English - #JC2017 - Luke Casserly
Luke Casserly - St. Mel's CollegeMy first State Exam ever!! I've been pretty nervous about the English exam since the mock, as it was a massive disaster! I left four whole questions unanswered, while my last answer was not much more than a few illegible scribbles.However, I feel very happy with how the exam went today! I managed to get all questions completed and this time around, my frantic scribbles were a tiny bit readable! I flew through the first two questions on the documentary and poster. They were a nice easy way to start. After that, I was nervous about time so went through the questions very fast - So fast I'm struggling to think what questions actually came up. I was happy to see the nice poetry question pop up. I used Lovers on Aran which I had just studied the night before so I was delighted. I spent a good bit of time doing a good dialogue on the last question, which asked you to write about a confrontation between an adult and a teenager.I feel this went a lot better than the mock and am looking forward to seeing the result!
Home Ec - #LC2017 - Michelle Chiperi Aivazova
Coláiste Einde - Galway.When I opened the paper, I panicked when I saw cheese processing. I didn't do an ounce of study in this, and I came to the conclusion that I didn't even study cheese, even though it's my favourite food :(Other then the cheese mishap, the exam went amazing!I flew through it, writing more than enough. I genuinely thought I'd be absolutely bummed for this subject, but now I think it'll be one of the best!I left the exam fifteen minutes early because I had looked through everything and I don't think there was anything else I could have done. I felt embarrassed walking in front of everyone else doing the exam, but they honestly didn't even look up to see me go.I hope they found it okay in the end!I'm not looking forward to English Paper II, but all I can do now is hope some last minute revision can help. 
#issu17 election results
Your ISSU NSE 2017/18 is as follows:President - Ben SmithDeputy President - Joe MeeSecretary - Chloe GriffinEducation - Luke CasserlyWelfare & Equality - Maeve RichardsonSports & Rec - Dylan NolanOifigeach na Gaeilge - Sarah ConnollyCampaigns & Communications - Glen KielyStudent Council Support - Oisin O’KeeffeInternational Art O'MahonyHonorary President - Jane Hayes Nally
Women in Leadership- If She Can Do It, So Can I.
Sarah Harte is our ISSU Regional Officer for the West of Ireland.She was recently elected at our Regional Council in Galway this year. Here, Sarah shares her thoughts on women in leadership.As today is International Women’s Day, it is the perfect time to celebrate and highlight the importance of role models to young women and girls. The power of role models often goes unrecognised but they can have an immeasurable effect on the lives of young people, particularly girls. It is important to be able to see someone who you can identify with in a position to know that you can make it there.Historically, the vast majority of leaders in this country have been men. This often meant that women and their achievements were not acknowledged or written about leading to a lack of women that girls could look up to. That is not the case anymore as more and more women rise to the top of their fields. The playing field is becoming more equal but there is still hurdles facing many women. For example, just 22% of all TD’s at present are women and this is a record high. There are always certain challenges facing people who aim for power but men and women tend to face different attitudes and challenges. Having a lack of self-confidence can hold you back as it is the fundamental basis of any good leader. If you do not have faith in your own ability it becomes difficult to expect others to. This is something that is learned from early on in life. Putting yourself forward to head up a project in school may reflect into putting yourself forward for election in the future. This is something that some of my friends struggle with, some of the most intelligent girls I know underestimate themselves and therefore hold themselves back. As children, we emulate what we see in others and this does not end as we age. If you see self-confidence you will learn to mirror it. We mimic these behaviours without ever realising it from the people we watch. That is why it is important that there are women we can look up to. Another behaviour that we learn is the different ways in which we talk about ambitious men and women. Often, men are commended for taking the leap and putting themselves out there, while women are penalized. There are certain words and phrases that are reserved for strongly opinionated or outspoken women and I have been called a few of these in my time.Personally, I have always been drawn to strong women as people that inspire and motivate me. Films, TV shows and books with women at the helm have interested me since I was a child and in the last few months I have read books by and about Mary Robinson, Malala Yousafzai and Hillary Clinton. I admire these women greatly for their resilience, perseverance and sheer mental strength despite different adversaries. One thing that the above-named women have in common is that they all have varying levels of a high profile, political or otherwise. This is not the case with all role models or even most of them. They do not have to be the first female President of Ireland or the first woman with a real shot at winning the White House. They can be a local politician, a teacher or a Foróige leader. Someone who takes an interest in your future, who wants to see you get on well because maybe someone did the same for them. Their words of advice are the ones that you remember and they are the people you don’t forget.That is why it is just as important to have role models as it is to be one. I know that my 14-year-old sister learns more from me than she’ll ever admit. I feel like I owe it to her to set as good an example as I can. I know that she is watching me. I have had so many people look out for me and I know that they are there for me if I need them and that is something I will always be grateful for.
Meet The Officers! 2016-2017
http://issu.ie/2016/11/meet-our-officers-jane-hayes-nally-president/
http://issu.ie/2016/11/meet-our-officers-rob-odonnell-honorary-president/
http://issu.ie/2016/11/meet-our-officers-carthach-o-faolain-deputy-president/
http://issu.ie/2017/02/meet-our-officers-ellen-orourke/
http://issu.ie/2017/02/meet-our-officers-glen-kiely/
http://issu.ie/2017/02/meet-our-officers-kate-lehane/
http://issu.ie/2017/02/meet-our-officers-chloe-griffin/
http://issu.ie/2017/02/meet-our-officers-joe-mee/
http://issu.ie/2017/02/meet-our-officers-philip-crowe/
Meet Our Officers: Philip Crowe
Hi. My name is Philip. I'm a transition year student at the Abbey school in Tipperary town. As Secretary of the NSE (National Student Executive) it is my job to take the minutes of every meeting and to make it available to the rest of the NSE and to organise NSE meetings once one has been called for. Also, I help to organise Annual Assembly and if any other officers need support with an event they are running I assist them in organising it. I ran for the position because I believe it is vital that student voice is heard and that students should be involved in the decision-making process on issues that will affect us more than anyone else. Also, because I'm in TY, I can devote more time to ISSU than I would be able to in other years. I started as Secretary in December but I still plan to do the best I can as Secretary in the upcoming months. Hopefully I'll see you all at Annual Assembly.