Work Experience Day 5...it's all over now :(

Today was my last day of work experience in the courts....actually it was my last ever day of work experience in TY!! :'( I really will miss it!
Today I just did more filing and alphabetising. I also interviewed my supervisor, Ann Marie, for my Work Experience report booklet. I found out loads from her about her job...she only gets 27 days holiday a year! Like woah! She also works Flexi-time, which means she picks the hours she works...she can work from 8am to 7pm and has to work 6 hours 57 minutes a day (isn't that a mad number?!). She says that the most important thing in her job is not breaching confidentiality, and also..you have to have good customer service skills because, as a public servant, she answers to the public. The lucnhtimes are from 12.30 - 2.00 in my office and people can decide how long to use themselves...they also take tea breaks sometimes...which I'm not used to so I never went on one.. :)
I spent a while after lunch finishing off my booklet...I had filled it in each day but I was just adding in a few bits of extra information about the building and stuff (one of the ladies there gave me a booklet to get some of the information).
I learned loads about the building; there are 22 courts, 16 have space for juries, the otheres don'tt. The building was built btween 2007 and 2009 to bring all the criminal jurisdictions (I didn't spell that right...) together. There are eight floors, including a basement that holds prison cells for the prisoners awaiting trial. There are loads of lifts...4 main ones in the "grand hall", but also loads of others that can't be seen, including ones leading from the jail cells to the court rooms. There is a separate "dining room" for judges and another one for members of the jury. Staff and the public can eat in a self-service canteen, but its divided into separate sections for both parties. The building is very, very modern because it's so new. It very bright and spacious.. and clean! When you go in the front door there is a security point like at the airport! I needed a special card (like all the other workers there) to let me in and out of my office and other doors that are locked to non-employees.
Some of the jobs in the Criminal Courts of Justice include barristers, judges, solicitors, court clerks, registrars, interpreters, prison guards and clerical workers, aswell as LOADS more.
I learned a lot from this work experience; before I went I wanted to do medicine or law when I'm finished school but I'm pretty sure now that I don't want to do law...I didn't find it interesting enough. I also know for definite that I don't want to work in an office...I like being able to walk around freely and I just don't think it would suit me personally.
From the work experience programme as a whole, I've learned a lot too. I'm nearly 100% sure now that I want to do medicine after school. I learned that it takes a lot of patience when applying for a job...I wrote sooo many letters (waaay before the work experience dates) and got hardly any back. I also learned how to write a letter to apply for a job and how to make a CV. Another thing I learned was how hard it is to start a new job...going in on the first day was really awkward because I didn't know anyone. I learned how to communicate well with different people and with adults too. Also, the independence skills I learned were phenomenal...more so this time round...having to make my own way to work experience by bus and make my own lunch arrangements and stuff was kinda scary but very cool aswell...there were no teachers or parents to spoonfeed so I had to make decisions myself...even knowing what to do next when my supervisor was away from her desk (or what bus-stop to get off at!). Work epxperience has definitley been one of the most worthwhile module so far this year...I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to start working for real now! (I bet I'll take that back in a few years!)
I'd love to be able to do another week or two in other places seeing what they're like...for example at a school (I was only there for one day in November so I'd like to spend more time there). Thanks to everyone at Naas Hospital, Tirmohan National School, The Courts Service & The Criminal Courts of Justice for all their help! :)