Back To School - Day 2

A pretty good day at school today. It began with school mass, held in St. John's Church. This was a chance to get off the school campus for a while. I had good craic with the 1st year lads on the walk down, although I had my singular most depressing moment of the whole back to school experience. One of the lads asked me what year I left Waterpark, and when I told him 1996, he fell around the place laughing and told me that was the year he was born in.

After mass, I spent some time with the careers guidance counsellor, Mr. O'Reilly. We had a chat about all the options available to young people nowadays. I was expecting him to tell me I should be an accountant (I think I was born to be an accountant), but he said that radio was a good career as it was obvious that I loved it, and everyone should strive to find a career they love.

Next up was my geography test based on what I had learned in class yesterday. Miss Walsh gave me the test, which I thought was really easy. However, I hadn't counted on Miss Walsh being such a tough marker, so I didn't get the 100% I was expecting. Instead I got a B which I suppose is decent enough. There is a pic of my test paper above.

Next up was the dreaded P.E. I was told to report to Mr. Byrne at 11.48, but I hadn't brought any P.E. gear so I knew I had to think of some way out of it. I asked some of the lads for good excuses, and unfortunately, the best I could come up with was that I was "allergic to grass". I forged a note (which is pictured above), but it didn't go down too well with Mr. Byrne. You can hear his reaction on tomorrow's Beat Breakfast.

After that, I sat in on the Rugby Development Committee meeting to find out about the work that they do, I explored the catering section, and I had a final review with the Principal, Mr Beecher.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Waterpark. Far from being the terrifying place I thought it would be, it was a pleasure to sit in and work with some of the students. They are a great bunch of lads, and were friendly, helpful and respectful. I have a new found respect for the teachers aswell. Whilst I have been critical of teachers in the past for the wonderful holidays they have, these guys do a tough job and when you see all the extra activities they are involved in outside teaching hours, you understand that they really are trying to get the best out of the young men that attend Waterpark.

Finally, a huge thanks to Mr Beecher and Mr Carberry for their hospitality and hard work. Thanks to Miss Walsh for letting me play an active role in her Geography class, to Florian for the loan of the book, and to Mr. Keegan for making it clear to the South East that I could be an X Factor winner if I just applied myself!

Back in studio with all the reports tomorrow at 6.50am.

N