I loved every part of transition year. One of the most enjoyable trips was a team-building day we spent in Killarney National Park, writesKate Cregan, Mercy Secondary School, Mounthawk, Tralee, Co Kerry

After a tedious summer of watching too much television and sleeping in every morning, all of us incoming transition-year students returned to school with high hopes of what the months ahead would hold for us. Those who were unsure whether they had made the right decision in applying for transition year felt all their apprehension fade away as we piled into two buses and headed for Killarney.

When we arrived we were greeted by the team-building-day co-ordinators, who divided us into teams and made sure that we were separated from our friends.

When we had been grouped off, the challenges were explained to us. For each activity, you needed the entire team to co-operate and work together. One obstacle was called the spider's web. Each member of the team had to make his or her way through the web - string was tied around two trees to form a tangle of thread - without touching the ground or the string.

This proved to be rather difficult. We managed by carrying each other through and by trusting each other to make the right decisions.

The rest of the day continued like this, competing in tasks and having a fantastic time. At day's end, there was one last task that none of us could wait to do. A three-legged race was organised, for which each team had to divide into three groups of two. As we ran we couldn't help laughing at our disastrous attempts to move in unison. As many of us are very unco-ordinated, and the grass was slightly dewy, it was a recipe for disaster.

On the journey home, soaked and covered in blades of grass, we sat next to the friends we had made that day, laughing about our escapades.

Eight months later, the friendships are still going strong, and people still remark: "Remember that day in Killarney?"