Work experience
For transition year I had planned on doing a lot of work experience placements as I do not know what career I want to peruse. One of my work experience placements was with the Garda Siochana in Bray Garda station.
I did this work experience unfortunately the week of Storm Ophelia so we missed the first two days of the program. There were 16 other Transition year students with me and I got to know them over the few days. On the first day, Wednesday we went to the Garda museum in Dublin castle. It had just been refurbished and it was very up to date.the museum was very interesting. We went across to the Garda memorial gardens we saw the list of names and their registration of the gardai that have been killed in the line of duty.
We then went to the criminal justice court. It also has been refurbished on the last five years. It had many floors and 26 different courts. We sat in on a murder trial and a assault case. It was very interesting to see how and court was run.
The second day we went to Templemore, Tipperary to see the garda training college.it was a very long journey down to Tipperary for the short amount of time we spent there. The campus was a lot bigger than I expected. We only got a short basic tour of the campus but we did get to sit in on a self defence class and that was very interesting.
The third day was the most interesting of the three days. We again went to the midlands but this time we went to port laosie prison. This time we were able to get a full tour by a senior officer of the largest prison in Ireland. We learnt how prisoners were checked in and we saw the holding cells and then the actual cell that a prison would stay in. The prison officer gave us a very detailed tour of the prison and it was very interesting.
I really did enjoy participating in this work experience program. The program has given me an insight into what being a garda involves which will help me I chose to go that career
I did this work experience unfortunately the week of Storm Ophelia so we missed the first two days of the program. There were 16 other Transition year students with me and I got to know them over the few days. On the first day, Wednesday we went to the Garda museum in Dublin castle. It had just been refurbished and it was very up to date.the museum was very interesting. We went across to the Garda memorial gardens we saw the list of names and their registration of the gardai that have been killed in the line of duty.
We then went to the criminal justice court. It also has been refurbished on the last five years. It had many floors and 26 different courts. We sat in on a murder trial and a assault case. It was very interesting to see how and court was run.
The second day we went to Templemore, Tipperary to see the garda training college.it was a very long journey down to Tipperary for the short amount of time we spent there. The campus was a lot bigger than I expected. We only got a short basic tour of the campus but we did get to sit in on a self defence class and that was very interesting.
The third day was the most interesting of the three days. We again went to the midlands but this time we went to port laosie prison. This time we were able to get a full tour by a senior officer of the largest prison in Ireland. We learnt how prisoners were checked in and we saw the holding cells and then the actual cell that a prison would stay in. The prison officer gave us a very detailed tour of the prison and it was very interesting.
I really did enjoy participating in this work experience program. The program has given me an insight into what being a garda involves which will help me I chose to go that career
Happy Pear
On the 4th December I started my work experience week in Shoreline working in the Happy Pear. I was hoping to get some experience that would show me what it is like to work in a coffee shop. I thought that this would help me get a part time or summer job in a coffee shop.
The staff were very nice and were very welcoming. There was normally a team of 4 including myself working while I was there . My hours were 9am to 3 pm with a 30 minute break around 1pm or 12am. I started out rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher and clearing tables but the staff were very helpful and showed me how to use the coffee machine and till by the end of the week. I was also able to go to the store room by myself and retrieve goods and cups that were needed down stairs.
This week helped me get a feeling of what a real workplace was like as I had not experienced it before. The second day I helped put up some Christmas decorations and learn more about the running of the shop I also put price tags on most of the packaged goods. The third was very similar just I watched one of the staff make sandwiches and I used the till once or twice. The fourth day was very quiet and I was able to learn how to make the coffees and I helped in making the wraps for that day.
The last day I was able to serve customers with only a little help making the coffee and I really enjoyed the week. They gave me a goodie bag at the end of the week and I was very grateful of this and will miss working with the friends I made and was also grateful of all the new skills I learnt during the week.
Zurich
On the week of Patrick's weekend I was invited back into Zurich insurance to finish my week of work experience as I didn't get to finish it when because of the snow. I was only going to do 3 days as I had already completed 2 before the weather turned. I began on Wednesday. I was back in the Human Resources department giving a hand sending out invitations to a conference to certain specific policy owner. I was simple time consuming work but it give me an idea what an office was like to work in at least.
The second day was more interesting I was with the people to decide to give out life policy's and what the add ons should s was very interesting as I could see the different loading that could be triggered when applying for a life policy. Every application is different so it was very interesting and not boring. I was then in the mailing room. They taught me how the building worked and how they also service the whole building. So if a light bulb broke they would replace it or if there was a leak they would call the plumber and so on.
The last day I was in the dealing room where they handle the shares for an hour it was very interesting. How they handle so much money and how important there Job is . It made me very interested in shares and stocks.
I was also in group pensions on the Friday. It was similar to the to costumer service as a lot was answering calls.
I really enjoyed most of my time in Zurich and would like to try it again.
Dcu
At the beginning of Transition Year I had no idea what career or course I would like to pursue. So I decided I would try some different work experience situations. One of these was a course in DCU. It was a sports science course in the School of Health and Human Prefomance I attended lectures and practicals just like any other student for a week. There are many different courses with the Sports Science Department. This includes sports injuries, physiology, sociology, pe with maths, pe with geography, nutrition and biomechanics, motor control, health+fitness, adapted fitness, genetics and Anatomy .
I was really looking forward to doing this course as I would learn what a college lecture involves and what's it's like to be student in DCU. I was also interested in the course that I would be participating in. I did learn something straight away and this was the distance between Greystones and DCU. I had to get up at 6:10 and travel with my dad to his job in Blackrock and then get the number 4 bus to DCU. I would arrived around 9:30 / 10 depending on traffic. Also very early on I discovered that the course was poorly organised as many of the classes including the very first class was cancelled as the class either had a test or were doing group preparation for a presentation. I unfortunately didn't really experience what was involved in a lot of the classes .
One of the classes that I did attend was pe and maths fortunately the lecture was on rolls and tumbles and not maths. It was a 2 hour lecture, one hour learning different types of rolls and tumbles in a classroom . The second half was a practical for the class. So I enjoyed a pe class run by the students to help them get experience of running a lesson.
I also sat in on another health and fitness class during the week it was a group presentation on how to involve someone with a disability or disorder like autism into a class effectively and making sure they enjoyed the class as much as anyone which was very interesting
Another intriguing lesson was adapted fitness. This was very interesting as the students presented a PowerPoint presentation on the effects of altitude and how to prepare to perform at altitude. Some of the more complicated lectures were anatomy I learnt that there are17 different parts and bones in the hip with all different names.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend some lectures due to cancellations. For example genetics, nutrition and physiology although these were not the only classes to have been cancelled
The last day we had one different type of class it was a max O2 test. This was a physical exam done by usually older people with diabetes or a heart problem. The students would hook the patient up to a treadmill and a heart machine. They then would make the patient walk as fast and as long as they could until they are unable to do anymore. They record the amount of oxygen that they took in and their heart rate . They did this to try to see if the test was an equal to another form of test that is less dangerous to the patients but still testing them to the max. There was a doctor present during whole thing but the students really ran the whole test by themselves.
I really enjoyed the classes that I did attend but I was disappointed with the amount of classes that were cancelled. I feel like this week gave me a really good insight into college life and a sports science course and I will definitely consider taking a course similar to one of these for when I am a trying to choose a course after my leaving cert
I was really looking forward to doing this course as I would learn what a college lecture involves and what's it's like to be student in DCU. I was also interested in the course that I would be participating in. I did learn something straight away and this was the distance between Greystones and DCU. I had to get up at 6:10 and travel with my dad to his job in Blackrock and then get the number 4 bus to DCU. I would arrived around 9:30 / 10 depending on traffic. Also very early on I discovered that the course was poorly organised as many of the classes including the very first class was cancelled as the class either had a test or were doing group preparation for a presentation. I unfortunately didn't really experience what was involved in a lot of the classes .
One of the classes that I did attend was pe and maths fortunately the lecture was on rolls and tumbles and not maths. It was a 2 hour lecture, one hour learning different types of rolls and tumbles in a classroom . The second half was a practical for the class. So I enjoyed a pe class run by the students to help them get experience of running a lesson.
I also sat in on another health and fitness class during the week it was a group presentation on how to involve someone with a disability or disorder like autism into a class effectively and making sure they enjoyed the class as much as anyone which was very interesting
Another intriguing lesson was adapted fitness. This was very interesting as the students presented a PowerPoint presentation on the effects of altitude and how to prepare to perform at altitude. Some of the more complicated lectures were anatomy I learnt that there are17 different parts and bones in the hip with all different names.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend some lectures due to cancellations. For example genetics, nutrition and physiology although these were not the only classes to have been cancelled
The last day we had one different type of class it was a max O2 test. This was a physical exam done by usually older people with diabetes or a heart problem. The students would hook the patient up to a treadmill and a heart machine. They then would make the patient walk as fast and as long as they could until they are unable to do anymore. They record the amount of oxygen that they took in and their heart rate . They did this to try to see if the test was an equal to another form of test that is less dangerous to the patients but still testing them to the max. There was a doctor present during whole thing but the students really ran the whole test by themselves.
I really enjoyed the classes that I did attend but I was disappointed with the amount of classes that were cancelled. I feel like this week gave me a really good insight into college life and a sports science course and I will definitely consider taking a course similar to one of these for when I am a trying to choose a course after my leaving cert