Personal Statement for TY
REASONS I WANT TO DO TY
- I would like to experience new opportunities that Transition Year has to offer
- I want to do TY as I think it is a good opportunity to take a bit of a break after the Junior Cert. I feel as if I need a year to mature a student, and person before entering 5th Year, and getting stuck into the Leaving Cert.
- I have spoken to previous TY's, and have received nothing but positive feedback on the year, and what it entails.
MY OVERALL AIMS FOR THE YEAR
- First of all, I would like to get closer, and improve my relationships with some of the students in my year, as I feel Ty is a year that can enhance friendships, and can put the building blocks in place for more tightly knit groups. I would like to get involved in different competitions and activities available in TY, such as the BT Young Scientist, and The Student Enterprise Awards. I also hope to take part in the school musical, whatever it may be. I am aiming to gain work experience, and to take part in activities during the year that would add to my CV. This would of course be helpful to me in later life after school, but also would be of aid to me at this current moment in time as I hope to find a part time job for the year, which I think would be making the most of the extra time I'll have on my hands throughout the year. Lastly, I hope to discover new talents, mature and become more confident in preparation for the Leaving cert, and most importantly, simply enjoy my year, and have fun.
MY 5 OBJECTIVES FOR THE YEAR
- Along with my friends, I would like to enter projects into The BT Young Scientist, The Student Enterprise Awards, and possibly any other competitions that arise.
- I hope that my work experience will help me become more aware of what I would like to study in the future, and what type of occupation I would like.
- I aim to work well with other students throughout the year, and gain new friendships, as well as discovering new things about myself.
- I would like to improve and better myself both in terms of organisation, and academically.
- By the end of year, I hope to be able to honestly say that I'm glad I chose to do TY, and that I've matured as a student. I hope that it prepares me for 5th year as well as being a thoroughly enjoyable year
Personal Reflection on TY
Overall, I think TY was a great success for me personally. I've taken part in a lot of the opportunities and projects that were on offer, and fulfilled all my hopes and aims for the year. I entered a project to the BT Young Scientist, which unfortunately didn't get through. I also entered a project to The Student Enterprise Awards, and went to Galway to compete with other students from the County, as well as travelling to NUIG in Galway for an engineering course previously in the year, all of which have definitely helped to hone my teamwork skills and enthusiasm towards working in a group. In Irish I took part in the Gaisce and Fainne awards. For our music/IT project, myself and my friends created what I feel is a video that would give any professionally made production a run for their money, and I really enjoyed playing a couple of the main parts in our variety show, which helped me to get a bit out of my comfort zone and develop my confidence, as well as my friendships with my classmates.
On top of all this, Transition Year has aided me in improving my leadership skills, by taking part in The GAA Future Leaders Programme, and The Lighthouse Programme, both of which involved me and my peers helping out a younger age group, without much teacher input or supervision. I really enjoyed both of these activities for the weeks that they took place, as surprisingly, I excelled at interacting with the kids and making them feel comfortable with myself and the rest of the TY year, as pointed out to me by one of the teachers. At this time of writing I am also currently doing a slideshow for the for the TY Graduation Mass. Furthermore, I feel so much more responsible, mature and prepared for the real world than I did in 3rd year, or even in September for that matter. By November, I had acquired two part time jobs, in Mulrooneys Gala, and in O'Mearas Supervalu, and I have been working both evenings after school, and weekend shifts ever since. I think both of these jobs, along with sport outside of school, have been great to keep me occupied whilst TY gave me a break from academical work.
As I've already said, TY has without a doubt developed me into a more organised, mature, confident, enthusiastic person, has given me the opportunity to seek employment, build my CV, enter into different competitions, and has also aided me in choosing my subjects for my Leaving Cert. But from a different aspect, it has also been an amazing year in terms of actually enjoying myself. Some of the guest speakers and workshops were excellent. I especially enjoyed Alan Devine's Public speaking workshop, and needless to say Delphi and Barcelona were absolutely amazing. I got the chance to experience an abundance of new things this year, some of which are once in a lifetime opportunities that I'll never forget. It's been a year full of fun, laughs, the occasional bit of conflict, which would always seem to resolve itself, and actually, an odd dose of sneering and jeering here and there, just for good measure.
To conclude, TY has given me the chance to learn more about myself, prepare for the Leaving Cert, and in my opinion, most importantly build new close friendships and enjoy myself along the way. My friends and I have become such a tightly knit group this year, and I'm thankful to everyone that made this Transition Year the year that it was.