TY Times

MERCY COLLEGE Chapel Hill, Sligo, Ireland

Awards 1. Most likely to become an actress Laura Nicholson 2. Funniest laugh Orlaith McKenna 3. Best Chocolate Cake Maker Megan Gethin 4. Best storyteller Kirsty Mooney 5. Most smiley student Aoife Somers 6. Most likely to take over the world Orla Nicholson 7. Be a professional athlete Siubhean Crowne

8. Favourite teacher Ms. Mulligan 9. Most likely to be on tv Chloe Gethins 10. Most likely to become famous Christina Prestel 11. Most likely to audition for x factor Keelie Dunbar 12. Neatest and cleanest Lauren McNiffe 13. Most like to become a model Sarah McGourty

14. Nicest smile Maria Greene 15. Nicest hair Danielle Flynn 16. Funniest person Caileigh Gaffney 17. Most polite student Tina Culkin 18. Loudest voice in the corridor Jade Farrell 19. Overall Mercy Girl of the Year Kayleigh McNiffe

The Big Idea!

On the 3rd and 4th of October, TY took part in ‘The Big Idea’ workshop, and to say the least, I think we all had great craic!

Soo..What’s the Big Idea you ask?

The Big Idea is an advertising workshop where we learnt about advertising, and learnt how different advertisements and videos were pulled off. Some of the videos and adverts we watched were really great and it was usually the most simple ads and ideas that caught our attention and made us want to keep watching.

We were then given the task of creating an ad for Ballygowan that we thought might be suitable for the television. We had to meet the brief of aiming this ad at young people so as to entice young people to drink Ballygowan. We were all given story boards to try and bring our story to life by drawing each scene out on the story board. A lot of the ads had to do with sport, and a lot of them featured our very own Niall Horan (of course!).

On the second day we got to add music and voice overs to our ads which was brilliant fun! Each group had to present their ad to everyone in the year and explain what their ad was about. We all had to think of a logo and a slogan for our ad to sponsor.

I thought ‘The Big Idea’ was pretty great and I hope all future TY’s get to experience it!

See-Food Diet

Kiss Magazine Work Experience Megan and I went on work experience in Kiss HQ in Dublin outside the allocated dates. We were extremely excited for our week in Dublin. On Monday we were introduced to the receptionist, Megan Keenan, she was going to look after us for the week and we also got a tour of Kiss HQ. We were given a sheet and a computer to make a calendar for the upcoming months for the magazine. We had to include

celebrities’ birthdays, concerts and fun facts. On Wednesday we were brought into town with Corina, the stylist, to collect bags of clothes from shops. When we got back to the office we had to put masking tape on the shoes so when worn the next day they would not be damaged and the shops could sell them on again. The photo shoot was on Thursday it was beside the Grand canal. We had to constantly bring the model into the hotel to

change and warm up. The photographs would be in the February issue of Stellar so the photographer had to make it look like the pictures were taken in springtime. It was amazing to see behind the scenes of a photo shoot. The next day we had to take all the clothes back to the shops. We had an enjoyable week shopping and having fun. It was an amazing experience to see behind the scenes of our favourite magazine.

Body Image RSA Day On the morning of September the 12th, before we received our Junior Certificate results, our year took part in a RSA Roadshow. This took place in St. Stephens Street carpark. The Road Safety Authority Roadshow taught us about the importance of wearing a seatbelt whilst in a car. They had a 'Rollover Car Stimulator' along with a motorbike teaching us the importance of staying within the speed limit. The Roll-Over Car stimulator was a real car which turned over a full 30 degrees.

We felt the force of gravity when the car was upside down and realised the danger if we weren't wearing any seatbelt at all.

Due to the media, body image has become a huge part of our lives. Girls feel pressured into looking good all of the time.

They strive to be perfect and just like how so many celebrities are portrayed in the media. This is unrealistic as all images in the media are edited by Photoshop. They make the models and celebrities look taller, thinner they make their skin look better. I find this bad, as companies are portraying a false image of their product when they edited the models image, as they don’t find them “good enough”. This image of perfection is a false image.

This image is impossible to achieve.

In a recent survey of 8 to 9 year olds in Cork City most are not happy with their bodies, they want to be thinner.

Nowadays weight levels affect people of all ages, race and religion.

It is one thing that everybody in the whole world has thought about, one thing we all have in common. But when we hear the word ‘obesity’ what do we think? Well, according to the World Health Organisation obesity is simply excessive fat that can impair health.

The shocking thing is they are all of a normal size. It was also found that girls want boys to be thinner and vice versa. These findings are shocking as we would assume children at such a young age have no interest in the perfect body image.

It does not help that most young girls idols are those who are pictured in a magazine regularly. These celebrities are famous for being famous. They do not help others and they don’t change things for the better. A survey has shown for girls under the age of 12 the top role model chosen was Rihanna. Rihanna has been sexualised by the media, she has also openly smoked cannabis, is this the best person our young people should be looking up to? She is a bad role model for girls under 12.

Most people would rather see Katie Taylor as these girls role model because she has worked extremely hard to reach her goals. She has sacrificed many things but it has worked to her benefit.

Many girls cannot leave the house without wearing makeup. It is also the same with older women, it makes them feel confident. But should we not be confident in our skin with out adding anything to it? Some girls are embarrassed to go without makeup, they don’t want people to see their imperfections. They don’t wish to be seen not looking “perfect.” Boys don’t have a huge interest in what they look like, they burp and fart in public. Girls should be more confident with their bodies and themselves. They have to live with it for the rest of their lives so they should accept the way they are.

asleep! Later on in the evening, after our dinner of chicken curry and rice, we wrote letters entitled “The Real me” or “Dear God”. That night we all watched a film together before heading to bed in our dorm room.

The next morning we took part in

Mass Preparation, which involved singing hymns and saying prayers, and then attended mass with Father Seamus in the monastery. We all really enjoyed ourselves, and it helped take our minds off the results coming the following day.

Esker Retreat 2012 On the 11th of September we headed off to Esker in Athenry, Galway for an overnight retreat. Esker is situated outside Athenry village, with a monastery, dorm rooms, dining room and forest on site. We were introduced to the Esker School Retreat team, and played icebreakers and group activities with them. We also took part in meditation, which we found relaxing, some people even fell

We all started off the same, so where did things begin to go so drastically wrong that two thirds of Ireland’s whole population are overweight or obese? Everybody asks the same question and all they want is one straight answer. My answer is: those two words that people seem so obsessed with in today’s world. They are money and selfishness. We all deny it, but deep down we know it’s true. I personally find it disgraceful that more people die from eating too much rather than starvation. What does this tell us the world has come to?

We have simply become so greedy that we overload our stomachs with calories upon calories of unnecessary and unhealthy junk. But yet, the furthest we walk to burn off these excess calories is usually only from the fridge to the couch.

We all know too well how easy it is to say ‘I’m going to start to cut out all fatty foods from tomorrow on’, but of course that is easy to say whilst we are a tucking into a nice bag of greasy, salty chips. The amount of times we have postponed our new resolutions to ‘tomorrow’ is uncountable, we all know deep down there is a fat chance of us ever getting around to implementing these changes.

I’m no health genius myself, but I do know a bit of whatever I fancy will never do me any harm. Moderation is key. If you match your time spent exercising with your daily calorie intake you can’t go wrong. So, next time you open a bar or drink a fizzy drink just think, is it worth a walk or jog, and if not, simply withdraw yourself and don’t eat it. If you have it eaten without even realising, just keep away from the sweet aisle in the supermarket, and instead stick to a well-balanced and varied diet.

As Dr Larry Mc Cleary, the author of the award winning book ‘Feed your brain, Loose your belly’ tells us ‘ about 80% of products on supermarket shelves didn’t exist 100 years ago’. I begin to wonder is this a good or bad thing?

Nowadays convenience and money seems to influence people’s decisions making the most, whatever the

product is. But good healthy nutritious foods aren’t usually as cheap as bulk made foods that are fortified with additives that make the meals so much more unhealthy. But, as people are busy with their lives, the labels with the long list of E numbers don’t even get glanced at. Meals get popped in the microwaves and are gobbled up within a few minutes.

Our nation has come to a new low.

We have recently become so lazy that we drive from one window of a building to another without even the movement of a single joint, to order our fast food. This doesn’t even require moving from our sitting position in the car. Are we slowly going crazy?

As levels of obesity rise I begin to wonder how bad can things actually go? From Barnardo’s studies we learn one in four 9 year old children in Ireland are obese. In ten years’ time will this have doubled or tripled? Or will the population be a lot lower because of lower life expectancies associated with obesity? All you can do is make sure your life isn’t being shortened because of your eating habits.

So, we blame money and convenience on our unhealthy ways.

In a recession we all have to save our money, but, are we really saving money by buying unhealthy cheap food? I can assure you the answer is no. It is said obese women account for an extra 3,613 euro a year on health costs only. We all continue to blame the government for reducing wages and grants and increasing taxes, but yet, we continue to overeat and as a result our health costs rise.

We can all make a difference.

Another excuse commonly used is ‘I don’t have time to cook anything, I’ll just get a takeaway’. But, by getting all these takeaways, we are reducing our life expectancy age which is definitely reducing time. So is it worth it? Medical complications such as heart failure, diabetes, cholesterol, stroke and high blood pressure are all majorly related to obesity. All of these interfere greatly with one’s daily life. So, ask yourself are you digging your grave with your knife and fork?

Bridge 21 On the 26th and 27th of November, Ty’s took part in Bridge 21. We travelled to Dublin and made our way to Trinity College to meet the Bridge 21 team. Bridge 21 is a course students take to try and let their creative side out by playing different games and working in teams to make an advertisement.

Each team had a different product that was based on something we wanted in the future, and we had to make an

advertisement and poster out of it. We were allowed to go around the city to film the advertisement, and it was really fun! Some of the products included chocolate to make you grow taller called ‘Chocotall’, a bracelet that doubled as a teleporter and a wardrobe with a never ending supply of clothes.

It was a really good day, and to top it all off we got to go shopping in the city afterwards!

Title here Hi, wir sind Christina und Verena aus Deutschland. Wir kommen aus Kempten einer kleinen Stadt in Bayern, der Partnerstadt von Sligo. Wir sind hier in Irland fuer einen 2-bzw. 3-monatigen Auslandsaufenthalt. Wir haben uns fuer Irland als Ziel entschieden, da wir viele schoene Sachen von Freunden und Verwandten gehoert haben, die schon vor uns hier in Sligo waren.

Am Anfang war es eine ziemliche Umstellung fuer uns. Das Erste, was konplett anders ist, ist der Linksverkehr, in Deutschland fahren wir naemlich rechts. Auch die Schule ist anders, als wire s von Deutschland gewohnt sind. Die Schule, suf die wir gehen, dass Allgaeu-Gymnasium Kempten, ist mir ueber 1000 Schuelern um eigiges griesser als das Mercy College. Ausserdem traegt man in Deutschland keine Schuluniform und wir sind eine gemischte Schule, das heist in underer Klasse sund Maedchen und Jungen. Das Essen ist auch nicht das selbe wie bei uns, aber es ist locker1 Tritz aller Unterschiede gefaellt e suns hier in Irland richtig gut! Alle Leute, Lehrer, Schueler wie auch unsere Gastfamilien sind wirklich nett und kuemmern sich sehr gut um uns.

Ganz Besonders gegaellt uns bieden der Strand, da wir in Deutschland nicht in der Naehe vom Meer wohnen. Sligo ist eine sehr schoene Statd und es macht uns sehr viel Spass durch die vielen kneinen Geschaefte zu bummeln. Dieser Aufenthalt, und auch das Transition year, das es in Deutschland nicht gibt, sind sehr spannende und tolle Erfahrungen fuer uns.

Wir moechten uns hiermit nochmal bei allen bedanken, die uns diesen schoenen Aufenthalt in Sligo ermoeglicht haben!

Thank you! Christina Prestel & Verena Wopperer