I STARTED MY Gaisce bronze award back at the beginning of TY. I thought the award looked challenging but fun. I chose to do it because when I decided to do TY I knew it was about pushing yourself to try new things and learn new skills, writes Alan Campbell.

I also thought it would look good on my CV in the future, because it shows that I can commit myself to a goal.

For my physical recreation I took part in bushido kick-boxing, which I was already doing for two years prior to taking part in the Gaisce award. The kick-boxing class is held in the local community centre and consists of running laps around the hall, doing push-ups, sit-ups, sprints, squats and stretching. We practise different kicks and punches on pads and at the end of the class we have sparring matches, which involve kicking or punching an opponent in the head, chest or stomach to get points. For these matches we wear a helmet, gum shield, boxing gloves and leg pads and most matches last two minutes. I really enjoy going to kick-boxing classes every week and I will continue to do so for many years.

For my skill, I am taking part in acting classes in the Gaiety School of Acting in Temple Bar every Saturday. I have always enjoyed drama and performing and I thought this was a great way of doing something I liked as part of the Gaisce award. My drama class lasts an hour and a half and we usually begin with games to warm up. After this we perform improvisations in groups of five or six. We put together a short showcase at the end of term to perform for parents and friends.

I chose to perform a monologue from the movie Platoon. I still have six more weeks to go out of the 26 weeks required for the Gaisce award, but I intend to continue acting classes well after I am finished the bronze award.

For the community section of the award I was helping out in the school library. I had to go to the library every Wednesday and Thursday during break-time to make up the hour required for the award. Some of my tasks included cataloguing new books, tidying the shelves and taking the journals of students who would come in to read during the break.

For the adventure I will be hiking in the Wicklow Mountains in September with a number of other students from my school that took part in the Gaisce bronze award. It will be fun to carry out this part of the award with others as part of a team.

Overall, the Gaisce bronze award has been challenging but also rewarding. The award encourages students to learn new skills and put existing skills to good use. Once I finish the bronze award I hope to do my silver award next year.

Alan Campbell is a student at Salesian College Celbridge, Co Kildare