IT is not for Geeks
On Friday the 29th of September, two guest speakers who work for Dell came to talk to us about careers in IT. We assembled in the hall at 12 noon and were greeted by a woman named Marie and a man named Aidan. The talk was called “IT is Not For Geeks”. The aim of the talk was to educate us further on careers in the IT sector.
The two speakers presented a power point to the year group. They spoke about their own jobs in Dell and about the wide range of job types and skills that the field has to offer.
We were shown a video of what the Dell workplace is like, this surprised me. The atmosphere in the workplace was lively but chill with many “hang-out” spots including fuse ball and table tennis tables. This really surprised me as before the talk I would think of IT as computers and technology but the speakers really opened my eyes that the field of IT involves so much more than that.
We were also shown a video where different employees spoke about their jobs. I was very surprised to see the variety of different people and jobs in the same workplace. The employees spoke about the benefits of working with Dell such as the opportunity to travel and to work from home. Each employee expressed their love for their work and the comfort they feel in the workplace.
I felt that the presentation taught me that there is other jobs in big companies such as Dell that don’t involve much IT skill such as a sales manager. Also that you don’t necessarily have to be a ‘geek’ at technology to work in the technology industry. It changed my perspective on IT and was an eye-opener to the vast variety of careers and also qualifications that you can get a job within the technology sector. It was a very beneficial talk overall.
Simon Harris
On the 6th of November, well-being week began. To kick start well being week. We were lucky enough to have a talk and presentation by two unique and inspirational people. The first talk was by Simon Harris, the Minister of Health for Ireland. Mr Harris talked to us about his job as the Minister of Health and the problems that he deals with. Mr Harris said that due to the increase in obesity in Ireland, that a sugar tax would be informed in April and the food pyramid will change drastically allowing junk food only once a week. He said that if things did not improve dramatically that Ireland will become the fattest country in the world. This is not an achievement we want to make.
Ailson Canavan
After our inspirational and enlightening talk from Mr Simon Harris. Alison Canavan greeted us in the junior school hall. Alison is a highly-qualified meditation teacher. In Alison's teenage years and young adolescence years, she suffered from depression, extreme anxiety and an alcohol addiction. She spoke about her modelling career and how it ruined her self esteem. She discovered that she used material and physical things to allow her to feel happy when really it is taking care of what is within that results in complete happiness. Her story and route to recovery was very inspirational and she gave us simple mindfulness practices to complete on a daily basis that will improve our mental health and well-being.
Nutrional Therapist
On Tuesday, November 7th , a nutritional therapist came in to talk to us to discuss the foods in which we eat on a regular basis. She began by explaining that our 'feel-good' hormone is 90% stored in our gut. Which means when we eat healthy, more serotonin is released into our bodies. She displayed information on a few slides which discussed how certain foods can effect our physical health in the future. She also showed us the different foods and diets from different cultures and countries such as Japan and Asia. The information that she presented to us was very interesting and will be hugely beneficial to us in the future.
Aware Talk
On Thursday the 10th of November, a guest speaker, NAME from Aware gave us a presentation on various mental illnesses and how to identify and deal with them. Aware is an irish organisation that supports young people through depression and mental health illnesses. The aim of the presentation was to help us understand what mental health is, why it is important and how to care for it. NAME discussed the symptoms of anxiety, depression and bipolar disease, she also taught us how to apply cognitive behavioural therapy principles to everyday stressors. She gave each of us a small booklet which followed the presentation. She suggested ways for us to improve our mental health such as writing town three things we are grateful for everyday and guidelines such as the coping triangle. The presentation was very beneficial as it gave us better knowledge of how to identify the early stages of mental health illnesses and depression in yourself, and in others and the importance of seeking help.
Peter McVerry YSi
On Wednesday the 15th of November , a man named Francis came in to talk to us. Francis works in the communication sector of Peter McVerry. The Peter McVerry trust has been responding to the needs of people affected by homelessness since 1983. The foundation work all across Ireland to prevent and deal with homelessness. Francis said that the number of homelessness people in Ireland has doubled in the last year. He said this is a growing problem and needs more attention. He said that the aim of the Peter McVerry trust is to end homelessness. Francis spoke about the empty house problem in Ireland. Statistically, there is 85 empty houses for every one homeless person in Ireland. He hoped to enforce a ‘empty house’ tax to try and improve this problem. The talk was really inspiring and it was great to get some ideas for our YSI project.
Haley Murphy -YSI
Haley Murphy and John kindly came in to talk to us about Tiglin, the organisation in which they volunteer in. They spoke about what they do as part of Tiglin to help the homeless people in Dublin. We were all amazed at how hands on their work is. John had previously been homeless. He spoke about living on the streets from the young age of 19. He talked about his heroin addiction and how hard life on the street is. He is now fully recovered from his heroin addiction and has a colledge degree. He talked about how Tiglin helped him get back in his feet. We were all really moved by Johns story. Tiglin helps the homeless people in Dublin by giving them dignity bags. They hope to improve the sanitation and well being of the homeless people with the dignity bags.