My first real post to my Blog comes at an unusual time for me. It was a strange year, a great year, but a strange one all the same.

I have mixed feelings about my presidency of the Outdoor Pursuits Club. It had many, many highs and once again received the Club of the Year award. However one does not have to look to deep to discover that not everything went according to plan. There are many areas that with hindsight I would have approached them differently. Either way, it was an amazing learning curve for me as I dealt with the running of such a massive club that attracts a wide variety of people and personalities.

One thing I definitely have to thank the OPC for is the people I have met from being involved. True friends for life and friends from all over the world. This past semester I met a girl from France, Celine. Friendship blossomed and soon turned to love. We had an amazing semester together, hanging out and having fun. Now she leaves. Friday morning will see us go for our last drive - Dublin Airport - as she returns to France to sell lettuce for the summer (!) and complete her studies. I will be sad to see her go and hopefully will be travelling across St Georges Channel over the summer to see her.

However I dont have long to be distracted by my Darling leaving, as on Wednesday I begin my co-operative education or internship with Shannon Engine Support. The Internship will take Eight months, and hopefully it will be a time when I realise I have made the correct career path, as the past college year has had me in doubts.

Second year was unusual. First semester was horrid. I took some difficult modules and the outcome wasnt good. 1 fail. Aerodynamics, possibly the worst taught module in existence, but Im not about to make too many excuses. I cant really complain though, perhaps I didnt do enough or was distracted by other things. Maybe I took the foot off the gas when I got the interview for my internship. Looking back I regret not working harder, I regret skipping those Monday morning lectures. But alas, here I am now, back in August.

I really felt like I had made the wrong decision when choosing engineering.

In contrast, second semester has perhaps been the best semester of the course thus far. A fair workload of projects and some interesting modules closely related to the aviation industry has re-ignited the spark I had for this course when I saw the picture of a guy inspecting a jet engine on the prospectus. Guest speakers from various sectors of the industry provided a valuable insight into the industry and a reassurance about what I was letting myself in for. A business like module, air transportation, has possibly shaped my career path in the industry. Time will tell. The exams went super and for once I look forward to receiving my results!