hassan convinces him to go on a road trip with him to take his mind off the breakup with 'Katherine XIX'. After driving for a while, they come across the grave of the body of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There, they meet Lindsey Lee Wells, a “paramedic in training.” She is the tour guide for those seeing the tomb of the Archduke. After a short time, Colin and Hassan find themselves employed by Hollis, Lindsey's mother and the woman running a local factory. They live with Hollis and Lindsey in a rural town called Gutshot in Tennessee.

As time passes, Colin finds himself becoming attracted to Lindsey, though matters are somewhat complicated by her on-again, off-again boyfriend Colin (he and Hassan call him TOC, "the other Colin").  Colin Singleton, the prodigy, attempts to become a genius by having his Eureka moment. He chases this goal through his theorem, called the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Probability, which is meant to determine the curve of any relationship based on several factors of the personalities of the two people in a relationship. It would predict the future of any two people. His theorem eventually works for all but one of his past relationships with a Katherine. But it is later discovered by Colin that he had dumped this Katherine (Katherine III), rather than the other way around. 

Although I am a huge fan of John Greens books, I found that this book didn't hold my attention for a very long time. I didn't really like the main character, Colin as I found him slightly annoying. 

I would not recommend this book to anyone who hasn't already read John Greens books as I rate this book much lower than I rate his other books.

Holly-Days!

Yesterday, we went into town to sell holly badges for charity. The charity we were collecting for was the ISPCC. We went to a Hall on Molesworth Street and got into pairs. I was with Rebecca. We were then given maps and places to stand. We also got bright yellow bibs to wear (to prove we were collectors) and the box of badges.

Rebecca and I were standing outside the Hibernian Club opposite St. Stevens Green. We started walking, then realized that we read the map wrong... Back to square one for us!

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We went straight up the street and then found it straight away. We then asked people to support the ISPCC and some people were very nice and donated money. One man that passed us put in TEN EURO and only wanted 1 badge!

After we had collected for around 3 hours (in the freezing cold) , we went back to the hall on molesworth street and dropped back our bibs and boxes. We collected our bags and went to Grafton Street for lunch.

Kildare Road Safety Expo

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Last Thursday, we went to Punchestown for a road safety exhibition. We left on our bus at 9:05 and we were on the bus for around half an hour. When we arrived we saw Johnny Doyle (Kildare Gaelic football player) getting out of his car. We then went in and got one of those paper wristbands that you get at water-parks and stuff. Those things are always so hard to get off... Anyway, back to the trip. 

This is the famous Blue Bus by the way...

Johnny Doyle
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When we got in to the exhibition we were allowed to roam around ourselves for just under two hours. We looked at all the little stalls and we found them all very interesting. We also got some free high-visibility gear such as reflective smiley face stickers and key-rings, a reflective slap bracelet, a vest and numerous pens. 

There was a "roll over car crash simulator" that you could sit in. The car stayed in the one place but turned upside-down at a slow speed. It rotated a full 360 degrees. This is to show young people how important wearing a seat belt is. 

Roll over simulator
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We finished the day with a presentation from some people that worked for the emergency services who regularly came witnessed the aftermath of a road accident (mainly Gardaí). There was also a member of the irish NYPD there with a robot called "Tangobot". They spoke before we heard the heavier stuff about car accidents etc. 

Tangobot , Irish NYPD and a local Garda

It was a very enjoyable and worthwhile day. You can visit the RSA website by clicking here.

Maths trip??

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Last Wednesday, we went on a maths trip to Rathbeggan Lakes. We left school at the normal time (in our tracksuits and wellies) on the usual big blue bus. The journey consisted of about half an hour of my friends and I snapchat-ing pictures of eachother to people.

 When we got there, we were split into groups of 4. I was put with Amy, Sophie and Sarah. We ended up completing 4 challenges involving project maths. Between challenges, we watched the goose and his little minions (the ducks) wandering around the place looking for food. Despite our feet being frozen- our trip was very enjoyable.

My amazing photography ;)

After we were finished at the lake, we went to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre for lunch. My friends and I went straight to Mc Donalds and got food.

After we finished, we all went to Pennys for a browse. I didnt bring money so i couldnt buy anything. Afterwards, Rebecca and I (Rebecca was shortlisted for a blogger award ~ vote here -->See full list on Listly) went into debenhams in search of MAC makeup... We didnt find any... Instead we drenched ourselves in the One Direction perfume that was released earlier this year. It smells amazing by the way. 

We then made our way back to the bus and headed off home.

Exercise?...

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Every week, we have been taking part in Zumba. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is "an aerobic fitness programme featuring dances inspired by various styles of Latin American dance and performed primarily to Latin American dance music." ~ google definition... I have  really enjoyed it. Some of the dance moves are a bit crazy but its a lot of fun and I have never done anything like it before.

I did some research and found one of the Zumba songs on youtube...

Click here to go to the official Zumba website

Radio TY

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Last week, we went to the Schools Across Borders Development Education workshop in Citywest. A few of my friends and I decided to interview people there because we are all part of the school media team. We recorded them and they are no up on our Radio blog which can be viewed by clicking here.
 Lots of different charities talked to us about the work they do (eg. Burma Action Ireland, Trocaire, etc) and we recorded it so other people could have a listen!

Museums and Mc Donalds

so, last thursday, we went to three different museums in dublin city. We went to the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum and the National Library of Ireland.

In the national gallery, we saw many interesting paintings by famous artists. My personal favorite painting was called "The Convent Garden" by William Leech.

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I like this painting because of the bright colours and the different techniques used.
Another painting i liked was by Jack B Yeats. This painting is called The Liffey Swim. i like this picture because of the colours in the river makes it look as if its moving.

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in the Natural History Museum, we visited the Bog Bodies. These are bodies that have been found in the bog 100's of years after their time of death. Most of them are males between 25 and 35 years old. They are usually found on the boundary lines so historians think that they are the bodies of previous rulers that have been murdered.

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We also saw the WB Yeats exhibition in the National Library of Ireland. We learned about the life and career of the well known poet. 

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Afterwards, we walked to Grafton Street and wandered around for about an hour and a half. We went to Mc Donalds for lunch and when we finished, we went to Starbucks

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Science Week

Yesterday, our year went to Tallaght IT for a science talk as part of science week. You can visit the science week website here.

During this talk we were asked what gas we thought was in a floating balloon. We said helium as this is the gas used in party balloons. We learned that helium was a non reactive gas and that if it was set on fire a small pop would be heard. We also learned that hydrogen is also lighter than air so that would also keep the balloon floating. Hydrogen is a very reactive gas so if that was set alight there would be a very loud pop. 

We then watched the man put on protective earmuffs and bring a lit torch closer and closer to the balloon until the balloon EXPLODED INTO A BALL OF FLAME. So yeah turns out the balloon was filled with hydrogen...

We also did other small experiments like testing for oxygen and carbon dioxide, trying to blow a small ball into a plastic bottle, proving that gravity accelerates all things to the ground at the same time etc

Afterwards, we headed over to Liffey Valley for some McDonalds.

The Fault in our Stars

Book Review

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I recently read a book by the best selling author, John Green. The book is titled 'The Fault in our Stars'.

This book is written through the perspective of a 16 year old terminal lung cancer patient, Hazel Grace. Because Hazel is a cancer patient, she regularly attends a support group held in the center of her local church - commonly referenced as the 'Literal heart of Jesus'. On one of her visits to the support group, she catches the eye of former basketball player, Augustus Waters. He is attending the support group with his friend Isaac (who lost one eye to cancer at a young age). Sure enough, Hazel and Augustus fall deeply in love. Augustus uses his 'Cancer Perk' to take Hazel to visit Amsterdam to visit her favorite author, however unfortunately, the cancer kicks in and their visit didn't end quite as they had expected. What I liked about this book is that it really dramatizes how short life really is.

Although this book is about cancer kids, it is not entirely a 'tragic' book. Throughout the book, I really warmed to all the characters, Augustus in particular. Augustus is a charming yet witty character who lost his right leg to osteosarcoma and is in remission. I think the reason I warmed to all the characters was that they all seemed very real. Augustus is 17 and lives with his parents. He sees a very deep meaning in anything and everything e.g. he has a packet of cigarettes and he uses one but he does not light it.  

"Its a metaphor; You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing"

 I chose to read this book because lots of my friends were raving about it and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Another reason I read this book is that it is in the process of becoming a movie. The motion picture version is expected to be out on the sixth of June 2014. (Fun Fact: The actor who is set to play Isaac, is one of the lead singers of the Naked Brothers Band- I mentioned their song 'Taxi Cab' in a previous post). I rate this book 10 out of 10 as it is my favorite book of the year by far. I recommend this book to any young adult, but, (spoiler alert) it is extremely likely that you will cry and or be left speechless at the end.

What is your favorite book and who is the author?
Comment below :)

WERE GOING ON A SCHOOL TOUR!?

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Today at lunch time, we found out who got to go on a trip to BARCELONA!! They were calling out the names and three of my friends got to go- Lauren, Sorcha and Rebecca. I was so nervous...

"And the final student guaranteed a place is... Aoibheann"

 

I am one of the 45 students that get to go on the school tour. I am really excited because we get to spend a whole day at Port Aventura! The trip is in april, so we dont quite know what to expect 'weather wise'. 

FUN WALK!!

Every year in our school, to celebrate and promote Friendship Week, the whole school makes up a dance, preforms it in front of a panel of judges, and goes for a walk through our town for around half an hour.

Each year got different colours as follows:

First years were pink,
Second years were purple,
Third years were green,
 TYs were yellow,
Fifth years were blue,
and Sixth years were black and white.

Our class decided to go all out and make a cardboard american taxi as they are yellow and that was our theme. Our music for the start of the dance was this

We only played the first few seconds and then we decided to spice it up a bit with an appearance by Will Smith and Carlton Banks.

Our second song and dance can be seen on this segment of the Graham Norton Show here.

Overall, this years fun walk was not to be missed, but unfortunately, our class did not win for our year :( 

Workshops Workshops Workshops

Deportment

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In this workshop, we learned about our face shapes, skin tones, and make-up. We all cleansed our faces and applied our makeup. 

Building Rapport

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In this workshop we were taught how to behave in the workplace. We were told to remember if our employers mentioned any plans eg. if they said that they were going away for the weekend, ask them if they enjoyed it.

Work Experience

In this workshop, we were told what to do in certain situations eg if our supervisor was absent while we were on work experience we would ask if there was anything that needed to be done instead of just going home. We also talked about office hazards as some of us got work experience in an office.

Office Hazards
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Where We've Been...

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Last Monday we went to Carlingford Adventure Centre in Co. Louth. I was forced to get up at 6:20 am, to be at the local petrol station before the bus left at 7:00 am. We were on the road by 7:05 and when we reached our destination, we were greeted by a lovely little stone village. Our first activity was schedueled for 10:30 and we didnt know what to expect. We were sent straight to the upstairs common room to be divided into 2 groups- one of 30 and another of 37. I was in the group of 37 with all of my friends and we were sent outside to put our bags into one of the storage rooms. While out there, we were told to put on camo suits. We were then given blue or red laser guns which made it clear that we were about to do laser tag. All 37 of us then trudged up the side of a mountain complaining about the guns being really heavy, about how it was very early to be doing this much exercise, and the weather (rain, as usual). when we were at the forest, we saw that there were small fences made of wood and tree branches. The place was set up really well. We started playing some games and in the end, the other team won 3/4 of them :( . Hope for the blue team was not lost however because there was still a day and a half of fun activities to go.

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After lunch, we went out to a large field just outside of the village. There were lots of team games set up for the groups to complete. We had to do various activities and we were rewarded in gems. The team who had earned the most gems won. we had to complete a giant labyrinth without talking or making any sort of sound, using 6 ropes we had to lift a hexagon shaped piece of wood over a wooden pole without knocking over the ball that was balancing on top and set it down over another wooden pole with a ball on it without knocking THAT one over, and we had to all join hands and get the entire team through a giant spiderweb structure made of ropes (without making any noise or making contact with the ropes - by far the hardest challenge). After we had done all that and some extra activities, we were all starving for some food.

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After we finished dinner, we were assigned our rooms. Luckily, I was in a room with all of my friends. We had a chat and played connect 4 and then we went to the upstairs common room to talk to the other group. We ended up playing table tennis and eating maltesers and jelly tots.

We were out again by 7:30 pm. We were doing night time activities next. We went back up to the forest we were in at the start of the day and  were told to put on blindfolds. We had to walk beside a rope, in a forest, in the dark, wearing a blindfold. I was terrified. After stumbling around the place for about 10 minutes, we played a game of forest ninjas. We had to run up to a  person without them noticing. After that, we went back to the centre. On the way, the leaders brought us to a "tunnel". It was actually just a storm drain. We had to crawl through it. It was no taller or wider than one meter and it felt like it went on FOREVER. It was very scary, but we all got through it.

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The next morning, after sleeping through the alarm, we had to take the sheets off the beds and put them out to be washed. We packed our bags and went down for breakfast. when we finished, we went to the field outside the village and got ready for more activities. First, we did archery. I felt like an in-experienced Katniss Everdeen as i managed to hit the target 98% of the time... Next, we moved on to body zorbing. We got into small plastic bubbles with our legs sticking out and we had to try and knock each other over. Our next activity involved our whole team working together to get out of a pitch black maze. After 40 minutes, we figured it out.

                      

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When we had finished our lunch, we were taken down to the ocean. we were all given wet suits, kayaks and paddles. We had to paddle out to a small raft to tie our boats down, then we had to jump into the water (which was freezing) and swim out to a trampoline. when we got up there we got about 5 minutes to jump around and then the leaders started literally throwing us off into the sea. Then they brought us to a small cave and we had to go into it and stick our heads under as small waterfall as it apparently gave us an extra 24 hours of life. We went back to where we started in our kayaks, got dressed, walked back to the centre, collected our bags, and got back on the bus.

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We all had a great time at Carlingford and we hope to do something like it again soon.

Our Day Trip

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On Thursday the 12th of September, The transition years in our school went to visit Castletown house - a local country house built in the 1700s. We took a tour of the house and visited the following rooms...

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Main Entrance Hall

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Print Room

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Green Silk Room

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The Long Gallery

The time has come...

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Wednesday the 11th of September was the day the third years of 2013 had been waiting months for.... The day we got our junior certificate results. We arrived at the school early on Wednesday morning too nervous to even talk. We then went to the hall and were told to stand in our old class group in alphabetical order. One of the teachers than handed us all a large brown envelope with each of our names and date of birth on it. When I was handed my envelope I immediately ripped the top open to reveal my results...

We all did very well and are very happy with our results.

To celebrate, my friends and I went to Time in Naas. There were 13 of us getting ready in the same room so we were a bit tight on space. By the time we were ready to go, three more people had arrived to go on our bus. When we arrived at the venue, it started to rain... Typical irish weather. The queue to get in wasn't too long, which was good.

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What We Got Up To

The first week of TY has been really busy. We made key-rings in technology, planned our Junk Kouture  project, talked about Mini Company and Sci Fest ideas. As well as all of that, we took part in a day full of workshops on Wednesday.

 In the first workshop, a man called Austin came in and talked to us about how life had no limits and confidence building. 

In the second workshop, we learned about our energy fields. We tried to transfer energy to each other but it didn't work very well... We also learned how to give shoulder massages in that workshop

. Our third and final workshop of the day was called Positive Parties. A woman named Denise came in and taught us how to keep positive. one of the ways she talked about was listening to happy and upbeat songs. 

Today, in IT class, Ms.  L showed us this song

She showed us this because it was an example of a happy upbeat song...

TY Class Names

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This year our TY classes are called Tabei, Tereshkova and Cornaro after the above women. Junko Tabei ( top left) was the first woman to climb Mount Everest. She was born in Japan in September 22, 1939. She conquered Everest in early 1975.

Valentina Tereshkova (top right) was the first woman to go to space. She was a soviet cosmonaut and an engineer. She went to space in 1963 and since then has become a feminist icon.

Elena Cornaro Piscopia (bottom) was the first woman to be officially award a university degree. She was born in Italy and studied at the University of Padua. She graduated in 1678 with a Doctorate in Philosophy. After her death the Padua University put up a statue in her memory.