March Memories: A Month of Milestones and Celebrations

An Unforgettable Month of Events and Achievements

This month has flown by! Ever since coming back from the midterm break, it’s been a whirlwind of exciting events. March has always been one of my favourite months because of everything it brings - competitions, celebrations, and cultural experiences.

Drama Festival Success 🎭

The first big event after midterm was my school’s drama festival. I’ve been taking drama classes since arriving in Ireland for Transition Year. What started as a way to try something new quickly became a passion!

The competition took place over a weekend. On Saturday, I competed in the Classical Solo category, performing an extract from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, where I played Mabel, a character constantly being proposed to by Tommy. To my surprise, I won second place and advanced to the final round on Sunday!

Sunday was even more exciting as I competed in both the Shakespeare competition and the finals. I didn’t win, but placing for the first time after three years of competing felt like a huge achievement.

Turning 18: A Special Celebration 🎂

Last week, I reached a big milestone - I turned 18! To prepare for the occasion, I visited a Japanese hairdresser in town for the first time since leaving Japan last summer - seven months ago! We had a great chat about life in Ireland as a Japanese person. He mentioned how easy it is to travel around Europe from here and how friendly Irish people are, which I completely agree with.

To celebrate, I went out for dinner with seven friends. Since my actual birthday fell on a school day, we decided to celebrate early at Sophie’s Restaurant and Bar, which has an incredible city view. It was a lovely night!

On my birthday, I received so many thoughtful gifts - flowers from my parents, Jellycat stuffed animals from my favourite first years, and some beautiful jewellery. One of the most special gifts was a Claddagh ring from my friend Madeleine. The Claddagh ring (fáinne Chladaigh in Irish) is a traditional Irish ring symbolising love, loyalty, and friendship. The heart represents love, the crown represents loyalty, and the hands represent friendship. I also found it fascinating that the way you wear it can indicate your relationship status!

Experiencing St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland ☘️

Right now, I’m enjoying my break for St. Patrick’s Day! It has been incredible experiencing Irish culture and heritage firsthand. My school gave us five days off, so I spent time with friends and worked on the final parts of my computer science project before the deadline.

I didn’t attend the parade in person, but I watched a livestream and even saw my friend taking part! The festive atmosphere in town leading up to the big day was amazing.

Before St. Patrick’s weekend, my school also organised International Women’s Day events to celebrate inspiring women throughout history. Since we’re an all-girls school, it was really empowering to reflect on the impact women have made worldwide. That same week, we also had activities promoting the Irish language, which I found fascinating since I knew very little about Irish culture before moving here. At our special assembly, students performed Irish music, showcased Irish dancing, and even sang Riptide in Irish!

Mocks, Graduation, and Looking Ahead 🎓

With all these events happening, I’ve also been keeping my studies in mind. I’ve started receiving my mock exam results back. While I’m not entirely happy with them, I remind myself that they’re just the mocks, and I have time to improve before the Leaving Certificate.

It’s surreal that we’re already in the second half of the school year. The Leaving Cert is approaching fast, but along with the nerves, there’s excitement - especially for graduation. The 6th-year students have started picking their graduation dresses and finalising the song we’ll sing together for the last time. It’s strange to think that in a few months, I’ll be leaving this school behind, so I’m making the most of every moment.

March has been one of the most eventful - and one of my favourite - months so far!