As a student who has just done the Junior Cert, I had the option to do Transition Year (TY ) or skip to fifth year. I chose to do TY. The reason I did this was to take a break from the academic year, the constant routine of homework, exams and stress. TY is going to give me a chance to take a break from this. This year is going to open up a lot of new experiences for me as I get to try new things and figure out what I like, and maybe guide me towards my future.
One thing that I have already done this year is to take part in my school's TY mentor programme for incoming first years. Doing this, I had to help the new students find their way around, help open their lockers, play games and introduce them to their new school. I enjoyed this job so much, as I remember when I was in first year and was so nervous and scared.
A big part of TY is the trips, there are day trips, overnight trips and European trips. In January, I will be going to Italy skiing with some of the people in my year. We have already done an overnight stay in Petersburg, Clonbur, where we went canoeing and had a campfire, which helped our year group to connect and try new things together.
One big part of TY is the musical, so this year in my school we are doing Shrek. I am very excited about this as I really want to take part in this.
Another thing we must do this year is work experience, you pick three places and you do one day a week for ten weeks. This gives me the opportunity to maybe figure out what I like in the work world.
In TY, you get to try out all the Leaving Cert subjects. This is one of the main reasons I chose to do TY, as it will give me more of an idea of the subjects I would like to pick.
In the last three years of being in secondary school, I have had every class with the same people. This year I have different classes with different people, which gives me the chance to talk to new people and make new friends.
This year is a great time to try new sports and see what I like, as I have the spare time in the evenings due to having no homework.
I would recommend TY to any third-year student, only if you are willing to try new things and put yourself out there.
