The Tomar Trust, has over the last number of years allowed us to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our students. The awards are presented to students, taking into account their overall performance in school, including academic performance relative to the students ability, behaviour and positive contribution to the life of the school.
This year Tiernan Hogan and Cathal O’Halloran received the highest accolades at the Awards Ceremony for their respective performances during their Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate Year.
We had great pleasure in welcoming back Mr Alan McDonagh to present the Awards. Alan graduated from the CBS in 2005 and went on to study pharmacy in Trinity College Dublin. He now works for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), an executive agency of the Department of Health in the United Kingdom which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe.
The text of Alan’s speech on the night is included below.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish the Leaving Certificate Awards recipients well as they embark on this new chapter in their lives and look forward to our Junior Certificate recipients replicating their achievements in their Leaving Certificate Year
Alan McDonagh
Valuable lessons I learned at the CBS Ennistymon
I started in the CBS in September 1999, as a socially awkward twelve-year-old and went into my first day with a nervous excitement. New school, New subjects, slightly longer days and the chance to meet new people. I think looking back on my experience there, I can say that a lot of the valuable lessons learned within the four walls of the mono have stayed with me throughout my time at university as well as in my working life.
It prepared me to meet deadlines, via the homework assignments and projects we were given throughout the five years, it provided lessons on how to develop an effective study method which has supported me with me right throughout some difficult exams both at the CBS, in university exams and my professional exams. The CBS and the teachers there provided me with valuable lessons on how to manage my time effectively in order to be able to get my school work completed effectively but also allowed time to get involved in hobbies and other interests outside of school and in my case this was usually playing pool with mates or playing video games (usually FIFA at which I was absolutely horrendously terrible…..but I have improved slightly… instead of losing games 10 - nil I only loose by at least half that as a thirty year old.)
My time at the CBS allowed me to develop myself as a person, and it was here that I developed an exceptional group of friends that have also remained with me to the present day even though we all veered in different directions at the end of our time at the mono. The friendships we forged there were strong enough that they still provide valuable support and wise advice anytime I may need it. This process of building friends up/ getting to know new people is also a skill and although it wasn’t developed in the confines of a classroom I believe the environment at the CBS played an important role in allowing me to develop this aspect of self.
Secondary school is an experience, and while it is a challenging experience at certain times, it should also be an enjoyable one. It provides us all with valuable lifelong lessons. I am very grateful for the education I received at the CBS in Ennistymon while I was a student there, and the lessons I learned and experiences that the CBS provided for me, have created the person that sits in front of this computer today, and without my education there, I can safely say I wouldn’t be here only for it.
