Teen Times: What a difference a maths class makes. That's where I discovered I'd been voted chairperson of youth parliament Dáil na nÓg. The news was delivered by phone and nearly landed me in detention for answering my mobile during class.

This was going to be easy. I mistakenly imagined the business on the actual day would be my main duties as chair. Then I got another call during class from Anne O'Donnell of the Office of the Minister for Children asking me if I was interested in doing the Pat Kenny radio show on Wednesday.

I casually agreed, playing it oh-so cool until I hung up the phone. I ran into my friends and told them except I was kind of hysterical so it came out something to the effect of "Oh my God . . . radio . . . Wednesday . . . live . . . pakenny". Live radio is no joke, my friends agreed, it's a lot of pressure. One slip-up and half the country would hear.

Wednesday morning came and three cups of tea and a muffin later I was sitting in studio with Pat Kenny and Paddy, another delegate of Dáil na nÓg. It went pretty smoothly, with only one pause when I couldn't remember the word "extreme" which was, um, extremely embarrassing. The more press I did - Twink interviewed me on Newstalk, Twink! - the easier it became, and by the end, I felt like a pro.

Of course, it was my role as chair of Dáil na nÓg and the Dáil na nÓg event in Croke Park, when road safety and attitudes towards young people were being discussed, last Saturday which was the highlight.

Sitting in front of a microphone beside the Minister for Children Brian Lenihan with 200 teenagers staring at me I started to feel the pressure. I stumbled over my first couple of words but the adrenaline soon kicked in and I calmed down.

We started the day with talks on road safety, including a DVD from a school that had designed special beer mats in a unique effort to tackle drink-driving and talks on attitudes to young people.

We then split into working groups on the two topics of road safety and attitudes towards young people and came up with statements to bring forward to the whole Dáil na nÓg to be voted on. It was really fun to see other delegates' views on these two topics and of course there were free muffins - always a bonus.

After lunch, the floor was buzzing so we had a question-and-answer session which was probably the best part of the day. It was fun watching the Minister and his panel sweat over trying to answer the questions posed by the delegates.

This is what I believe Dáil na nÓg is all about, having your say and being heard.

Suddenly the day was over and I was giving my final address as chairperson. It was really cool to be part of such an important event and to have the Minister listen to our views. I finally saw why everyone had been saying what an honour it was that I had been voted chair, to lead an event like Dáil na nÓg was amazing and not something I will forget in a hurry. (The free muffins weren't bad either.)

Stephanie Kelly is 17. She is a student at the Institute of Education, Leeson Street, Dublin

Articles of 500 words are welcome from teenagers. Send them to teentimes@irish-times.ie. Please include a phone number