Work Experience

Yesterday was my 5th week at work experience with the solicitors in Clane.  Yesterday was different because I went to Court.  The other weeks I have just been working at the computer in the office but this week he brought me to the District Court in Naas.  When I first went in the solicitor had to talk to his client and I wasn't allowed to listen so I had to go stand at the door of the court room and wait for it to be opened.  It was a bit awkward though because I was standing on my own and everyone was looking at me.  I waited patiently and was looking around at all the solicitors who were talking to their clients.  Some had the traditional white wigs on and most wear wearing the traditional black cloaks.  There were a few guards also who were standing with two guys in handcuffs.  When the doors opened I followed the crowd in, I didn't know where to sit so I sat at the back with the public.  After a few minutes when Arthur came in, he brought me up to the front to sit with him and the rest of the solicitors.  It was a bit embarrassing because some of them thought i was sitting in the wrong seat but I got comfortable after a while. After about ten minutes the judge came down and ordered silence in the court.  He called each case and both the solicitor and the client stood up and argued the case.  The judge made a decision which was mainly just another court date and then moved on to the next case.  It was kind of difficult to understand what they were saying and to follow what was going on.  It was a very long day as there was 70 cases to get through.  It was really funny though because a lot of phones kept going off during the court and the Judge was getting pretty angry.  He even said that the next person who interrupted the court would be put in prison.  Thank God nobody's phone went off after that.  Most of the cases were about tax and traffic issues but there were a few about drugs and burglaries which were interesting.  It didn't finish until ten past 2 and I was home in Clane at half 2.  The solicitor I am doing my work experience with had to go back and argue his next case which was a family law matter so I wasn't allowed to listen to it anyway.  It was a very long day but I enjoyed it as it was something different than just working in the office.  

Walk In My Shoes

Last Friday was Mental Health awareness day! We all got to wear our own shoes to raise awareness for this issue.  Some people really made an effort and wore crazy shoes.  Some wore slippers and some wore wellie boots.  Some people also wore a red button to raise awareness which I believe was very effective.  It was great to see all the students participating in something important like this.  We all had to pay 2 Euro and this money was donated to mental health.  Mental health is a very important issue especially among teenagers in this society.  A lot of awareness was raised because of this day, which is great to see.

                                                                                                      

Last Thursday we had our annual fun-walk.  We normally have it on a Friday but the weather was supposed to be very bad on Friday so it was changed to Thursday instead.  Fortunately Thursday was a very sunny day.  We had been practicing a dance for weeks that we would perform in front of the judges.  Everyone got a bit stressed out making the dance and organising everything but it was worth it in the end because we won out of the other TY classes.  At the start of our dance all the bad people came out in white masks and scared the crowd.  Then all the good people came out and took off our masks and the bin bags we were wearing as if to say they made us good.  Then we all did a dance to the jitterbug song.  It was really fun and a good laugh.  We watched all the classes perform from first year to sixth year.  Some dances were very good and others not so much.  After we all performed our dances, we went on a friendship walk around Celbridge.  It was very short as we did not have a lot of time. Overall it was a fun-day and I look forward to next year.