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Friday 25 July 2014

Interview with Catrina Carrigan, DCU, CoderDojo



How did you hear about CoderDojo? What encouraged you to get involved?

I heard about CoderDojo from my brother. After he came home from his first session and showed me what he did, I wanted to try, too.

What was the first Dojo like compared to dojo’s now?
When I first joined CoderDojo in DCU it was a lot smaller than it is now. There was one three hour session every Saturday. Now there are four sessions.

What do you do in CoderDojo?
I help out at CoderDojo girls or I’ll go through basic HTML with them, fix their code when things don't work. In the afternoon I go to the advanced session to learn things myself.

How do you encourage people to get involved? 
When new people join, I try to show them things that are really simple but impressive so that they can see that it isn't really hard. I think that when people see that they can actually do it, it helps their confidence and they're more likely to want to keep going to sessions and work on their own projects.

What do your friends think of your coding skills?
A lot of my friends don't understand it and assume I spend my time hacking Facebook.

Do you think a CoderDojo Girls class is necessary?
I think it helps girls to have a girls only class. Being the only girl in a room full of boys and not understanding what’s happening can be scary. You assume that everyone else knows what they're doing. If you see other girls doing it, it feels like you can do it too.

Why is CoderDojo important?
Do you think it will have an impact on the future of IT? If you don't have parents who work in the IT industry, it's not something you really get to hear about. I think a lot of people are like I was, and don't realise how much programming can be used in almost everything. Having mentors and speakers come in and talk about how they use programming helps show the huge variety of jobs available with the skills we're learning in CoderDojo. I'm sure that this will help more people develop an interest in programming and take the jobs that can't be filled.

What are your interests outside of CoderDojo?
Outside of CoderDojo, I like music. I've been playing violin for 10 years.

Has CoderDojo influenced your thoughts about college? 
CoderDojo has definitely influenced my thoughts about college. I always knew I wanted to go to college but I only had vague ideas of what I might like to do and what I definitely didn't want to do. CoderDojo has made me look into an area I wouldn't have really considered before.

If you could change ONE thing about CoderDojo – what would that be?
I'd probably have to say the age limit because I'll be too old to be a CoderDojo member soon.

Does your school support STEM / IT subjects?
Are you in a girls only or mixed school? I go to Scoil Chaitríona, a mixed school. I think my school is quite good at supporting STEM as well as they can. They offer all three science subjects for the leaving cert every year even if there isn’t a huge demand. In my chemistry class, there are only has eight students. We did a tiny bit of computers in Transition Year, which probably would have been more impressive to me if I hadn't already started CoderDojo at that stage. I think they do a good job of supporting STEM and IT subjects in a very exam focused curriculum.

Are they actively encouraging students to be more involved in STEM subjects?
Our school tries to arrange talks and events for every year during science week and when suitable talks are on they arrange for us to go. So I think they do.

What do they teach you in your IT class? What are the pros and cons of your school IT class? 
We don't have IT classes in my school. In Transition Year, we used Weebly to make websites, using drag and drop and we did a bit of scratch. I'm glad that we had these classes but using a drag and drop program doesn’t give me a realistic experience of coding to people.

Catrina Carrigan 
DCU
CoderDojo Mentor

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Tuesday 8 July 2014

Wicklow 200



With less than 90 days to go to the start of our Paris2Nice odyssey, things are getting serious.

For years I played football, training twice a week, playing once at the weekend. It consumed me. I lived for the feeling of absolute tiredness after another 90 minute battle, sometimes made easier by the sweet smell of success. Even in defeat, the physical exhaustion that came with the games was something I enjoyed; I knew I had been in a battle. I eventually gave up competitive football but that desire to be challenged never left. 

Thank God for the “Wicklow 200”. My grasp of distance is poor to say the least so I gladly signed up for 200km through the hills of Wicklow. I shrugged aside the idea that after three months intermittent training I might not be ready for 200km and signed up. Life is for living after all. 

I knew that it would take in excess of eight hours, that there would be ferocious hills and that 200km was a long way, but I concentrated on the fact I had not seen a disclaimer discouraging me from taking on the challenge. If someone else can do it, why can’t I? In hindsight, I was erring more on the side of stupidity than bravery.

Arlene (another member of the Hays Paris2Nice team) and I set off to take on the two Wicklow courses. Arlene was ready to conquer the “Wicklow 100” and I was ready to keep cycling till the pedals stopped turning, hopefully 200km after the start line.

The first couple of kilometres were manageable, a nice gradient accompanied by plenty of lush scenery. Suddenly things changed. The heavens opened and we were pelted with rain. It smashed against our helmets as visibility became less and less. Within seconds I was drenched and could see only yards in front of me. This was going to be a long day.

I had underestimated the mental side of this cycle. I was pretty sure I could physically continue for 200km but looking back I realise I had not thought about what ten hours on a bike would do to my mind. The urge to get off and quit grew and grew with every passing kilometre. At first it was easy to dismiss as I smiled to myself thinking I had not come far enough to even think about quitting. But with 25km left all I could think about was giving up. My most frequent thought was “what am I doing?” I didn’t have an answer so I just kept on pushing the thought away.

I couldn’t give up, not because of my desire to finish what I had started, or because I would be letting my sponsors down or even because of the Barretstown children. The main reason I kept going was because we were in the middle of nowhere and it was the only way home.

Getting off the bike after 200km of torture was an amazing feeling. I was exhausted. The little things became a chore, sitting down, standing up, walking; I had become an old man in the space of 10 hours. I think it was worth it though.

My standout memory from the Wicklow 200 is two awful climbs, one pretty much after the other. The bike felt like it was going backwards as I pounded the pedals, willing myself forward. This continued for what seemed like an age as pain shot through my calves, my hamstrings began to scream and my gluteus maximus seized up.

The desire to make the suffering end drove me to the top of each hill. I was acutely aware that stopping on either hill would be a disaster, trying to get back on the bike would be nigh on impossible. So I told myself - I am fit, healthy and happy. I am in the perfect position to conquer the physical challenge that these ascents pose.

It was incredibly difficult. Yet the pain subsides at the same time as the feeling of accomplishment and your mind wanders towards the next challenge. Although one thing remains - a sense of perspective.

The children that Barretstown provide care for have experienced pain few of us can imagine, they have climbed hills 1,000 times higher than anything I will ever climb, experienced excruciating muscle pain and unimaginable fatigue. We need to make sure that when they reach the top of their climb we are there for them, that if they stop at any stage we can help them get back on their bikes. We are cycling to help Barretstown continue their incredible work with these children. You can help too. 

We really need your support, our goal is to raise €15,000 for Barretstown and we can’t do it by ourselves. As little as €5 will go a long way to put a smile on a child’s face.

Philip Bourke 
Marketing Executive
Ireland

HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide 
16 Upper Fitzwilliam St Dublin 2
T: +353 1 619 0580
F: +353 1 670 4738 
E: philip.bourke@hays.com

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