How to overcome your education

‘How to overcome education.’ It’s quite sad to have to write that, isn’t it? But unfortunately with the way our system is built today, often young people are faced with that challenge.

We hear stories like it all the time, young people who are essentially forced with giving up their lives during an exam year: no more sports, no music, or something which I find most upsetting - no creativity. Now before I go ahead and say anything, I have so much appreciation for our education system. We are blessed in this country to be provided with free, quality, diverse education when so many all over the world are deprived of it. That being said, for teenagers who want to break from the mold, it can represent an obstacle rather than a tool.

Last month I spoke at TEDxTeen to portray a belief of mine that everyone has the potential inside them to change the world from inside their bedroom, in their pyjamas. It was an incredible experience, but what really stood out to me is that every young person who approached me after my talk asked the same question: “How did you manage to do this and balance school at the same time?”

Upon reflection, this question is quite upsetting. There in front of me I saw dedicated, passionate young people who actually cared about making a difference, who wanted to get involved, and they felt like school was holding them back. Education is a tool that should empower young people, not get in the way of their dreams and ambitions. Before me I saw boundless potential going to waste because young people felt like they couldn’t manage both education and innovation in their schedule.

But why is it so essential that young people innovate? Because, put simply, we have something which older people do not: naivety. We are brave enough to try the most crazy ideas because we haven’t yet learned about all the reasons why it might not work. And sometimes that pays off, because sometimes those ideas work.

So for all those kids who have an idea they really want to pursue, but can’t think of a way to figure out the balance between school and work, I have one piece of advice for you:

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

From personal experience and from speaking to my friends, most students would be finished studying and homework by 9pm at the latest, and goes to bed at approximately 11pm. That gives you two hours with which to get stuff done. Now I don’t mean you should use all that time, or you’d probably go insane (and I wouldn’t blame you). But if you give over 20 minutes of that time, three nights a week, that adds up to an hour per week. Progress will be slow, but it takes hundreds of nights to become an overnight success. And soon you’ll see that begin to pay off. It’s all about baby steps in the right direction. Take inspiration from your everyday life, from friends, family and school. The education system doesn't give us the scope to apply what we learn to our everyday life, but there's nothing to stop us doing that ourselves and finding ways to make life better for everyone.

Take that first bite of the elephant, and wait to see where it takes you. But one final tip: when you overcome your education, don't forget what you learned in school.

One year on from the Google Science Fair - reflecting back on a rollercoaster journey

Today marks exactly one year since myself, Emer and Sophie were crowned winners of the Google Science Fair. I still remember exactly how I felt when our names were called out that night - my stomach was a clenched into a tight ball, my shoulders (I know, my shoulders?) were trembling, and my brain felt like there was fireworks going off inside - I remember a particular tingling sensation at the very top of my skull, just behind my forehead. That's the thing folks, it wasn't the pretty picture of butterflies in my tummy or anything like that. It was a wall of raw and complex emotion smacking me full force in the face. I remember very little about those first few minutes as a Google Science Fair winner except grabbing someone's hand (which I later found out to be Emer's) and squeezing it with all my might to make sure this was real. However, I'm glad to say I can recall the following year - it was certainly one to remember.

Here are a few highlights.

The Travel
Adventure. Who doesn't love it? And I was lucky enough to go on more than my fair share of adventures this year. Soon after we won GSF, the invites started rolling in to conferences all over the world which we (of course) accepted, and before we knew it we were jetting off to a new country almost every second week, sometimes more. The most exciting of these experiences for me included WeDay UK in Wembley Arena, where we graced the stage with Sir Richard Branson addressed 12,000 students from schools all over Britain and encouraged them to follow their dreams and to try to change the world. Getting to chill backstage at Wembley was one of the craziest and wonderful opportunities I have ever had, and sitting in Sir Branson's dressing room with HRH Princess Beatrice and the man himself is a memory I will never forget.

Not to be forgotten here is the Thought For Food conference in Lisbon last February, a working lunch in Brussels for International Women's Day with Commissioner Moedas, and of course, the Do Lectures in Wales last June.

The Do Lectures really stood out to me as I have literally never attended an event of it's kind before. The first indication that this was a conference with a twist is when we were informed our accomodation would be in tents. Ever the optimists, Emer and I looked forward to this as it would make an interesting change from our usual routine. We arrived in Wales fresh from the stress of our summer exams, and honestly, nothing could have kickstarter our summer better. It was incredible - healthy discussions around a campfire in a small farmyard; lectures in a beautiful, airy barn; and workshops from speakers in open fields. The Do Lectures undoubtedly places in the top 3 of my favourite conferences ever.

The Friends
In a world where teenagers are fixated by the amount of likes on their profile pictures, I will never have to worry. Because if there's one physical, indisputable thing this experience has given me, it's friends for life. Through my trips to California, Boston, London, Ecuador and more, I have met some of the most inspirational and wonderful young people that I now have the honour of calling my friends. I still talk to my fellow Google Science Fair 2014 finalists as if we only left Mountain View yesterday, and I even managed to meet up with Eric and Sadhika during my time in Boston. Brian and Simone, our loyal compadre's from our trip to the Galapagos Islands still tease me about a disastrous bike ride (but that's another story). We're also planning a reunion in Antartica whenever one of us makes our first million. My Launchies, as I affectionately call the friends I made in Boston, are only a skype call away as we move forward working on our businesses together. And the phenomenal young ladies I met at the Outbox Incubator in London, well, let's just say I carry their milk-stealing, tea-drinking, fan fiction reading spirit with me wherever I go. It's those people, those friends, that made the last year special. Here's to reunions!






New Skills
What's an experience for unless you learn from it, right? Well I sure did learn from this experience, in more ways than one. I have known deep down since I spoke at the EU Innovation Convention in 2014 that I wanted to expand beyond science. I realised quite quickly that I have a business mindset, and wanted to explore this area further.
Shortly after winning the Google Science Fair, Emer and I launched Germinaid Innovations, a research company under which we are going to continue research in the agricultural area. Making this transition would not have been possible without the help of the Stemettes and Outbox Incubator, so it was fitting that we launched the company at the launch of Outbox last April. By that stage I had already got the good news that I had been accepted to study at MIT Launch that June, and I was really looking forward to acquiring new skills which would help me to succeed in the startup world.
So I packed my bags and it was off to America with me, where I went through the intense business bootcamp which is MIT Launch and founded PurchaseMate with Campbell, Simone and Jacob (aka three of my favourite people in the world). I have had the incredible opportunity to work with this team whilst learning all about entrepreneurship and bringing PurchaseMate into reality.

The Galapagos!
Technically this is travel, but it needs its of section because oh my god. The experience of a lifetime, literally, and it was just placed into our hands by the kind gods of National Geographic. As someone who wanted to be a zoologist for 10 years of my life, obviously I was pretty excited to head off to Equador. But honestly, the experience surpassed all expectations. We swam with sealions, seaturtles, iguanas, and octopi. A tortoise bit my foot. Emer got attacked by mosquitos. And I conquered my fear of sharks (but I'm still not their biggest fan). To be honest though, I think it's the pictures that really do the experience justice (even though I have misplaced the best ones unfortunately):

      

  

Jeff
Yeah, Jeff (our Nissan Juke) definitely has to get his own section. I mean, Nissan gave us a frickin car! That is hands down one of the most random things to happen to me this year. Thanks to Jeff, I have learned to drive and plan on taking my test as soon as I can. I honestly and truly can't wait until I have my full license so I can drive myself to events which will be awesome, and put a lot less pressure on my taxi drivers (aka my parents).

Oh gosh, all these highlights. There has been more, of course, I mean MIT Launch and Outbox Incubator deserve their own sections, but you'll have to refer to other pages of my blog to find more on them. I'd really just like to thank absolutely everyone who made this year amazing (and who made it happen, really): My family; my friends; Google; the BT Young Scientist; EUCYS; Silicon Republic, Excited and Accenture for their continued support and friendship; MIT Launch; Do Lectures; WeDay; the European Commission; Thought For Food; National Geographic; Outbox Incubator; Dots (Brilliant Noise; and Kinsale Community School for letting us take so much time off!


ps: Catch me next week in Belfast at the Festival of Icons. Be there or be a triangle!

Outbox IncuBAEtor

45 teenage girls under one roof, 24 hours a day, for six weeks. It sounds like a nightmare, right? That’s not the case, and here’s why:

I think everyone who will reading this will have been aware of the Outbox Incubator. If you haven’t heard of it yet, I simply have to ask: under what rock are you living, and does it not get wifi?

The Outbox Incubator has been three busy weeks of captivating sessions on entrepreneurship, run by impressive session leads, and organized by the incredible Stemettes. Girls from all over Europe with an interest in STEM have been brought together to be prepared for life ‘outside the box’ in the world of business. Outbox has featured surprise pitches, a trip to Birmingham, all-nighter coding sessions and of course, plenty of food! My experience culminated at pitch day yesterday, where I presented my company PurchaseMate and was awarded the title of Most Investable!

@purchasemate pitched by @CiaraFudgyJudgy #OutboxIn #demoday pic.twitter.com/wA3IV63E2U

— Outbox Incubator (@OutboxIncubator) August 15, 2015

To be honest, it’s really impossible to express what the Outbox Incubator means to me after my three weeks at the program. The Stemettes have succeeded in creating a warm, welcoming environment for the OB Execs. The house almost feels like a cosy little bubble where we can de-stress, take a break from the outside world, and focus on what really matters: us and our projects.

What’s interesting in programs like this is that I’ve often found that the very reason we are there fades into the background, and other things become much more important. For example, if a girl is in STEM it is common for society to define that girl by that interest. Her enthusiasm for science becomes her defining characteristic. She becomes ‘the science girl,’ and her personality becomes secondary to this preconceived notion others have of her. But bring a number of these people together, and the very characteristic they were brought together for becomes obsolete, because everyone shares this interest, and it just cancels out. In these situations, you can be defined for who you really are: your personality, sense of humor and passions, which are so much more important. In these situations, people can be seen for who they really are, which is what makes friendships formed at places like Outbox so much more special and genuine.

Tearful goodbyes. At 6am in the morning. #outboxin pic.twitter.com/ifyJ9KTN1l

— Outbox Incubator (@OutboxIncubator) August 16, 2015

Anyway, what I’ve found over the past few weeks here is that the core of the Outbox Incubator is not really about the sessions where we learn business skills, or the esteemed guests and speakers we have welcomed into the house, or the endless swag we have been treated to by Salesforce and our other generous sponsors. It’s about the friendships formed, the connections made between participants, the global network being visibly fused together with every singsong, conversation, or laugh shared between new friends. It’s about late night tea parties, midnight conversations where the topics of conversation range from physics, to politics, to one direction. It’s about the people.

No matter the environment you are put in, it’s the people that make the place. Which is why the Outbox Incubator house is not a nightmare, it’s a home. It’s a family.

Mental Health: Priority 1

If this helps one person, even just one, it'll be worth it.

The human brain is extraordinary in it's ability to feel emotion. What are actually little electric pulses and signals inside our head can trick us into experiencing feelings such as love, jealousy or sadness. Of course, it doesn't feel that way when you are experiencing these emotions, because often the circumstances in which the particularly strong ones occur are so overwhelming, so in your face, that you can't focus on anything other than that feeling, be it of happiness, fear, depression or otherwise.

Mental health, particularly in young people, certainly isn't taboo in today's society. In fact, it shows how we have progressed in that it is almost a hot topic in education and in the media, an example of which can be seen in the recent 'repost your first profile picture and donate' online campaign. Personally, however, all this talk just seems like white noise to me. Yes, we have established that mental health issues are a growing problem, steadily increasing as a result of factors like cyber bullying, but aside from discussing the fact that there is a problem, there is a notable shortage of practical and pragmatic advice on what you can do to protect yourself when such issues affect you. You get the usual spiel of 'go to someone you trust,' and 'don't listen to them,' but look beyond that and what is there? A void.

Let's face it, we've all been in that position at least once. Nowadays, we live our lives on social media, and hurtful words pass easier through people's fingertips than through their mouths. It's usually unexpected: you're scrolling through Twitter or Facebook, and boom, something horrid about you jumps out from the page and punches you in the gut. I'm fortunate enough to say that I haven't experienced this too often, but recently an article about our Google Science Fair winning project was posted online, and many of the comments gave me a sharp reminder of the feeling. Plot twist- I'm actually not going to talk about those comments, I'm going to talk about how I dealt with them. When I recounted a few particularly bad ones to a friend, she asked how I was able to discuss them with a smile, and when I explained, she suggested I share the details on here. So here goes:

Touch Base

First of all, take the voice inside your head (the voice you think with) and conjure it into a person, a mini version of you. Now walk that person into an imaginary room and lock the door. Leave all the negativity, leave the world in general outside: yes they won't go away but we'll deal with them later. Whilst you're in there, in the metaphorical quiet of your private room, ask yourself a few questions: 'Am I perfect?' 'No.' 'Does it matter?' 'No.' 'Am I breathing, do I have a heartbeat?' If yes, then you are a miracle.

It sounds a little goofy I know, but sometimes it helps to remind yourself that you still have the fundamentals of life inside you, and that's always something to go on. Next, try and think of something that makes you happy. It might take a while to find it, but trust me, you will. For me it's my friends, I say their names, I think of the last time they made me laugh. Now focus on that little ball of positivity, and imagine it's like a fire that was just lit in that virtual room which is warming that little person from the inside out.

Anchor Down

Okay, now when you're ready, you're going to unlock the door and leave the room. You've been refreshed, and you're strong enough to make sure the negativity waiting outside doesn't rush in like flood water and extinguish that fire you've lit inside. With your mind feeling a little more composed, it's time to check in with the rest of your body. Do you have any aches or pains, a bruise which won't go away? Find them and focus your attention on them, on that physical feeling.

If you're standing, feel the contact your feet are making with the ground, feel how strong it is, how you are being kept anchored to the earth by that force called gravity, but also by the fact that you are a living, breathing, human being, you exist, you take up space, you have mass, you matter (sneaky pun there for any physics geeks). If you're sitting, do the same, maybe grab the arm of a chair and squeeze it tight, just to remind yourself that you are a physical being, and those wifi signals that sent you your Twitter/Facebook feed? Yeah, they most certainly aren't.

Let it Go

So to recap, you've filled yourself with positivity and reminded yourself about the physical world around you, and anchored yourself to the ground. Now with that anchor in mind (it helps if you have something to hold onto), you can face that negativity again. But this time, you're the big person in this situation, steadily fixed to the ground, and that negativity is light, like a helium balloon. So light in fact, that it might just fly away, and you'll willingly let it go.

It doesn't even have to leave completely: the point is, it isn't weighing you down anymore. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every time someone wrongs you or hurts you that you should just forget about it- you can simply use the above to help lessen, or even completely rid yourself of, the feelings surrounding it, because those feelings won't affect anybody but you, and they won't help your situation. Realistically, whilst hurtful comments do have the ability to get inside your head, that's your space, and it is within your capabilities to push them back about again. You control your headspace, nobody else. Keep yourself anchored to the ground and that's all you need. These feelings will come and go, but in your life, you are the one thing that, will without end, be constant.