1: Ballymaloe For my first work experience of TY myself and me friend Abbie went to Ballymaloe Cookery School in Co, Cork. We had a great time learning how to make various things from cookies to soups. We arrived at our lovely B&B on Sunday the 8th of October. We settled in very quickly because of how lovely the family were. On arrival at Ballymaloe at 10 a.m. on the Monday, We first went on a tour of the gardens. Then we went to the dairy shed and had the honour of making butter as not many people get to do this. Everyday we had delicious lunches that the students had prepared for us. On the Tuesday we made granola and chocolate chip cookies which were both sold in the market.
On Wednesday we made chilli and tomato jam, gingerbread and sour cherry cookies. We then went to a demonstration where we learnt to make burgers with Rachel Allen. On the Thursday Abbie and I spent all morning cooking mushroom a la créme and pepertonta. I then made spinach and rosemary soup which was later sold in the shop.On our final day we made lemon cakes and coffee cakes. We also prepared everything for the market on Saturday. Our Mothers then joined us for a delicious lunch. We then said our goodbyes and hit the road. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ballymaloe. I learned so many skills and met so many lovely people. I'm so thankful I got to experience it all with Abbie. I honestly couldn't have chosen anyone better to go with!
2: ST VINCENTS For my second work experience placement I went to St Vincents Private Hospital. Here I learnt about loads of the different medical procedures the nurses and doctors perform in the hospital. I spent everyday in a different section of the hospital so it really gave me an insight into what everything really entails. On Monday the 4th of December I was in the phlebotomy and daycare sections of the hospital. In the phlebotomy I watched people getting their bloods done and learned how to find their veins, send their bloods to the lab and how to send them in order of importance. Then I went to the daycare section where i helped the nurses sort out all the forms for the patients. On the Tuesday I went to the radiography section where I saw multiple procedures happen including someone get a port put beside their heart and someone get their feeding tubes sterilised. I also learned all about radiographers jobs and how important they are. On Wednesday I was in the catering section of the hospital here I helped prepare all the fruit for the canteen, the staff christmas lunch and all the patients scrambled eggs. On Thursday which was my last day I was in the Cath Lab and for me this was my favourite section in the hospital because I actually got to be in the room when the surgerys and procedures were being done. I got to watch a doctor insert a pacemaker into a mans chest and watch someone with an irregular heartbeat get their treatment. I also saw many patients get a heart check which I found very interesting because I sat with the radiographer and we looked at the x-rays of their heart and tried to find a reason why their heart was giving them trouble. Overall I really enjoyed my experience in St Vincents hospital, I learnt so much and I met loads of lovely people.
3: WorldBOX On the 26th to 28th of February I did work experience in WorldBOX in Dublin City. WorldBOX is an international shipping company that delivers over 500 deliveries and packages a week. So for the two days I was at WorldBOX myself and my friend Lucia did media. So basically we came up with unique posts for worldBOX’s Facebook and twitter pages for everyday of March and April. After this we wrote three blog posts that were posted onto the WorldBOX blog page. I loved this as I felt I was really working and that I was trusted to actually organise all their social media for the two months . I think myself and Lucia worked very well together. At the end of the two days we presented all the work we had done to our boss Bernie, she loved our posts and actually found them all hilarious, in Bernies words ‘Everybody will be wondering since when has WorldBOX got a personalty?’ I was really disappointed that the rest of the week was cancelled due to the snow, but hopefully we can make up for it in the future!
COMMUNITY SERVICE St vincent charity shop greystones: For my community service I volunteered in St Vincent de Paul charity shop in Greystones from Monday the 26th of March till the 29th of March. I got the Friday off as it was Good Friday. My job was to organise everything for sale in the shop. I had to colour co-ordinate all the clothes, make sure the clothes were hanging in the correct places and in general keep everything looking nice. I really enjoyed these four days as I met lovely people and got an understanding of what is like to work in retail