Alison Prendergast, Colaiste Choilm, Ballincollig
I didn’t know what to expect when I first arrived at the Transition Year BEES Programme. It sounded like an interesting course, and previous participants highly recommended it to me.
We began the week with an induction tour. I was surprised at how big this part of the campus was and it was difficult to remember all the rooms we were going to be in. Everyone was kind and welcoming, which made the experience more enjoyable.
Throughout the week, we attended lectures and practicals based around the courses you can study at BEES. We heard about Marine Biology, Ecology, Zoology, Geology, Environmental Science and Plant Science. We also heard from undergraduate students in their fourth year. They told us about the courses that they are studying and how they have found university, and the different opportunities they have at third level.
One activity I particularly enjoyed was the Terrestrial Ecology Practical. For this, we went outside and gathered pitfall trips that had been planted for us weeks before. We brought them back to the lab and strained the contents and then put them into a petri dish. We were shown how to use the microscope to see if we could find any animals or insects. I found it extremely interesting to see what could be gathered from outside. I saw many insects up close, which was a great experience. I also enjoyed the Ecology & Zoology practical at the beginning of the week. We got to look at Sea Urchins, which was the first time I had seen one. We learned about sea urchins and how they live, which was very interesting. I also learned other things like how to determine which species of deer lives in an area and how to examine mammal hair.
This week, we were lucky enough to be brought to the main campus of UCC. There, we had an in-depth tour of the Boole Library. We got to see the Special Collections they have and how the library system works. We also got a tour of the main campus and learned about the history of the university. We also went to the Honan Chapel and the Crawford Observatory. This was a great tour and it showed me what life would be like at UCC.