LYIT First Year

Computing Certificate

Accommodation: Digs, Santa Maria B+B, Gortlee.
Rent: £50 per week (€63.49).
Housemates: Approximately 8 - 10 others (variable), guys and dolls.
Most frequented pub: The Globe.
Favourite pub: The Cottage.

Subjects

First year of college was very enjoyable. I made many new friends and met some old ones. I hope to see them all again in September. We had six subjects in first year.

Communications

Probably the hardest subject in first year. Imagine learning English without any novels or poetry. Letters, memos, grammar, spelling, everything was thrown into this subject. Lecturer Martin Robinson (carmina.lyit.ie) kept a tight ship though and there wasn't too much work to be done, just a few assignments.

Computer Systems/Data Communications

One subject split into two. A lot of learning went on, especially in Computer Systems. No assignments in this subject although we did get to make interesting things, e.g. UTP Patch Cable, RS232 cables, in Data Communications. Very interesting especially for myself, James and Solderin' Charlie

Information Systems

The most information intensive subject of them all. Packed full of things about databases, teleworking, computer crime (a popular subject) and the internet. Required a lot of study and effort. A few assignments were required here.

Maths

Maths was what you'd expect, Maths. It had all the usual maths subjects, but with a computer twist, and a few new ones like Binary and Hex. Microsoft's Excel gave us something different to do as well as problem sheets throughout the year.

Problem Solving

Well what can be said about Problem Solving? While it was very useful for reinforcing our maths, programming and algorithm designing, it has to be said that lecturer Donat Desmond was one of the more unusual ones. However, I can't say anything bad about the guy. He also gave us one of the more interesting assignments, a program that tells the user what type of triangle they made.

Software Design

Probably the most important subject in the whole course. Weekly practical's taught us the basic principles of software design and C programming. We also had a few assignments throughout the year. The final assignment (assignment 3) was the biggest program we have had to write so far.

Nightlife

As I've said before, First year was highly enjoyable. Not least in the times that we were away from college altogether. Letterkenny is a great spot for going out. Many a Thursday night was spent out on the town or in a friend's house, drinking the rent money away. This is the story of the first year.

As you can imagine first year in a new college can be quite daunting at first. It took us a while to get into the swing of things. The first few weeks were spent scoping the places out, seeing where the best craic could be found. A few of the pubs that were tried out during this period were McGinleys, The Cottage, and the Oasis. All very good pubs in Letterkenny. However one pub stood out among the rest for cheap beer and good music. The Globe seemed to be the place that most people went to.

As the year went on, nights out became a more regular feature. The Globe was still packing them in and The Pulse Nightclub was a regular stop every Thursday night. One very cool night was had in The Grill Nightclub on Halloween when top DJ's Judge Jules and Fergie played the night away. We had a party in the Celtic apartments beforehand and was the recovery place for many a hang-over afterwards. Class.

The next big thing to happen was Rag Week (12/02/01 to 16/02/01). Every night there was something organised and most things were great. The Pulse again had the best business but Sister Sara's was a great place to be on Sunday and Tuesday nights. Thursday night in the Pulse was completely jammed. It was hell just trying to move in the place and this was with both upstairs and downstairs open. However it was still a great night out.

With the threat of exams looming and the funds running low, things quietened down after Rag Week. Although Thursday nights was still a regular night out, there just wasn't as much enthusiasm for it anymore. The Globe had the final of their Karaoke competition which was highly successful. A big congrats must go to Sonya McNally, Niall Kenny and Pauric Ward for getting into the final.

After the exams were over it was time for great celebration. There wasn't much talk on how people got on in their tests but there were very many goodbyes to be said. The Cottage bar was the bar of choice on this day and great craic was had in the conversations in the corner. Some were going to America for the summer, some were returning home and we knew some wouldn't be returning. However the last Thursday night at the Pulse was a great night with DJ Mr. Spring playin' upstairs. A great night that didn't finish until the wee hours. For Saturday I returned to the Celtic apartments to stay the weekend (having left my own accommodation). That day was a mixture of playing pool in the Globe while watching the Ireland v Portugal match and going to the Grill for one last knees-up before leaving Letterkenny until September.

College Life

I'm sure you've all heard someone say that college isn't all parties and drink. Well that's very true. However college is also not all study and classes. For the majority of your time at college you are doing other things like shopping, hanging about with your mates or just messing around. This is what I enjoyed doing in my spare time.

Surfing the Net

Like most people on the computer courses in LYIT, I tend to spend most of my time while out of class in the computer rooms of the college. Here you can do pretty much what you want (that is if the Technicians don't hassle you). Mainly done while between classes, surfing the net was dependant on the availability of computer rooms. My favourite sites to visit were: www.starwars.com, www.theforce.net, www.iol.ie/~starwars, www.planetarion.com, www.newgrounds.com and www.galacticempire.net.

Chatting in the Canteen/Coffee Dock

During our lunch breaks we all congregated at the Canteen downstairs or the Coffee Dock upstairs. It was a chance to talk, have a cup of tea and get to know what happened in the Globe the previous night. More often than not a game of cards would be played. Killer 25 being my favourite. It was also something else to do when you've spent too much time in the labs.

Resting at Home

After a long hard slog at college, what better than to rest at home while watching your favourite (or perhaps your most despised) TV programme. For first year I lived in digs in Gortlee with eight other people so there was always some craic to be had. If not then it was the perfect opportunity to catch-up on events at home or to have some well earned sleep.

Hanging out at a Friend's House

If I wasn't at my own house or in the college I was usually hanging around town with my friends or in their houses. Most of my friends lived in their own rented house or flat so there were no restrictions on our comings or goings. Again this was an opportunity for chatting or watching TV. All-night card games were also an irregular feature, as well as parties.